Four track for Filton Bank - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[grahame]

That line from National Rail is the only place that suggests a full week of closures after 18th November - all the other sources (the timetable, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), and Network Rail) say it's only the weekend. So I guess it's just carelessness - the head of that item gives:  Start date 27/10/2018, End date 25/11/2018; arguably that's correct. But as the closure and RRB^▸ (Rail Replacement Bus) aren't continuous, it's probably a mistake to put them in one item, especially as that set of data is meant to be looked up by date.

I would be inclined to agree, save that late changes could be notified ... the wording feeds a natural worry brought on by past extensions / overruns

"Buses replace trains between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway / Severn Beach from Saturday 27 October until Sunday 25 November"

would be clearer as

"Buses replace trains between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway / Severn Beach from Saturday 27 October on most days until Sunday 25 November"

or (as has been suggested) splitting into two date sets.

[Red Squirrel]

Well let's hope so; traffic this morning was astonishingly bad.

[Red Squirrel]

Latest twittage shows new 75mph points at Horfield looking fairly complete.



According to the tweeble:

We're half way through our 3-week upgrade in the Bristol area and are making good progress.

https://twitter.com/networkrailwest/status/1060108439521767424

[Phantom]

Well let's hope so; traffic this morning was astonishingly bad.

Always the same in and around Bristol when the rain comes

[metalrail]

Latest twittage shows new 75mph points at Horfiled looking fairly complete.

According to the tweeble:

We're half way through our 3-week upgrade in the Bristol area and are making good progress.

https://twitter.com/networkrailwest/status/1060108439521767424

Looking good!  It says on their feed that "We've now completed the installation of complex crossovers in the Horfield area that enable trains to switch tracks"

Wonder if that means all 4 sets of new points are now in to complete the whole new junction layout?  Will try and have a drive over to take a look later if it's stopped persisting it down

[Red Squirrel]

Well let's hope so; traffic this morning was astonishingly bad.

Always the same in and around Bristol when the rain comes

I'm sure the rain makes it worse, as does the rolling water main replacement programme, but it was pretty awful yesterday without the rain. I'd be interested to know what proportion of the scores of schoolkids who normally use the Severed Beach line are being driven to school instead by long-suffering parents. Does anyone on here have experience of the RRB^▸ (Rail Replacement Bus) from BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) to CFN^▸ (Clifton Down station) at around 8am?

[Red Squirrel]

More twittage today - confirmation that they are still on schedule for 19th Nov:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1060452506935926784

[Spaceship]

Hi I was on Constable Road Bridge earlier and there were about 60 people working on the tracks between the footbridge to the south and the next road bridge toward Bristol Parkway. There was a tamper unit working on one line directly under the bridge and a Class 66 with a trainload of something about half a mile up. One gang were installing a signal with a feather arm and other gangs appeared to be doing everything from signal coms, to points. Looked very well organised.

[metalrail]

Welcome break in the weather today so decided to get some updates

Starting at Constable Rd bridge, lots of progress since my last pics 10 days ago.  All 8 sets of points now installed for the 4 new crossovers making up the new 'Horfield Junction'

First pic, working from the top shows the first stage of the northern part of the junction from Up relief to Down relief, complete with new signal & feather, then down to the right shows the junction from Down main to Up main
Second pic shows most of the southern part of the junction, working from Down main, to Up main, then to Down relief
Third pic gives a longer shot of the southern part of the junction, Down main to Down relief, giving a better perspective of the length of the 75mph crossovers
Fourth pic shows very southern end, as the final connection to the Down relief is on the south side of the bridge!

[metalrail]

Then onto Bonnington Walk for views the other way around, and the whole northern end of the junction

First pic shows whole of the southern junction from Down main across to Down relief, along with first part of the northern junction from Up relief to Down relief
Second pic shows second part of northern junction from Down relief to Up main
Third pic is a closer view of Down relief to Up main
Fourth pic is a panoramic view of Bonnington Walk N to FIT showing new junction / trackwork and extensive embankment works

[metalrail]

Then onwards towards FIT...

Hard to miss the first big change, which is the installation of the new signal gantry mentioned on the latest NR^» (Network Rail - home page) twitter feed!
Followed by the view towards FIT itself

[metalrail]

Then finally south of FIT

First two pics are comparison from 10 days ago and today, showing how the old Filton South junction has now completely gone, with both new relief lines running directly down Filton Bank from the new FIT platforms 3 & 4

Final pic is a panoramic south of FIT showing all 4 lines now running directly down the bank, along with more extensive embankment works

[SandTEngineer]

Thanks for those updates, METALRAIL.  Keep them coming.  They are going to need a lot of ballast when all the trackwork is completed....

[metalrail]

Thanks for those updates, METALRAIL.  Keep them coming.  They are going to need a lot of ballast when all the trackwork is completed....

Yeah there was a huge ballast train on what will be the new Up main when I got to Constable Rd, obliterating most of the view to Bonnington Walk.  Thankfully after about 10 minutes it slowly started on it's way south (on the up line!) so I could finally see the trackwork.  There was another parked across Station Rd bridge by FIT as I drove back home after, so think they must be running them pretty much continuously to try and keep up!

[Red Squirrel]

Thanks for those updates, METALRAIL.  Keep them coming. 

What he said!