Thames Valley infrastructure problems causing disruption elsewhere - 2017

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

Perhaps this might be a suitable time to remind network rail that in a few weeks time, daylight hours start to noticeably reduce, heavy rain becomes more likely, wind speeds increase, and deciduous trees shed their leaves.
This is known as autumn and occurs every year, perhaps with a gentle reminder they might be ready this year !

However worse is to follow, autumn is assuredly followed by winter, when daylight is very much reduced and temperatures fall significantly. During winter, small white flakes of frozen water fall from the sky, this is known as "snow" and often seems to be unexpected.
Snow is cold, but if it is blown into warmer spaces and turns back into liquid water and can have deleterious effects on electrical equipment.
Snow can jam points, or even stop trains. It would be well to prepare for this.

[patch38]

It would be well to prepare for this.

That's a bit unfair: they are prepared - they have got that same spokesman chap who was interviewed by BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Oxford, fast-tracked him through another Meeja Tranining session, reminded him not to start every sentence with 'so' and given him a new piece of paper with the following notes:

1  Apologise profusely and often

2  Mention that we are bringing the railway into the 21st Century

3  Er...

4  That's it...

[SandTEngineer]

It would be well to prepare for this.

That's a bit unfair: they are prepared - they have got that same spokesman chap who was interviewed by BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Oxford, fast-tracked him through another Meeja Tranining session, reminded him not to start every sentence with 'so' and given him a new piece of paper with the following notes:

1  Apologise profusely and often

2  Mention that we are bringing the railway into the 21st Century

3  Er...

4  That's it...

Think you missed a smiley there Patch38.......

The thing is that that stretch of line is 21st Century and the signalling kit has (mostly) all been renewed in the near recent years.  It had to be to make it 25kv traction immune.

The failures last week really sum it up for me.  The only time we used to bring in manufacturers was when we had really serious technical problems that we didn't have the skills to solve.  I would also ask why the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) Technical Investigation Centre at Crewe has not been brought in (oh, just remembered, they have made a lot of the skilled and experienced staff there redundant......)?

[patch38]

Think you missed a smiley there Patch38.......

I thought it was so obvious, I was saving pixels... 

[chuffed]

Most impressed with the young graduate  engineers in the Crossrail programmes who were given a great deal  of responsibility for huge complex projects....but they always seemed to have a wise, experienced workforce under them to fall back on, and to advise and warn. No matter how brilliant the young high flier, you need that bedrock under them to catch them should they fall. The loss of the skilled and experienced professionals in engineering, (teaching/nursing civil service.. the list goes on ) in their 50s is the cause of much of these problems. Why does the older worker get thrown on the scrapheap just because they are seen to be 'expensive' and expendable. It's crazy.

[patch38]

Sometimes it works the other way. My ex-next-door neighbour was a petro-chemical engineer and was out of work for most of his 40s as his would-be employers brought in the whizz kids with (supposedly) all the qualifications and for less money. Then in his 50s he suddenly found himself back in high demand as they discovered that the juniors knew all the right buzzwords but would cave in when there was real pressure.

[Oxonhutch]

... The loss of the skilled and experienced professionals in engineering, (teaching/nursing civil service.. the list goes on ) in their 50s is the cause of much of these problems. Why does the older worker get thrown on the scrapheap just because they are seen to be 'expensive' and expendable. It's crazy.

What goes is the ability to speak truth to power.

The old (and expensive) crusties like me in the last few years of their career realy don't care about threats to their job prospects when being the harbinger of bad or arkward news.  The keen young graduate is both cheap and acutely aware of their future - as they should be: they have a family and young kids to care for. But get rid of us cantankerous, and bloody annoying old crusts that have seen it all before - whose job it is to keep accountancy-driven management on-track - and it all falls to bits (usually after about five years, while the bean counters are still slapping each other on the backs).

Ask Shell, who had to write-down several billions $$ of their oil reserves due to generous rubber-stamping.  The old guard had been put out to pasture. Didn't half give their share price a serious drumming.

[Western Pathfinder]

... The loss of the skilled and experienced professionals in engineering, (teaching/nursing civil service.. the list goes on ) in their 50s is the cause of much of these problems. Why does the older worker get thrown on the scrapheap just because they are seen to be 'expensive' and expendable. It's crazy.

What goes is the ability to speak truth to power.

The old (and expensive) crusties like me in their last few years of their career realy don't care about threats to their job prospects when being the harbinger of bad or arkward news.  The keen young graduate is both cheap and acutely aware of their future - as they should be: they have a family and young kids to care for. But get rid of us cantankerous, and bloody annoying old crusts that have seen it all before - whose job it is to keep accountancy-driven management on-track - and it all falls to bits (usually after about five years, while the bean counters are still slapping each other on the backs).

Ask Shell, who had to write-down several billions $$ of their oil reserves due to generous rubber-stamping.  The old guard had been put out to pasture. Didn't half give their share price a serious drumming.

Never a truer word spoken my friend 

[TonyK]

What goes is the ability to speak truth to power.

Quite. A mantra I repeated often during my final decade before retiring, whilst still working hard and achieving more than was required I hasten to add, was "Go on, sack me then. You'd be doing me a favour." Never even came close. I knew when I was talking more sense than the guv'nor.

The old guard had been put out to pasture.

Or, if they had worked especially hard, stud.

[Oxonhutch]

Or, if they had worked especially hard, stud.

In my dreams boy.  In my dreams! 

[TonyK]

Or, if they had worked especially hard, stud.

In my dreams boy.  In my dreams! 

I nearly replied to that! 

[TaplowGreen]

Well here's a new one!

Alterations to services at London Paddington
Due to the fire alarm sounding at a station at London Paddington all lines are closed.
Train services running to and from this station may be delayed by up to 45 minutes or revised. Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
Customer Advice
Owing to fire alarms sounding at London Paddington station the area has been evacuated whilst safety checks are undertaken. As a result train services on all routes between London Paddington and Reading are subject to delay and / or alteration.

[Adelante_CCT]

Didn't this happen the other morning (Monday?) as well?

[ChrisB]

Smell of electrical burning - 2000 pax had been evacuated before fire brugade arrived

[SandTEngineer]

Reported elsewhere as an electrical fire under Platform No.10.  Hope everybody is safe.  Station still shut at 2230.