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willc
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« Reply #1125 on: April 30, 2011, 15:05:05 » |
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Took a trip over to Evesham this morning. Base ballast is now laid on the section west of the signalbox heading out towards the new double to single track junction. At Honeybourne steel sleepers have been delivered alongside the area where the connection to the sidings and the Long Marston branch will be laid and the ballast dump has been topped up, though no sign of actual tracklaying yet.
The position of the new Honeybourne footbridge and its ramps and supports has been surveyed and blue pegs placed or blue paint makers sprayed to mark it out on the bank between the road and the car park and on the island platform, so excavation and piling work is probably imminent here.
Some pictures at the usual place.
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willc
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« Reply #1126 on: May 02, 2011, 11:21:21 » |
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The single to double track junction point has arrived at Charlbury, or its parts have, at least. The sleepers have been placed on the new second track at the southern end of the station ready for the complete unit to be assembled before it is moved down the line towards Cornbury during the blockade. The ballast beyond the road bridge has been profiled and more dropped around the curve past Walcot but it has yet to reach Shorthampton. Some pictures now online.
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Timmer
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« Reply #1127 on: May 02, 2011, 18:00:13 » |
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I'm not bothered too much about the publicity - especially given that we are talking about a train operator whose website's news section is rarely troubled by new information and which can't actually display anything after 2010 anyway, due to the way it is configured. Nothing that can't be fixed if FGW▸ really wanted to use the news section as a way of keeping customers informed. They may have looked through the records of how many 'hits' the news pages receives and thought it's not worth maintaining which is a shame if that's the case. |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #1128 on: May 02, 2011, 19:02:43 » |
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On the other hand ... if FGW▸ can't be bothered to improve their website news page, because nobody reads it (and the reason nobody reads it is that it doesn't contain any news), people will continue to refer instead to this Coffee Shop forum for the latest firstgreatwestern.info.    |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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bobm
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« Reply #1129 on: May 02, 2011, 19:56:42 » |
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But it isn't just the website. In the not too distant past at times of major disruption the following day there would have been a letter of explanation posted on the website and handed out on trains the following day. It hasn't happened recently and seems to reflect a change in FGW▸ public relations.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #1130 on: May 02, 2011, 20:43:22 » |
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I don't think so - there'#s just been no *major* disruption like there used to be on occasions
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willc
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« Reply #1131 on: May 04, 2011, 13:40:55 » |
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Big push to get the top ballasting work completed in Oxfordshire this week, with the whole section from Charlbury to Shorthampton done and profiled, and ballast dropped from Shorthampton to milepost 79 near Chilson, so a mile left to go to Ascott.
At Charlbury work to place reinforcing cages into the footbridge foundations before conctrete is poured was going on, while at Moreton-in-Marsh scaffolding has gone up around the station building to allow work on the roof. Dread to think what the contractors might find, as British Rail simply covered the slate roof with tar sheets many years ago after taking down the chimney stacks.
Late update: Wasn't sure 100 per cent sure I had seen it on the way into Oxford, but checked on the way home and the first new signal is now in place, the distant for the Charlbury single to double-track junction. It is south-east of Finstock station, close to a hamlet called Fawler. Lots of netting has been placed on the reprofiled cutting side at Charlbury, looks like it's to hold the soil in place until some grass has grown.
The platform edging blocks at Charlbury are now all laid, while at Ascott-under-Wychwood the east end of the platform has been filled with hardcore but the hole in the back wall is yet to be dealt with.
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« Last Edit: May 04, 2011, 23:38:04 by willc »
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willc
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« Reply #1132 on: May 06, 2011, 00:35:27 » |
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Forced into the car today by the cancellation of the 09.29 from Moreton-in-Marsh (failed train meant the service apparently eventually 'started' at Reading, presumably using a set fresh from the depot), I took the opportunity to take some pictures in West Oxfordshire on the way home.
Signal posts are popping up all over the place now, for the new starting signal at the south end of Charlbury station and what I took to be the Charlbury distant out near Chilson, plus a stop signal just past the road bridge at Charlbury to mark the end of the line for any trains turning back there.
Top ballasting is past the Mill Lane bridge just to the east of AScot-under-Wychwood but profiling has yet to reach Shorthampton.
Work to prepare the footbridge foundations at Charlbury continues, with the mounts for the bridge supports being inserted ahead of concrete pouring. At Ascott-under-Wychwood most of the platform is infilled and edging blocks are starting to be placed.
The level crossing there will close for three weeks from Saturday, May 14, to allow replacement of the barriers and the completion of tracklaying - so if anyone is planning a visit, don't approach the village off the A361 during that period.
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IndustryInsider
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« Reply #1133 on: May 06, 2011, 10:31:27 » |
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Signal posts are popping up all over the place now, for the new starting signal at the south end of Charlbury station and what I took to be the Charlbury distant out near Chilson, plus a stop signal just past the road bridge at Charlbury to mark the end of the line for any trains turning back there.
Yes, also the 'distant' coming the other way just Oxford side of Finstock. They're all still waiting actual lenses to be installed, but TPWS▸ equipment has also been fitted to the tracks. |
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To view my GWML▸ Electrification cab video 'before and after' video comparison, as well as other videos of the new layout at Reading and 'before and after' comparisons of the Cotswold Line Redoubling scheme, see: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/IndustryInsider/ |
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Electric train
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« Reply #1134 on: May 06, 2011, 13:10:22 » |
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I assume they are using LED signal heads
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Starship just experienced what we call a rapid unscheduled disassembly, or a RUD, during ascent,”
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willc
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« Reply #1135 on: May 06, 2011, 13:37:34 » |
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More signal posts placed overnight, a new home on the approach to Ascott-under-Wychwood, slightly closer to the station than the existing signal, plus another just west of Chilson at 19-and-a-half miles.
Soil was being tipped on the cutting side south of Charlbury to complete the reprofiling next to the new junction and the trackbed from there to the station was dug out overnight, ahead of ballasting.
The gap in the platform back wall at Ascott was filled this morning and topping-up of the hardcore was under way while the masons had moved on to cementing the edging blocks.
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willc
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« Reply #1136 on: May 06, 2011, 21:49:29 » |
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Just to clear up which signal post is which, after keeping a sharp lookout this evening. The one east of Chilson is for the new Ascott-under-Wychwood distant, placed slightly closer to Charlbury than the existing one. The one to the west of Chilson looks like being a distant for Charlbury, though I don't know whether that's for the signal at the south end of the station or whether another home is to be placed north of the station to protect trains standing in the platform waiting to enter the single line.
The posts are all of the latest design used to support LED heads.
At Ascott the whole platform is now infilled with hardcore and the edging blocks are in place for half the length of it, while more concrete had been poured in some of the footbridge foundations at Charlbury.
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willc
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« Reply #1137 on: May 10, 2011, 00:11:34 » |
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Lamp-posts are starting to be planted on the new platform at Charlbury. Shuttering for concrete pouring in place in many of the bridge support foundations there now and more platform edgings were being cemented into place at Ascott-under-Wychwood in the morning.
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willc
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« Reply #1138 on: May 10, 2011, 14:29:07 » |
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Base ballast laid overnight from Charlbury to the new junction point site, footbridge foundations engineers still hard at it building shuttering, while at Ascott-under-Wychwood the area where the steps and ramp up to the back of the existing platform will be built was being carefully excavated up to the original brick wall.
Signals engineers were working at the top of the post for the new distant for Ascott-under-Wychwood, I'm guessing they were installing the LED head but too far off to be sure. Another team were working at the base of the post for the shunt limit signal at Charlbury, presumably on cable connections.
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