Great Western Main Line electrification - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Electric train]

Further update just a caught road rail cherry picker finishing off Up Relief O/H by means of hitting the drop wire connections with a spanner! plus fixing return wire. They hope to be finished today testing tomorrow All four lines around 1400 yards!

The testing will be heights & staggers and  "panning" I doubt section proving will be done as this is done at the time of commissioning.  Anti theft measures will be in place which could prove lethal if anyone tries to nick the wire

[Tim]

The wires are up !

Over Christmas the O/H has been slung over the Up and Down Mains at around milepost 22.5 (between Burnham and Taplow) which is right by my house.

They were bright and shiny in the sun this morning when I was trimming the fast growing shrubs in the front garden.

Thanks for the update. Given that there is probably no power flowing through the cables at the moment is there a potential risk for them being stolen and sold as scrap?

They may well be energised at least some of the time.  Either as part of testing or as a theft deterrent.  There are of course thieves who have attempted to steal energised cable before (and either killed or injured themselves as a result) so even fully energised cable is at some risk of theft.  Hopefully, the current low scrap prices and the new regulations regarding sales to scrap yards have reduced the theft risk.   

[Chris from Nailsea]

Over Christmas the O/H has been slung over the Up and Down Mains ... right by my house.

They were bright and shiny in the sun this morning when I was trimming the fast growing shrubs in the front garden.

I do hope that you didn't allow any unwelcome leaves to fall onto the tracks, eightf48544? 

[eightf48544]

All safely in the green bin. It's my garden railway that suffers from leaves on line!

[stuving]

From BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Berkshire News:

Goring Gap 'ugly' rail gantries go to consultation

Campaigners describe the gantries near Goring Gap as "huge metal goalposts"

New metal gantries criticised by residents as "ruining" an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty are to be scrutinised by Network Rail.

Installed near Goring Gap in the Chilterns, they are the latest step in the electrification of the Great Western Railway.

Resident Emreys Barrell described them as like "something out of War of the Worlds striding across the landscape".

Network Rail said a consultation would happen "as early as possible".

The rail operator is undertaking a 10-year modernisation programme on the line at a cost of up to ^1.74bn.

This includes upgrades to stations and electrification of parts of the route, including the section between Reading and Didcot, Oxfordshire.
'They stare at you'

In the Autumn it ran a series of drop-in events with information about the current look of the overhead line equipment, other designs considered and options for possible "mitigation measures".

Mr Barrell said they looked "dreadful", "huge", and "obtrusive".

"They stare at you in the face. A very simple camouflage would be just to paint them green. Dark green would at least make them look like they somehow blend into the background rather than standing out and staring at you.

"They are shining bright silver. They are galvanised steel, completely inappropriate for the background of the Goring Gap."

Annette Alport said the "horrendous" gantries "totally altered the landscape"

"The beautiful Goring Gap, now when you drive in, looks like the entrance to Paddington Station," she added.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "This consultation will be based on the feedback we received at our first drop-in event and on possible alternative designs, which are currently being commissioned, for the overhead line equipment.

"We are working with both the Chilterns and North Wessex Downs Conservation Boards and will seek their feedback on any proposed alternative designs."

[BerkshireBugsy]

..snipped..
Credit for Picture goes to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Berkshire News web pages

I often get annoyed by what I refer to as "Nimby residents" and I don't know exactly where that picture was taken along the route BUT to me this is one of the major downsides of electrification - the fact that what may have been an unspoilt view becomes more industrialised with the erection of the OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") equipment.

So if (for example) I had a property on the northern side of the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) with a view down to the Thames and these appeared in my line of sight I don't think I would be that favourable!

[Richard Fairhurst]

Resident Emreys Barrell

Emrhys. He was my boss about 15 years ago!

[TaplowGreen]

..snipped..
Credit for Picture goes to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Berkshire News web pages

I often get annoyed by what I refer to as "Nimby residents" and I don't know exactly where that picture was taken along the route BUT to me this is one of the major downsides of electrification - the fact that what may have been an unspoilt view becomes more industrialised with the erection of the OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") equipment.

So if (for example) I had a property on the northern side of the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) with a view down to the Thames and these appeared in my line of sight I don't think I would be that favourable!

Were there any other options? I guess form follows function - are there any less obtrusive gantries? (...couldn't they paint them green?, I think GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have a few pots of green paint lying around!)

[BerkshireBugsy]

I often get annoyed by what I refer to as "Nimby residents" and I don't know exactly where that picture was taken along the route BUT to me this is one of the major downsides of electrification - the fact that what may have been an unspoilt view becomes more industrialised with the erection of the OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") equipment.

So if (for example) I had a property on the northern side of the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) with a view down to the Thames and these appeared in my line of sight I don't think I would be that favourable!

Were there any other options? I guess form follows function - are there any less obtrusive gantries? (...couldn't they paint them green?, I think GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have a few pots of green paint lying around!)

Well, I tried to be careful about my wording but my feeling is they are a necessary by product of OLE. As for your suggestion of painting them GWR green (other shades are available) I'm guessing unless they were anodised then there would be on going maintenance issues

[Red Squirrel]

Well they'd only need to paint them once...

[lordgoata]

Were there any other options? I guess form follows function - are there any less obtrusive gantries? (...couldn't they paint them green?, I think GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have a few pots of green paint lying around!)

Thats why I asked about 3rd rail rather than OHLE back near the start of this process - for this very reason. It was explained the pro's and con's (Electric Train explained it if I recall). I must admit, I never realised the gantries were so close (in distance) to one another, but then I never had any experience of electrified railways - the first time I went into Paddington after about 15 years of not travelling there, I was shocked how it looked with all the Heathrow Express stuff from Hayes onwards!

[lordgoata]

Well, I tried to be careful about my wording but my feeling is they are a necessary by product of OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE"). As for your suggestion of painting them GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) green (other shades are available) I'm guessing unless they were anodised then there would be on going maintenance issues

They don't even need to be green. Outside of South Stoke (if I recall) there is one that has masts that are 3/4 silver, and the top and the signal gantry is black. Even with the huge black signal boxes stuck on top it doesn't stand out anywhere near as much as the silver parts.

I noticed this morning they now have the supports in place on the Gatehampton bridge, so I see the RAG^▸ (Radstock Action Group)'s efforts of reporting NR^» (Network Rail - home page) to the police for disturbing the nesting barn owls (the ones nesting less than a meter from IC125 traffic rattling past all day long), obviously did not work.

One thing that surprised me are the gantries by Goring bridge (on the station side) - they seem scarily close to the pavement along that part!

[Bob_Blakey]

I wonder if Mr. Barrell and his mates had anything to say about the much more obtrusive electricity supply pylons, which also appear in the published images, when they were erected.

[BerkshireBugsy]

They don't even need to be green. Outside of South Stoke (if I recall) there is one that has masts that are 3/4 silver, and the top and the signal gantry is black. Even with the huge black signal boxes stuck on top it doesn't stand out anywhere near as much as the silver parts.

I seem to remember there are some mobile phone masts in West Berkshire that have been painted to make them less intrusive (and they are on the edge of a forest from memory)

[paul7575]

From the above linked article:

A Network Rail spokesman said: "This consultation will be based on the feedback we received at our first drop-in event and on possible alternative designs, which are currently being commissioned, for the overhead line equipment.

"We are working with both the Chilterns and North Wessex Downs Conservation Boards and will seek their feedback on any proposed alternative designs."

Being polite?   There's no way now these gantries are going to be replaced with something different.  I suggest all that will be done at this stage is to try and camouflage or hide things at some specific locations.

Paul