Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[SDS]

I think the caption should read

"Excuse me young man, are any trains running today?" "

Don't worry Ma'am, you should get back to Paddington OK eventually, the next signal failure isn't scheduled till 4pm, but there's always the bus to Heathrow and the Piccadilly Line if it happens while you're still here!" 

And you can use that free Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) Card TfL^» (Transport for London - about) gave you with ^50 on it for your Golden Anniversary.

[bobm]

She's definitely naming the HOPS train, in one of the platforms.  Not rumour, pics on BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Reading news site...

Paul

Managed to get a snap of the nameplate from a passing train

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

I went to meet Mrs GTBE off a XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) from Birmingham yesterday evening.  Guess what, there are NO Arrivals Boards on the bridge or at either of the new entrances.  So how is the average passenger meeting their granny etc supposed to know on what platform and when (the XC was 28 late) their train is arriving? I asked this question to the extremely helpful gateline staff, one of whom promptly got out his phone and looked at RealTimeTrains and gave me the correct information.

So its seems anyone meeting someone at Reading has to find a member of staff who will use a phone to use what is basically a freeware programme produced by a student.  I hope FGW^▸ (First Great Western) pay RTT^» (Real Time Trains - website) a fee for the privilege - I don't believe that RTT should be used for commercial purposes.  And there should be Arrivals Boards on the station.

edit - spelling error

[ChrisB]

With barriers in operation, I guess you're meant to meet at said barriers?

If you have to ask to be let through as the traveller is infirm/old/etc, I guess one can ask at the same time?

[paul7575]

Saw some more badly worded signs yesterday, although some may think I'm being pedantic...   

At the top of the stairs/escalators at the appropriate side of the transfer deck there have been small signs added indicating the location of the toilets.   

But they read (for example, and from memory) "Toilets are at the A-side of this platform".   But this seems wrong to me, A and B refer to the respective halves or ends of the platforms, because they are long and thin.   And what is that hyphen about?

Simple English usage.  It is perfectly OK to refer to the A and B 'sides' of the transfer deck, because of its orientation, but that doesn't follow that the same is true for the platforms.  The sides of the platform islands have numbers, its the ends that have letters...

Paul

[Steevp]

Saw some more badly worded signs yesterday, although some may think I'm being pedantic...   

At the top of the stairs/escalators at the appropriate side of the transfer deck there have been small signs added indicating the location of the toilets.   

But they read (for example, and from memory) "Toilets are at the A-side of this platform".   But this seems wrong to me, A and B refer to the respective halves or ends of the platforms, because they are long and thin.   And what is that hyphen about?

Simple English usage.  It is perfectly OK to refer to the A and B 'sides' of the transfer deck, because of its orientation, but that doesn't follow that the same is true for the platforms.  The sides of the platform islands have numbers, its the ends that have letters...

Paul

I think you are correct Paul - it does matter. If a sign does not impart clear unequivocal information, then it has failed IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion)

[eightf48544]

Whilst I can see the transfer deck can have an A and B side, don't teh paltforms have two A and B sides? 

[onthecushions]

Whilst I can see the transfer deck can have an A and B side, don't teh paltforms have two A and B sides? 

As do vinyl LP's. Platform areas here mean "ends" not "sides", in this case East ends and West ends.

The sides are in fact numbered, 1 - 15, happily no longer including  4a, 4b.

OTC

[lbraine]

A few observations while travelling through Reading this morning:

1. The fast down main has new track panels attached that run up the slope leading to the country-end of the new viaduct proper. Large (Very large) piles of ballest is at the start of the viaduct, ready for laying up it.

2. The new main viaduct looked prettuch complete. Railings in place, OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") stantions (?) are all there, metal trunking in place for cabling.

3. The Festival viaduct has all piers there - with one on the country end still having some form work in place - which I think was in the process of being lifted off by a large crane in situ.

4. The flood relief 'boxes' seem to be complete and soil was evident on top over a lot of them.

Just a casual observation now : once the main line has been instated across the viaduct and the reliefs slewed back to their original position it does strike me that there is a long stretch of line 'real estate' that will be left empty (old main line).

I wondered if rather than using it for Buddlia growth if the Reading West line could not continue further westwards - almost as far as Scours Lane - before joining with the reliefs ? Would this not be a better holding point for the long freights using that line - than perhaps, as is often the case now, being held on the curve ?

It perhaps would mean the lines from Reading West Curve diving under the main lines (name?) would not face being blocked by stationary freights.

[stuving]

I wondered if rather than using it for Buddlia growth if the Reading West line could not continue further westwards - almost as far as Scours Lane - before joining with the reliefs ? Would this not be a better holding point for the long freights using that line - than perhaps, as is often the case now, being held on the curve ?

The pinch point is at Wigmore Lane, about halfway to Scours Lane. By then the mains are back on their old alignment, and there used to be two reliefs and one goods loop. The new layout has the same goods loop plus the access track for the depot, and the bridge was extended for that but I would imagine no further. So the extra width only goes part-way, and the reliefs will be slewed diagonally across the available space to eliminate the wiggles currently near Scours Lane.

[stuving]

2. The new main viaduct looked prettuch complete. Railings in place, OLE^▸ (Overhead Line Equipment, more often "OHLE") stantions (?) are all there, metal trunking in place for cabling.

3. The Festival viaduct has all piers there - with one on the country end still having some form work in place - which I think was in the process of being lifted off by a large crane in situ.

Here's a picture from Saturday of the viaduct as seen from the station - obviously very much foreshortened. No sign of track yet, but with bags of, presumably, ballast sitting there it can't be long. Last week it was full of vehicles, which have now gone.

[stuving]

The pinch point is at Wigmore Lane, about halfway to Scours Lane. By then the mains are back on their old alignment, and there used to be two reliefs and one goods loop. The new layout has the same goods loop plus the access track for the depot, and the bridge was extended for that but I would imagine no further. So the extra width only goes part-way, and the reliefs will be slewed diagonally across the available space to eliminate the wiggles currently near Scours Lane.

Having looked at the relevant picture (and Google Earth), there were in fact two goods lines on the bridge. Hence it is unclear why the bridge deck needed widening, unless to extend a new deck to replace an old one. Or maybe tracks are now spaced further apart. Anyway, the bridge still sets the width limit in an obvious way at this point - though widening the formation to the west might in fact involve widening the embankment, and observing slope limits would mean a land take...

[paul7575]

Widening Wigmore Lane Bridge towards the north seems to have been allowed by a stand alone planning application, made back in 2008.   Available at the usual place under RBC^‡(resolve) reference 081025.    Looks like they explained on a single sheet of text that (presumably as a prerequisite to the new depot) they needed more room for the depot entry line, a track diagram suggests the points leading towards the depot are west of the bridge, and the extra width of the embankment is about enough for one track, which is shown with a significant gap between it and the then northernmost track of six.

Paul

[paul7575]

I wondered if rather than using it for Buddlia growth if the Reading West line could not continue further westwards - almost as far as Scours Lane - before joining with the reliefs ? Would this not be a better holding point for the long freights using that line - than perhaps, as is often the case now, being held on the curve ?

It perhaps would mean the lines from Reading West Curve diving under the main lines (name?) would not face being blocked by stationary freights.

I think the eventual junction between the west curves and the reliefs will be in the vicinity of the Little Johns Lane bridge, and that gives about 1500 yards of standage round to the junctions of the Feeder Lines and the west curve, which are pretty much as near the existing Oxford Rd Junction as they can be.     That should be ample for NR^» (Network Rail - home page)'s planned maximum train length which is about 700m?    Please excuse mixed measurements...   

Paul

[stuving]

I wondered if rather than using it for Buddlia growth if the Reading West line could not continue further westwards - almost as far as Scours Lane - before joining with the reliefs ? Would this not be a better holding point for the long freights using that line - than perhaps, as is often the case now, being held on the curve ?

It perhaps would mean the lines from Reading West Curve diving under the main lines (name?) would not face being blocked by stationary freights.

There is another answer to that question - that as no passenger services are foreseen to use the West Curve, no money should be spent on this. All the track layout is designed for intended services only. That does include "7-day-railway" and diversions, though only in a limited way, and diversionary use of the West Curve will be rare.