My First Encounter With A Robot
Whilst in Bletchley, I saw this robot going about their business.
Note.
- The robot was from robotdelivery.co.uk.
- It was fascinating to see it cross the roads on the zebra crossings.
This idea might take off, as it is surely more environmentally friendly than a guy speeding up and down on a scooter.
Bletchley Viaduct – 15th March 2022
The Bletchley Viaduct is now complete and the extra platforms of Bletchley station are under construction.
This visualisation from East West Rail shows an idea for the new station.
It would appear the visualisation was taken from somewhere near the roundabout on the East side of the viaduct.
The Crossrail Article That Everyone Must Read
This article on Ian Visits is entitled A Sneak Preview Of London’s New Elizabeth Line Railway.
As the title of this post indicates, Ian’s article is very much a must read and it gives everybody something worthwhile to look forward to, after what has been the worst two years of many peoples’ lives.
The Crossrail Opening Date
There are a few more tests to do and Ian says the line could open a few weeks after Easter. With the Bank station upgrade apparently going well as I reported in Final Tunnelling Gets Underway On Bank Station Blockade and likely to open in mid-May, I wonder if TfL would prefer that the two projects opened at different times for management and operational reasons.
Easter is the 17th of April, and two weeks later is May Day, with the Bank Holiday on the Monday.
If they can do all the tests, there would be good reasons to open Crossrail on the first of May.
- It’s a different day to the opening of the Bank station upgrade.
- They would have two clear days to get Crossrail open.
- A lot of people will be going to Central London.
- Other Mayors would have organised a party.
- A Bank Holiday would give the new infrastructure a proper test with real passengers and lots of children.
- Crossrail could also help to cover for a late-opening Bank Station Upgrade.
If I needed to bet on it, my money would be on an opening on Sunday, the first of May.
The Bakerloo Line Link At Paddington Station
Ian writes this interesting paragraph.
Something though that was added to Paddington station after the funding was approved was a new direct deep tunnel link from the platforms to the Bakerloo line. London Underground contractors built the link, and Andy Lord suggested that they are considering opening up the link before the Elizabeth line opens fully as it would help with offering step-free access for Bakerloo line customers.
Many people find getting to Paddington difficult, as I do from Dalston.
I typically use some roundabout and slow routes and most end up with arriving at Paddington on the Bakerloo Line.
Opening the link early would have the following effects.
- It would make things a lot easier for me and probably many other passengers.
- It would add passengers to London’s least-used Underground line.
- It would add capacity to the Bakerloo Line station at Paddington.
It would also give a piece of the infrastructure, a good soak testing with real passengers and may flag up some changes that needed to be made to details like signage.
Opening The Liverpool Street and Moorgate Pedestrian Link
In London’s First Underground Roller Coaster, I described this link, which I believe will be used by more than just rail passengers.
I feel that like the Bakerloo Line Link at Paddington station, that this link could be opened early.
Conclusion
I can’t wait for Crossrail to open.
Union Demands Withdrawal Of All HSTs After Carmont Report
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railnews.
This is the first paragraph.
The TSSA union says it has written to the regulator demanding the immediate withdrawal of all surving HSTs, after new revelations in the Carmont derailment. report.
Manuel Cortes of the TSSA feels that the corrosion problem found in the train that crashed at Carmont, may be present in other trains.
He finishes with this this statement.
Frankly, it’s time to ban the HSTs. They were great in their day, but that day is nearly 50 years ago now and they simply aren’t up to modern safety standards.
I must admit, that I tend to agree with him, on this last point.
Scotrail have the following fleet of Inter7City trains.
- There are 52 Class 43 power cars and 120 Mark 3 coaches, which are arranged as nine four-car and seventeen five-car trains.
- The trains have sliding passenger doors.
- The trains meet all the regulations for Persons of Reduced Mobility.
- The trains have wi-fi and power points.
- They seem to run at up to 100 mph, as against the 125 mph for InterCity 125‘s in the past.
- The power cars have generally been reengined with modern MTU 16V4000 R41R diesel engines.
But they are now on average over forty years old.
In Battery And Hydrogen Trains For ScotRail ‘Could Make Scotland A Global Leader’ In Zero-Emission Transport, which is based on an article in the Scotsman with the same title, I said this.
Other points from the article.
- Talgo appear to have passed the story to Scotland on Sunday.
- Three routes are mentioned; Borders Railway, Fife Circle and Glasgow-East Kilbride.
- The new trains could help phase out diesel trains by 2035, which is Scottish Government policy.
- The Inter7City trains might be replaced by 2030.
- Talgo hopes to win an order for its factory in Fife.
Talgo’s Managing Director is quoted as saying, they are starting testing of a hydrogen and electric train with a range of 311 miles.
Consider.
- I wrote about this train in Talgo To Begin Fuel Cell Loco Trials.
- Talgo’s hydrogen and electric train would be ideal for Scotland’s railways of which only forty percent are electrified.
- A four or five-car high specification hydrogen and electric train would be ideal for the Inter7City routes, if it were built specifically for the routes.
- The range would cover all of Scotland.
- Hydrogen hubs are being planned all over Scotland.
- Scotland have 26 Inter7City trainsets.
This could be a rather nice order to fund the factory and test all the trains close to the factory.
- There could be as many as fifty trains.
- They would probably have an operating speed of 100 mph on electricity.
- Would the speed on hydrogen be 100 mph or perhaps a bit less?
- They would be able to use 25 KVAC overhead electrification, where it exists.
- They could have a length of three, four or five cars.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see three or four car trains for the suburban trains and four or five car trains for the Inter7City replacements.
It’s Time We Used Cyber Dark Arts To Foil Putin
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on The Times, which was written by Edward Lucas.
This is the first paragraph.
Breaking the Kremlin’s grip on the Russian people is the greatest national security priority of our lives. We cannot (or rather, will not) fight the Russian invaders in Ukraine. But we can fight inside Russia, using disruption and subversion to disable the war machine, ideally to the point that the country becomes ungovernable.
He suggests the following.
- Russian speakers could sow doubt about the regime’s lies and brutalities.
- Use the Russian diaspora to contact friends and relatives back home.
- Build and unleash a psychological warfare arsenal against Putin’s cocktail of crimes, lies and secrecy.
- Send condolences to family members for their losses in the war.
- Prepare Nuremberg for war crimes trials.
- Highlight the friendly treatment that Ukrainians give Russian deserters.
- Use wit as a weapon.
Edward Lucas then talks about the antics of Sefton Delmer in World War II. Wikipeda says this about him.
During the war, he led a black propaganda campaign against Hitler by radio from England. It was so successful that Delmer was named in the Nazis’ Black Book for immediate arrest after their planned invasion of Britain.
I suspect he was very good at his job. Two of his weapons were.
Aspidistra, which was a 500 kW radio station.
A daily “grey” German-language newspaper titled Nachrichten für die Truppe (“News for the Troops”). These leaflets were delivered by the USAF.
Edward Lucas says that we should all read Delmer’s autobiography, which is called Black Boomerang, which is now out of print and difficult to find.
Wikipedia gives this explanation of Black Boomerang.
When fighting entered Germany itself, black propaganda was used to create an impression of an anti-Nazi resistance movement.
At the end of the war in Europe, Delmer advised his colleagues not to publicise the work they had been involved in, lest unrepentant Nazis claim (as had been the case after the First World War), that they had been defeated by unconscionable methods, rather than on the battlefield. Consequently, former Nazis were able to claim, without contradiction, that they had assisted the fictitious resistance movement; Delmer described this unintended consequence as a “black boomerang”
Edward Lucas suggests reprinting Black Boomerang.
If someone has a good clear copy, I could possibly arrange it.
Demoralising The Russians
Edward Lucas believes, we can use similar techniques to Delmer to attack the Russians.
But instead of using a massive radio, he proposes using the Internet and its various messaging apps.
I suspect with a bit of arm-twisting Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft et al, could produce a very good list of Russian Internet users.
It might be against the law, but who cares? It’s a war out there, we’re not using the information to physically hurt anybody or steal anything of value.
News For The Troops
I believe we can go one better than Sefton Delmer.
We are dealing with Russians invading and occupying Ukrainian territory, where many of the inhabitants can certainly read Russian.
So could we develop a truthful leaflet, that is delivered across Ukraine to both Russian Troops and the Ukrainian population?
Delivery would be primarily by the Internet, but why not deliver it by drone?
Delivery from say 5000 feet would distribute the leaflets over a wide area.
Could We Go Candy Bombing?
Gail Halvorsen, who died recently was known as the Candy Bomber.
This is the introduction to his Wikipedia entry.
Gail Seymour Halvorsen (October 10, 1920 – February 16, 2022) was a senior officer and command pilot in the United States Air Force. He is best known as the “Berlin Candy Bomber” or “Uncle Wiggly Wings” and gained fame for dropping candy to German children during the Berlin Airlift from 1948 to 1949.
I think, his actions could be copied in Ukraine.
Consider.
- The Ukrainian people are starving in the occupied territories.
- The Russian soldiers aren’t doing much better.
- These days, we can supply nutrition bars instead of sweets.
- Automated drones could deliver them safely from 5000 feet.
- They could be flown on behalf of the Red Cross from over the border in Hungary, Moldova, Poland and Slovakia.
Organised properly, the Russians would have a problem.
- If they let the drones through, the siege will be broken in a small way.
- If they shoot them down, their soldiers won’t get the smallest snack and the Russians will be attacking the Red Cross.
We might lose a lot of drones, but eventually we’ll get the nutrition through, each wrapped in a large dollop of propaganda.
Battery And Hydrogen Trains For ScotRail ‘Could Make Scotland A Global Leader’ In Zero-Emission Transport
The title of this post is the same as that of this article in the Scotsman.
This is the first paragraph.
New fleets of cutting-edge trains expected to include battery and hydrogen power are to be ordered for ScotRail which the rail industry believes will put Scotland at the forefront of zero-emission transport.
Other points from the article.
- Talgo appear to have passed the story to Scotland on Sunday.
- Three routes are mentioned; Borders Railway, Fife Circle and Glasgow-East Kilbride.
- The new trains could help phase out diesel trains by 2035, which is Scottish Government policy.
- The Inter7City trains might be replaced by 2030.
- Talgo hopes to win an order for its factory in Fife.
Talgo’s Managing Director is quoted as saying, they are starting testing of a hydrogen and electric train with a range of 311 miles.
Consider.
- I wrote about this train in Talgo To Begin Fuel Cell Loco Trials.
- Talgo’s hydrogen and electric train would be ideal for Scotland’s railways of which only forty percent are electrified.
- A four or five-car high specification hydrogen and electric train would be ideal for the Inter7City routes, if it were built specifically for the routes.
- The range would cover all of Scotland.
- Hydrogen hubs are being planned all over Scotland.
- Scotland have 26 Inter7City trainsets.
This could be a rather nice order to fund the factory and test all the trains close to the factory.
Is there a better place to show off your new train to a prospective buyer than the Highlands of Scotland?
In A Class 319 Train, But Not As We Know It!, I told this tale.
I am reminded of a tale, that I heard from a former GEC manager.
He was involved in selling one of GEC’s Air Traffic Control radars to a Middle Eastern country.
The only working installation of the radar was at Prestwick in Scotland, so he arranged that the dignitaries and the sales team would be flown to Prestwick in GEC’s HS 125 business jet.
As they disembarked at Prestwick and walked to the terminal, the pilot called the GEC Manager over.
The pilot told him “The Scottish Highlands at this time of the year, are one of the most beautiful places in the world! Would you and your guests like a low-level tour on the way back? I can arrange it, if you say so!”
Despite knowing GEC’s draconian attitude to cost control he said yes.
The sale was clinched!
I’m sure that Talgo will exploit the scenery and the local produce.
Talgo’s Hydrogen Trains
This page on the Talgo web site, is entitled Talgo’s Hydrogen Train Will Be Ready In 2023.
This paragraph gives an overview of Talgo’s hydrogen power system.
This system is configured as a modular solution that can be installed on all types of trains, as well as in upgrades from diesel to hydrogen. However, it has been specifically designed for the Vittal platform for Commuter and Regional trains, which Talgo has presented in the bidding process for various tenders in Spain and other countries.
And these two paragraphs describe Talgo’s hydrogen trains in more detail.
This innovative system uses hydrogen batteries that provide the energy for the train’s electric motors. It is powered by renewable energy sources, such as solar photovoltaic or wind, which produce hydrogen that is stored and then used to power fuel cell-based propulsion systems, such as the one designed by Talgo. The system is complemented by batteries that increase the speed of the train when it starts, taking advantage of the braking system to recharge it.
Unlike the extended battery systems in the automotive industry, hydrogen (H2) technology is the logical answer to the needs of heavy transport and, in particular, of those railway lines that do not have catenary electrification systems, and which today depend on trains powered by diesel engines. The hydrogen system designed by Talgo enables conventional network lines to be “electrified” without the need for costly and lengthy adaptation operations, and without the use of fossil fuels.
What do they mean by hydrogen batteries? Looking at the German and the Spanish on the page, I think Talgo means hydrogen fuel cells.
The Rebuilding Of Ukraine
It should be noted that Talgo have sold trains in the past to Russia, which has a gauge of 1.520 metres, which lies between Iberian gauge of 1.668 metres and our standard gauge of 1.435 metres.
- Talgo have also sold trains to Germany, who use standard gauge.
- Talgo have built Strizh trains for Russia, that are both standard gauge and Russian gauge for running between Berlin and Moscow.
- According to the BBC and The Times, Ukraine’s railways have been an important lifeline during the Russian invasion, but pictures show they are in need of modernisation and more electrification.
- The Strizh trains or a development would surely be ideal for running between Kviv and Berlin, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw.
- There would also appear to be a need for a hydrogen and electric regional train to reconnect the country back together.
- Other countries using Russian gauge include Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland.
So are Talgo positioning themselves to take part in the modernisation of Ukraine’s railways, once the war is over?
- Development and testing is done in Spain and Scotland.
- Manufacturing could be done in Spain and Scotland.
- Delivery from Scotland could either be by ship or if they were dual-gauge trains, they could be hauled through the Channel Tunnel and then through Germany and Poland.
As Talgo has the technology, I can certainly see them exploiting the Russian gauge market once Vlad the Mad has gone.
Bachelor Searching For Wife On Tube Billboard Ad Reading ‘Best Indian Takeaway’ Flooded With Offers
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on ITV.
This is my picture of the poster at Oxford Circus station.
I hope he gets value from his investment.
Penge East Station – 11th March 2022
When I wrote Advance Warning Of Brixton To Beckenham Junction Rail Closure In July, I realised I’d never been to Sydenham Hill station.
So when I visited Sydenham Hill station this morning, I decided to take the train through Penge Tunnel to take some pictures of Penge East station.
Note.
- The station is a Grade II Listed Building.
- It has been well-painted since I last visited.
- It would be very difficult to make the existing bridge step-free.
I think this station could be difficult to incorporate into a Penge Interchange station.
But it would be a shorter walk along the platforms to a lift and stairs to the high level platforms, than the current one to Penge West station.
New HS2 Pilot Project Swaps Steel For Retired Wind Turbine Blades To Reinforce Concrete
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from High Speed Two.
These are the first three paragraphs.
Worn-out wind turbine blades destined for the incinerator will instead be used to create carbon-friendly reinforced concrete on Britain’s new high speed rail network, HS2 Ltd has said today (12.03.21).
The innovative project will swap steel rebar, traditionally used to reinforce concrete, with sections of glass fibre reinforced polymer turbine blades that have reached the end of their operational lives generating low carbon electricity.
By 2023, around 15,000 turbine blades will have been decommissioned across the UK and EU. Until now, expired blades have either been ground down to be used as building materials or sent to energy-from-waste incinerators.
Replacing reinforcing steel with sections of retired wind turbine blades is claimed to cut up to 90 % of the carbon generated by steel reinforcement.
It would appear to me, that this is a worthwhile process.
- In 2018, 295,000 metric tons of steel reinforcing bars were produced in the UK.
- Retired blades don’t end up in landfill or incinerators.
- Could we export them as eco-friendly reinforcing bars, to countries with smaller wind industries.
As we have more wind farms, than most other countries, we will probably have more blades to recycle, so perhaps we should research other secondary uses for these blades.
A Passing Loop At Ponders End
I can’t write Ponders End without smiling, as my mother was born in that district of Enfield and used to refer to herself in light-hearted moments as a Ponders Plonker.
The West Anglia Main Line, through Ponders End station is a busy line and Enfield Council want to have four trains per hour (tph) serving their new development at Meridian Water.
This page on the CPMS Group web site is entitled The Changing Face Of Rail Investment and it describes the solution to the capacity problem at Ponders End/Meridian Water stations.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Peter George, Meridian Water Programme Director, London Borough of Enfield, and Damien Gent, Managing Director, CPMS Infrastructure, talk about the ground-breaking work undertaken by the London Borough of Enfield to deliver the rail infrastructure needed to increase passenger capacity at the newly built Meridian Water rail station and regenerate brownfield land to make space for up to 13,000 new homes and create over 6,000 new jobs in North-East London.
The Meridian Water project has been split into three phases.
- Phase 1 of the project was the construction of the new Meridian Water rail station.
- Phase 2 was building the rail infrastructure which would support the increased rail traffic.
- Phase 3 was the regeneration of the area, the procurement of new homes and creation of new jobs.
Only Phase 1 has so far been completed with Meridian Water station opening in June 2019.
This paragraph describes the complexity and solution to Phase 2.
The complexity of Phase 2 of the project was very high. The West Anglia mainline is one of the most congested routes into London. Consequently, the team had to find a way to reconcile increased capacity and trains stopping at Meridian Water station with ensuring high speed trains could still pass through the station seamlessly. This was a very challenging task. The solution which received the most support and proved the most viable was to install a new passing loop, approximately 1700 metres of new track at Ponders end, and to create a bi-directional section on the mainline heading towards London, as well as to implement broad changes to the signalling, telecoms and Overhead Line power systems to align with the new track position. This infrastructure solution provides the capacity within the rail network to then consider the timetable changes required to increase the frequency of services calling at Meridian Water.
It does seem that the web page is getting a bit ahead of reality.
But there is also this article on the Enfield Dispatch, which is entitled Boost For Rail Services At Meridian Water.
This is said.
Plans to boost rail services at Enfield Council’s £6billion Meridian Water regeneration scheme have taken a step forward.
The council has agreed a construction deal to create a passing loop at Ponders End Station, which will allow four trains per hour to serve Meridian Water Station, which was opened in June 2019.
The loop will enable fast trains on the West Anglia Main Line to overtake stopping services at Ponders End Station, allowing more trains to stop at Meridian Water, which is presently only served by two trains per hour towards Stratford.
To secure funding the works need to be completed by the end of March 2024.
A Visit To Ponders End Station
I went to Ponders End station this morning.
This Google Map shows the station.
Note.
- The Brimsdown Ditch on the East side of the station.
- The footbridge spanning both the railway and the road.
- The footbridge has ramps for step-free access.
- I suspect that the platforms will take a 240 metre train.
These pictures show the station
Note.
- The station serves the Lee Valley Regional Park and the Lea Valley Athletics Centre, so it probably needs lifts in an ideal world.
- The bridge seems to be built high enough for a track or even two to pass underneath.
- There seems to be plenty of space between the railway tracks and the A1055 road.
I wonder if a very simple solution is going to be built.
Consider that the distance between the two stations either side of Ponders End station is 3.2 miles or 5150 metres. So if the loop is placed symmetrically around Ponders End station to the East of the station, that would mean that the loop started and finished around 1700 metres from Brimsdown and Meridian Water stations. The Brimsdown Ditch could be put in a culvert, if more space were needed.
A Southbound express after passing through Brimsdown station would then take the loop between the platform and the road at Ponders End station and then cross over to the main line after the station.
I could envisage the Southbound express path through the three stations, being as straight as possible for several hundred metres through Ponders End station, with very gentle curves to connect to the current Southbound track at each end.
To access the Southbound platform at Ponders End, there would be two crossovers from the loop to the track through the station at each end of the station. As the train would be stopping or accelerating away, when it crossed between the passing loop and the station track, it could be done at a much slower speed.
There will be no problem for Southbound represses overtaking a stopping train sitting in Ponders End station. The loop would be very simple and I suspect Network Rail have enough expertise to design it for perhaps 100 mph. The sharpest changes of direction would only be performed by the stopping train at a much slower speed.
But surely, a Northbound train will need to overtake a stopping one.
Could this be done at Meridian Water station by stopping the Northbound stopping train in Platform 3 at the station and allowing the Northbound expresses to overtake through Platform 4?
It would need a couple of crossovers either side of Meridian Water station and bi-directional running through Platform 3 at the station.
Conclusion
How many small rail schemes like this, that unlock housing and job opportunities could be accelerated by better design, management, planning and cooperation between stakeholders.
The Anonymous Widower 