Saltburn Station – 28th October 2020
I paid a quick visit to Saltburn station.
I would have had a bigger look round, but time was tight.
The reason the time was tight, was a classic example of what you get with a rail route, with only one train per hour (tph). The next train would have meant, I’d missed my train to London and would have had to buy another ticket.
This Google Map shows the station.
Note.
- There are two platforms.
- The station appears to be close to the Town Centre.
- There is a branch leading South to the Boulby Mine. This branch is used to handle the output of the mine, which is polyhalite and rock salt.
These are my thoughts.
Four tph Between Darlington And Saltburn
Four tph is planned between Darlington and Saltburn.
- Two platforms at Saltburn will surely help.
- All intermediate stations have two platforms.
- The route is double track all the way, except for the approach to Darlington station.
I discussed the approach from the East to Darlington station in Darlington Station – 28th October 2020 and suggested that a dive-under is needed to allow the following.
- High speed trains can make a fast approach and departure from the new high speed platforms at Darlington.
- Saltburn to Bishop Auckland services to avoid crossing the East Coast Main Line on the flat to access Platform 4 at Darlington.
- Darlington and Saltburn services to sneak under the East Coast Main Line and access Platform 2 at Darlington.
There may also need to be some track modifications to the North of Darlington station, but as there are two tph between Bishop Auckland and Darlington to accommodate, the modifications would probably be less extensive.
Charging Battery Electric Trains At Saltburn
I doubt that this would be essential, as Middlesbrough is only thirteen miles away, but there is surely space to fit in one of Vivarail’s Fast Charge systems in the station.
Passenger Services On The Boulby Mine Branch
If housing is developed around Saltburn, this could be a possibility at some time in the future.
This was the route of the Whitby, Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway, which was closed in 1958 and then reopened to Boulby Mine in the 1970s.
There were originally two stations between Saltburn and Boulby; Loftus and Grinkle.
In a section of the Wikipedia entry for the railway called The Railway Today, this is said.
In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line between Saltburn and Loftus which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments)
I wouldn’t be surprised to see a passenger service on this route.
This Google Map shows the Boulby Mine and the Coast.
Note.
- The Boulby Mine is at the Western side of the map.
- The village of Staithes has strong connections to Captain Cook.
- The original railway. that ran South of the site of the mine through Staithes and on to Whitby is now a walking route.
I wonder if there should be a station close to the mine.
Conclusion
There is a lot of potential to improve the railway between Middlesbrough and Saltburn.
Could A Gravitricity Energy Storage System Be Built Into A Wind Turbine?
On Thursday, I watched the first programme in a BBC series called Powering Britain. This programme was about wind power.
The program had close-up views of the inside of a turbine tower in the Hornsea Wind Farm in the North Sea. The spacious tower enclosed a lift for engineers to access the gubbins on the top.
In the Wikipedia entry for wind turbine, there is a section, with is entitled Most Powerful, Tallest, Largest And With Highest 24-Hour Production, where this is said.
GE Wind Energy’s Haliade-X is the most powerful wind turbine in the world, at 12MW. It also is the tallest, with a hub height of 150 m and a tip height of 260m. It also has the largest rotor of 220 m and largest swept area at 38000 m2. It also holds the record for the highest production in 24 hours.
Two certainties about wind turbines are that they will get larger and more powerful, if the progress over the last few years is continued.
So could a Gravitricity energy storage system be built into the tower of the turbine?
A lot would depend on the structural engineering of the combination and the strength of the tower to support a heavy weight suspended from the top, either inside or even outside like a collar.
To obtain a MWh of storage, with a height of 150 metres, would need a weight of 2,500 tonnes, which would be over three hundred cubic metres of wrought iron.
Gravitricity are talking of 2,500 tonnes in their systems, but I suspect the idea of a wind turbine, with a practical level of storage inside the tower, is not yet an engineering possibility.
Horden Station – 28th October 2020
I took these pictures at the new Horden station, as I passed through.
Probably, the most significant fact about this station, is that it was built quickly.
Megawatt Charging System Set To Rapidly Reduce Fuelling Time For Commercial EVs
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Electric Autonomy Canada.
This is the sub-title.
An international task force says their recent high power “charge-in” event has yielded promising results with successful testing of novel connector prototypes that could overhaul the long-haul industry.
The problem of charging heavy freight trucks is a big market in North America and it seems that the event attracted some big players, like ABB, Daimler and Tesla.
- In the trucking industry, speed and range count for a lot.
- Trucks need to be charged during a driver’s rest break of about thirty minutes.
- In the U.S., transport made up 28 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.
- Charging lots of trucks on typical state-of-the-art car chargers would probably crash the system.
The Megawatt Charging System aims to solve the problems.
How Would It Work?
This paragraph from the article, outlines the problems.
But how, one may ask, could such a massive electrical draw — as much as 4.5 megawatts — be supported by a grid, especially when the usage scale is not just one truck charging up, once a day, but thousands of 18-wheelers rolling and charging across the country.
The MCS Task Force seem to be suggesting that these systems will work as follows.
- A large battery or energy storage system will be trickle charged.
- The truck will be connected and the electricity will flow into the truck.
- It could all be automated.
It sounds very much like Vivarail’s Fast Charge system, which uses batteries as the intermediate store.
As an Electrical and Control Engineer, I would use a battery with a fast response.
I think I would use a Gravitricity battery. This page on their web site describes their technology.
Gravitricity™ technology has a unique combination of characteristics:
- 50-year design life – with no cycle limit or degradation
- Response time – zero to full power in less than one second
- Efficiency – between 80 and 90 percent
- Versatile – can run slowly at low power or fast at high power
- Simple – easy to construct near networks
- Cost effective – levelised costs well below lithium batteries.
Each unit can be configured to produce between 1 and 20MW peak power, with output duration from 15 minutes to 8 hours.
Teeside’s Refurbished Trains
On my trip around Teeside, I took four trains.
There was none of the usual rubbish, that I have endured in the North like this scrapyard special at Carlisle.
All trains were refurbished Class 158 trains.
They were a lot better, with tables and clean, working toilets.
But will they get replaced with hydrogen or updated to zero-carbon trains?
Hydrogen Trains
In Fuelling The Change On Teesside Rails, I talked about the local services on Teesside being run by a fleet of hydrogen trains, based on an article in RAIL Magazine.
But the order has not been placed and it must be getting tight if trains are going to run in a few years.
There was this report in the November 2020 Edition of Modern Railways, which is entitled Tees Valley Hydrogen Hub.
This is the first paragraph.
Mott MacDonald is to create a masterplan for the development of a hydrogen transport hub in the Tees Valley. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps made the announcement as he travelled on the HydroFLEX on the 29th of September.
It appears the masterplan could be published in January and would cover several modes of transport.
Battery Electric Trains
There have been developments in the battery electric train field over the past few months.
Hitachi at Newton Aycliffe and Hyperdrive Innovation at Sunderland have partnered up to produce Hitachi’s Regional Battery Train. Three-car trains based on Hitachi’s Class 385 trains would be ideal for trundling around the North East.
The trains would need charging and what better charging system is there than Vivarail’s Fast Charge system? And they could be produced at Vivarail’s factory at Seaham just up the coast towards Sunderland.
As I indicated in £100m Station Revamp Could Double Local Train Services, where I said this about the location of chargers to power battery electric trains in the Tees and the Tyne.
There will need to be strategically-placed battery chargers around the North-East of England. These could include.
-
- Hexham
- Nunthorpe
- Redcar or Saltburn – This would also be used by TransPennine Express’s Class 802 trains, if they were to be fitted with batteries.
- Whitby
If Grand Central did the right thing and ran battery electric between London and Sunderland, there would probably be a need for a battery charger at Sunderland.
It appears that Adrian Shooter of Vivarail has just announced a One-Size-Fits-All Fast Charge system, that has been given interim approval by Network Rail.
I discuss this charger in Vivarail’s Plans For Zero-Emission Trains, which is based on a video on the Modern Railways web site.
Vivarail might just have another card or should it be train to play.
In the video, Mr. Shooter discusses using Vivarail’s technology to convert British Rail era diesel multiple units to battery electric trains.
Northern have already refurbished the Class 158 trains, so it would surely be an economical route to convert them to battery electric operation.
Northern Announce On Train Permit Scheme For Scooter Users
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
This is the opening paragraph.
A new scheme has been launched by train operator Northern which will allow mobility scooter users to travel to and from over 100 stations on the network.
Sounds like if you live in the North and have a mobility scooter, you should investigate the scheme.
Middlesbrough Station – 20th October 2020
I took These pictures at Middlesbrough station on my trip to Teesside.
These are my thoughts on the station.
Station Track Layout
This Google Map shows the layout of the station.
Note.
- The pair of freight lines passing around the North side of the station.
- Platform 1 is the Westbound platform on the South side of the tracks.
- Platform 2 is the Eastbound platform on the North side of the tracks.
Both platforms would appear to be about 150 metres long, which is long enough for a five-car Class 80x train, but not for a 234 metre long nine-car train.
Period Features
The station has a lot of period features, like cast-iron columns and brackets, and good Victorian stonework.
Much seems to have received good TLC.
Northern Entrance
I have seen comments about improving the Northern entrance on various web sites.
It certainly, isn’t in bad condition.
Improving The Station
In £35m Station Transformation Launched By Tees Valley Mayor, I wrote about the current plans to transform the station. I started with these paragraphs.
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has announced (June 9th) a £35m transformation of Middlesbrough Station to transport more train services to the town, including the first direct rail link to London in decades.
The Rail Technology Magazine article indicates that Platform 2 at Middlesbrough station will be extended to handle Azuma trains. As the current platform looks to be around 150 metres long and this would be long enough for a five-car train, does this mean that in the future nine-car and ten-car Azumas will be able to run services to Middlesbrough?
Having seen since I wrote the related post, that Hull station has handled some nine-car Azumas, I feel that although five-car Azumas could probably use Middlesbrough station, it would seem prudent to make it possible for the longer trains to call.
Let’s suppose Middlesbrough, were playing a big London club in an important post-pandemic FA Cup match. LNER might want to run a nine-car Azuma to Middlesbrough to accommodate extra passengers.
Charging Battery Trains
LNER and TransPennine Express could be running battery electric Class 800 and Class 802 trains to Middlesbrough and/or Redcar Central stations.
This Hitachi infographic describes their Regional Battery Train, which can be created by adding batteries to the current trains.
With a range of 90 km. or 56 miles, these trains could be able to reach Middlesbrough from the electrification on the East Coast Main Line at Northallerton.
With most journeys, they should have sufficient energy in the battery to return without trouble.
But it would probably be prudent to have charging at Middlesbrough and/or Redcar Central to ensure a safe return.
These pictures were taken from the Eastern end of Platform 2, which is down to be lengthened.
Note.
- The freight lines behind Platform 2.
- There is plenty of space beyond the end of Platform 2.
- There appears to be space for a reversing siding with a charger.
I am sure that a suitable form of charging can be provided on Platform 2 at Middlesbrough station.
Conclusion
Middlesbrough station could be turned into a big asset for the town.
Permali To Develop Composite For Fuel Cell Retrofits
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Power Train Technology International.
This is the two opening paragraphs.
Composites engineering specialist Permali has won UK government funding to develop a lightweight composite solution, which is aimed at allowing existing diesel-powered buses to be retrofitted with zero-emission hydrogen powertrains.
According to the company, its R&D team, located at its main site in Gloucester, will be working on this development project in collaboration with hydrogen and fuel cell specialist company Arcola Energy and the UK National Composites Centre (NCC). The partnership is initially aimed at buses, but the new technology concept should be transferable to a wider range of vehicles, such as heavy-duty goods vehicles, trains and even aircraft.
That is an impressive introduction.
I shall be watching Permali.
HS2 Slab Track Contract Awarded
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Business UK.
This is the opening paragraph.
Project promoter High Speed 2 Ltd has awarded a consortium of Porr UK and Aggregate Industries UK the contract to design and manufacture modular slab track for HS2.
The article also says that with the exception of tunnels and some specialist track, all track will be slab track.
What is slab track and why is it used?
These pictures show slab track on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line.
This is obviously not due to high speed, but because space is tight.
This page on the British Continuous Paving Association web site, is entitled Why Build Slab Track?
This is the two opening paragraphs.
Slab track, also called ballastless track, is a modern form of track construction which has been used successfully throughout the world for high speed lines, heavy rail, light rail and tram systems.
Slab track technology offers proven higher performance in service and a longer life than traditional ballasted track.
The article also lists these benefits.
- Very low maintenance requirements
- Shallow construction depth
- Reduced dead load
- Reduced structure gauge
- Higher speed operation
- Engineered noise and vibration performance
- Long design life
- Increased reliability
- Increased availability
- Low whole-life cost
- A sustainable solution
Increasingly, slab track is being used for high speed railways, so I am not surprised it will be used on much of High Speed Two.
Darlington Station – 28th October 2020
I went to Teesside to have a look round yesterday.
These are my thoughts on Darlington station.
Platform 1 And Platform 4
These pictures show the two main platforms at Darlington station.
Note.
- They are affectively a very wide island platform.
- Platform 1 handles all trains going South and East to Middlesbrough and Saltburn.
- Platform 4 handles all trains going North and West to Bishop Auckland.
- The platforms are well over 200 metres long.
- Both the main platforms have a second track, between the current track and the walls of the station.
- Both main platforms have a large clock.
- Platform 1 has some innovative seating.
- Uniquely, there is a London Rail Map on the London-bound Platform 1. Every London-bound platform needs a copy of this map, but they are very rare.
They appear to handle all the current services easily.
There is certainly a lot of space to improve the station.
Station Structure
The station stricture is probably best described as grand, stylish and Victorian and it appears to be in good condition.
- The tracks through the station are enclosed in two large brick walls.
- A roof of the period, is supported on the walls and a number of perhaps forty cash-iron columns.
These pictures give a flavour of the station.
There must be few better station structures than Darlington in the UK and as it is Listed Grade II*. I would expect this is recognised by English Heritage.
The Southern Bay Platforms
There are two bay platforms at the Southern end of the station.
There were bay platforms at the Northern end, but these have now been removed.
I wonder, if these two bay platforms could be invaluable in the expansion of services both on the Tees Valley Line and generally in the area.
Current plans envisage the following.
- Four trains per hour (tph) between Saltburn and Darlington.
- Two tph between Darlington and Bishop Auckland.
One obvious way to achieve this objective would be to do the following.
- Run two tph between Saltburn and Bishop Auckland. These trains would run as now with Saltburn services using Platform 1 and Bishop Auckland services using Platform 4 at Darlington station.
- Run two tph between Saltburn and Darlington. These trains would use Platform 2 at Darlington station.
The advantages of this are.
- To get to Middlesbrough or Saltburn, you would go to the island Platform 1/2, as you do now.
- To get to Bishop Auckland, you would go to Platform 4, as you do now.
- If battery trains were to be used the bay platforms would be ideal for a Vivarail Fast Charge system
There would probably need to be some changes to the tracks serving Platform 1 and 2.
Other possibilities might include.
- Darlington might also be a useful terminal for a service to Whitby via Middlesbrough.
- Using the station as a Northern terminus for an Express Parcels Service from London.
Lengthened platforms able to take a five-car Class 802 train, could be useful for service recovery.
The Western Pedestrian Entrance To The Station
Darlington Town Centre lies to the West of the station and these pictures show what probably was a very grand entrance to the station connected to it by a subway.
This Google Map shows the size of the entrance.
It is one of those buildings that would be described by a certain breed of estate agent, as having development potential.
- There are no lifts to the subway.
- It could be turned into a retail experience.
- Does the clock tell the right time?
- Buses were signposted in this direction, but there appeared to be little information.
Surely, it could be turned into an asset to both the railway and the town.
The Southern Approaches To The Station
These pictures show the Southern approach to the station.
The Tees Valley Line to and from Middlesbrough and Saltburn joins to the South of the station and trains going to Bishop Auckland have to cross over the two tracks of the East Coast Main Line.
This Google Map shows the track layout just to the South of the station.
Note.
- The Southern ends of the platforms can just be seen at the top of the map.
- Platforms are numbered 1 to 4 from West to East.
- The two avoiding lines going past the East side of the station.
- The yellow train is one of Network Rail’s Mobile Maintenance Trains.
The Mobile Maintenance Train was parked in the same place yesterday, as this picture shows.
The second Google Map shows Darlington South Junction, where the Tees Valley Line from Middlesbrough joins the East Coast Main Line.
These two maps indicate the problem of train operation at Darlington.
A train between Bishop Auckland in the West and Middlesbrough and Saltburn in the East, can sneak down the Southbound East Coast Main Line and take the Tees Valley Line to continue on its way.
But a train going the other way, needs to cross both tracks of the East Coast Main Line on the flat, which means precision working by drivers and signallers, to avoid causing delays to both main line and local trains.
I suspect all the following are true.
- The number of London and Scotland expresses will increase.
- London and Scotland expresses will be running faster.
- The number of freight services on the route will increase.
- The number of services between Bishop Auckland and Saltburn will increase from the current hourly only service.
- High Speed Two will eventually start to run services between London and Birmingham, and at least as far North as Newcastle
All will make the need for improvements South, and probably North, of Darlington station increasingly important.
Could it be that the simplest solution would be to create a dive-under?
- It would only need to be single-track.
- It could probably be built without affecting current services, as was the Acton dive-under.
- There would appear to be plenty of space.
It would only need to allow trains from the Eastern branch of the Tees Valley Line to access Platform 4 at Darlington station.
High Speed Two Is Coming
High Speed Two is coming to Darlington and I wrote about that in £100m Station Revamp Could Double Local Train Services.
This was my conclusion about what will happen to services at Darlington in that post.
I think that this will happen.
- The Tees Valley Line trains will be greatly improved by this project.
- Trains will generally run at up to 140 mph on the East Coast Main Line, under full digital control, like a slower High Speed Two.
- There will be two high speed platforms to the East of the current station, where most if not all of the High Speed Two, LNER and other fast services will stop.
- There could be up to 15 tph on the high speed lines.
With full step-free access between the high speed and the local platforms in the current station, this will be a great improvement.
So what will the step-free access be like?
The young assistant in WH Smith told me that a hole will be made in the wall on the East side of the current Platform 1.
It does seem that a new bridge could reach over all the platforms with an entrance for the Town Centre in a refurbished Western entrance.
Passengers would arrive by high speed train every few minutes from the South, Newcastle or Scotland.
- Those for the Town Centre would walk across the bridge and exit the station in a refurbished Western entrance.
- Those needing onward local train travel would descend into the current station to catch another frequent train.
- Hopefully, there would be space somewhere for a bus station.
It would be a real gateway station for Darlington.
The Anonymous Widower 