Last Night’s Lunar Eclipse
I didn’t see the eclipse here in London, but my son saw it in Cairo, where incidentally the BBC showed it on the television this morning. It looked fairly spectacular and extremely beautiful.
Is This Really Signal Failure?
Trains through Watford Junction are not running this morning, supposedly because of a signal failure, according to this report. Here’s a snippet.
A spokesman for Network Rail said they were trying to identify the reason for the failure but ruled out cable theft.
But are Network Rail just being politically correct. When I was in York last Saturday, the taxi drivers had it that all of the cable theft was down to a particular group of people.
There is certainly a lot of failures and theft going on. And it’s not just on the railways, as this report from Selby shows.
The other thing that was interesting from the Watford Junction failure report in the Manchester Evening News, was the headline.
Commuter misery as signalling fault causes cancellation of Manchester to London trains
Surely they weren’t refering to those that commute from Manchester to London. It’s an awful long way.
Bailing Out Barbara’s Folly
The Humber Bridge is one of those bridges that ;looked good on paper and to the politicians, but quite frankly it is now becoming an expensive folly. Wikipedia says this about its creation.
The Humber Bridge Act, promoted by Kingston Upon Hull Corporation, was passed in 1959. This established the Humber Bridge Board in order to manage and raise funds to build the bridge and buy the land required for the approach roadsHowever raising the necessary funding proved impossible until the 1966 Hull North by-election.
To save his government, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson prevailed upon his Minister of Transport Barbara Castle to sanction the building of the bridge.
I know quite a few people, who either lived or worked on both sides of the Humber and to a man and a woman, none of them ever use the bridge. I myself, have only used it a couple of times to get to Beverley horse races in the past, but on the last time I went, I took the M62 from Doncaster, which is an easier route.
I suppose too, that the bridge was used to try to unify the unwanted and short-lived county of Humberside, which was abolised in 1996.
I think that the telling statistic is that the Humber Bridge only carries about 120,000 vehicles every week, whereas the similar-sized Runcorn-Widnes bridge carries 80,000 vehicles every day.
Why should we bail out a bridge that no-one seems to want?
It would be better to spend the money in providing better services, where they are actually needed, rather than expect people to cross the bridge to say get advanced medical treatment.
There is a possible long-term solution to the bridge, that has been ducked for years and that is to create a road from the M11 up through Cambridge and Lincolnshire to join the bridge and create an alternative route north to by-pass the congested A1.
I suspect it will never be built, as container traffic is moving successfully to the railways and building roads is now something that no government feels they want to do. Correctly in my view!
What would happen today, if the Humber Bridge was being designed now?
It is interesting to look at the new designs for the new Forth Road bridge. Not only have they taken pressure off the crossing, by building a new bridge further upriver, they have gone for a much simpler and less grand design, if the pictures I saw in Scotland recently are anything to go by. But then the Forth Road bridge has been a success in terms of the traffic carried. This could not be said for the Humber bridge.
The Humber bridge was a badly planned bridge, built for political reasons and now it sits like a white elephant around everybody.
I suspect that the best solution at some point would hae been a modern ferry for local traffic, given that most long distance traffic into the area uses the good east-west roads.
But ferries aren’t sexy, are they? Given that those on the Mersey and the Thames still run and are much loved, I suspect that might have been the best solution.
But now it is too late!
So now we’re left with the problem of what to do with the bridge and its financing!
Looking at the map, I wouldn’t rule out that a new crossing is build to the north of Scunthorpe to improve northern connections to that town, which is suffering somewhat at the moment. After all, transport in the whole area needs improvement, with decent rail links to London, the Midlands and the North.
Perhaps the biggest mistake was not to make the Humber bridge, one that carried both road and rail! I do sometimes think, that someone wanted to design or build the longest bridge in the world. If they did, they created a white elephant.
A New Bus For London
Last night, I went to a presentation by Stuart Wood of Heatherwick Studio at the London Transport Museum of the proposed New Bus for London. Stuart is the lead designer, who is working in partnership with Wrightbus, who will actually be building the new buses.
A Routemaster, an RT and a New Bus for London
This picture shows the bus alongside two of its predecessors, the Routemaster and an RT. I probably travelled on more RTs, than any other bus, as I used the 29 or 29A to get to school for several years.
When I first saw pictures of the bus, I must admit I wasn’t sure that the three-door, two-staircase design would work. In fact, as the talk revealed, it is one of the design strengths as it enables all of the parts of the hybrid-drive system to be kept out of the useable space, with the battery and fuel tank under the front staircase, the engine/generator under the back one and the electric motors inside the rear wheel arches.
What did surprise me, was that some of the things, they’d have liked to have done, fell foul of the various regulations. For instance, they would have liked to have the handrails in bare metal, as on the original Routemaster, but regulations mean they must stand out, so that those with limited vision can see them. In the end they used a light yellow-gold colour.
Rear Lower Deck Layout
This picture shows the handrails in the proposed layout at the back of the lower deck over the rear axle. Note the high seat backs in this picture on the back-to-back seats over the rear axle. One of the design ideas here was to create some slightly better seats and as there are two groups of four, they also have the advantage of being suitable for families or friends travelling together.
In fact the interior design can be described as quirky in some ways.
- Both staircases are glazed, with the rear one being curved. They are infinitely better than those on the French TGV Duplex trains, which are straight and dark.
- I actually feel that for someone like me with a limited left hand, that I would use the rear staircase to ascend to the top deck, as this would mean I’ll be better balanced. I have climbed onto the top deck of a Routemaster since my stroke and found it not too difficult.
- The design also incorporates a love-seat at the top of the rear staircase, just like the old RT did. I can’t say, I’ve ever sat there on the top deck of a Routemaster, but did a lot on the old 29’s to and from school.
- The rear downstairs seating as the picture showed is definitely quirky with high-backed seats and groups of four. In a way the groups reminded me of how my mother would put me at the age of six on a 107 at Oakwood to go to my aunt’s for piano lessons, on the longitudinal seats of an RT. The conductor would look after you. Although the buses may have conductors at times, these seats might well become family seats, for say father travelling with three or more children.
- I said three or more children, but as the seats all over the bus, are of a bench design, three small ones could easily sit together.
- I also think that those like me, wo do their shopping on the bus, will like the seating, as a bench design will allow you to share a bench with your shopping. I do this regularly on a 56 or a 38 from the Angel, when I return from Waitrose, on the half-empty buses in mid-morning.
So have they designed a bus for all people?
- It has a large capacity that will mean it should be a good commuter bus.
- The large amounts of glass and good visibility might make it a sightseeing bus on central routes.
- The layout is family friendly in my view. For energy saving reasons we must get children to like public transport.
- I do a lot of shopping on the bus. Does it fulfil that role?
- The seating on the lower deck, might encourage people to use buses for longer distances. I used to go miles as a child on the 107 to visit relatives. Now, there is no way other than to drive. But if the bus is comfortable, quiet and spaceous, would people be tempted to use it, in these times of high-energy costs?
Only time will tell if the concept works. But I like it!
What Should We Call the Cycle Path by the Cambridge Busway?
It would appear that the long-suffering cyclists of Cambridge, have decided to give a name to the cycle path by the much delayed Cambridge Busway.
Help them choose in this poll.
As this is a very serious matter, those that spoil their papers will be banned from using the cycle way.
The E-Type is Fifty!
That amazing style icon of the 1960’s, the E-Type Jaguar is now 50. There a report here.
A Day At The Races
It was a good day, despite the fact that we didn’t win any bets, but we had a good place sitting in the sun, with a good view of the course and a big screen.
It was a pity too, that the Queen’s horse, Carlton House, didn’t win, but then she would have said something like. “That’s racing!”
The only problem we had was that the train had to stop at East Croydon, so we had to change there for Tattenham Corner. So the train was rather crowded and we were fifteen minutes later than we should have been.
If I go again, I’ll also plan the picnic better and probably take a rug.
Off to the Derby Today
I’m off to the Derby today to give my support to the Queen. Just as her judges have given Kieren Fallon a handicap. Is he riding? If not, this must help Carlton House.
I’m taking the 11:45 from London Bridge, which is free as Tattenham Corner station is in zone 6, so that’s Freedom Pass territory. It’ll be just £25 an adult to get into the cheap enclosure with atmmosphere. I will probably put my returns from William Hill on the Tote Placepot.
The New Bridge at the Bow Interchange
I finally made it and about ninety minutes after I left Bromley-by-Bow station I arrived at the new bridge.
I shall return in a couple of months, when it hopefully will make crossing the busy roads at the Bow Interchange a lot easier.
Back to the Bow Interchange
I walked along the Greenway and then turned onto the towpath of the westernmost tributary of the River Lee. It was more about exploring than with any purpose, although I did think it would lead to my finding of the new bridge.
In the end I found it led to Bow Road and Bow Interchange, which is perhaps a kilometre from Bromley-by-Bow station.
The Anonymous Widower 