How Many Cars Can You Get In A Station?
This morning, I took this sequence of pictures in Denmark Hill station.
Note.
- The train had started at Toton
- The train was going to Dollands Moor in Kent.
- The train would then be transhipped through the Channel Tunnel.
- It will be a distance of 207.4 miles in the UK. Will that be classed as delivery mileage only?
I did think about calling this set of pictures – Japanese-designed cars, built in Derby, going between Toton and Europe, via Denmark Hill.
1.2 GW Rampion 2 Offshore Wind Farm Granted Development Consent
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
The UK has granted development consent to Rampion 2, the proposed 1.2 GW extension to the 400 MW Rampion offshore wind farm in Sussex. The Development Consent Order (DCO), issued by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on 4 April, will come into force on 28 April.
Rampion 2 is one of a number of extension wind farms that are listed in this list on Wikipedia.
They include.
- Awel y Môr which is a 500 MW wind farm, that is adjacent to the 576 MW Gwynt y Môr wind farm
- Five Estuaries, which is a 353 MW wind farm, that is adjacent to the 353 MW Galloper wind farm
- North Falls, which is a 504 MW wind farm, that is adjacent to the 504 MW Greater Gabbard wind farm
- Outer Dowsing is a 1500 MW extension to the 194 MW Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farm.
- Rampion 2 is a 1200 MW extension to the 400 MW Rampion wind farm.
- Seagreen 1A is a 500 MW extension to the 1400 MW Seagreen 1 wind farm.
- Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Extensions, which is a 353 MW wind farm, that is adjacent to the 575 MW Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon wind farms
In total 3780 MW of wind farms are being increased in size by 4406 MW.
A parcel of seven web sites have been more than doubled in size. Is this more efficient to do them this way, as some resources from the previous wind farms can be shared and better use can be made of resources like ships and cranes?
I feel that some serious project management may have been done.
Development To The West Of The North Entrance Of The Silvertown Tunnel
This Google Map shows the site to the West of the North entrance of the Silvertown Tunnel.
Note.
- The red arrow indicates City Hall.
- There is a large site between the DLR and the river.
- The Docklands Light Railway separates the site from the North entrance of the Silvertown Tunnel.
- The CEMEX Thames Aggregate Wharf seems to occupy part of the site.
This picture shows the North entrance of the Silvertown Tunnel from the cable-car.
It is surely a site with development potential, as Roy Brooks would say.
It will probably be used for more tower blocks along the Thames.
But could it be used for a coach station to handle the increasing number of coaches between London and the Continent?
- A Docklands Light Railway station could be built to serve the site.
- Thames Clippers could also serve the site.
- Coaches could use the Silvertown Tunnel to start their journey out of the capital.
I added these pictures, that were taken of the site from the Docklands Light Railway, a day later.
The site certainly has development potential.
Silvertown Tunnel Works From The Cable Car – 6th April 2025
As the Silvertown Tunnel opens tomorrow, I thought I’d take a last few pictures before the tunnel is filled with traffic.
Google AI describes the distinctive green conical building in many of the pictures like this.
The distinctive green conical building at the Silvertown Tunnel entrance in Newham is a services building housing essential tunnel maintenance and operation equipment, placed on a green landscaped plinth above the tunnel entrance.
Compare these pictures with those in Silvertown Tunnel Works From The Cable Car – 8th January 2025.
This Google Map shows the North entrance to the Silvertown Tunnel.
Note.
- The red arrow indicates City Hall.
- Just to City Hall’s East is the Northern cable-car terminal.
- A dual-carriageway A 1011 Silvertown Way separates City Hall from the North entrance of the Silvertown Tunnel.
- The City Airport branch of the Docklands Light Railway forms a Western border to the North entrance of the Silvertown Tunnel.
- You can always trust politicians to make it easy for their drive to work.
Click on the map to show it to a larger scale.
The 7 Largest Dow Jones Net Drops In American History
Somebody posted these as a comment on The Times.
- 16th March 2020 -2,997.10
- 12th March 2020 -2,352.60
- 9th March 2020 -2,013.76
- 11th June 2020 -1,861.82
- 4th March 2025 -1,679.39
- 11th March 2020 -1,464.94
- 18th March 2020 -1,338.46
All were when Trump was president.
Somebody else said, That he’s good at losing other people’s money!”
Another added. “Trump is also good at losing his own!”
Alzheimer’s Expert Was Treated Like A Heretic Until Now
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article in The Times.
This is the sub-heading.
For decades Professor Ruth Itzhaki believed there was a link between Alzheimer’s and the virus that causes shingles, and has just been vindicated
These two paragraphs outline an amazing story.
Ruth Itzhaki does not, she says, refer to it as her time “in the wilderness”. When she reflects on the decades investigating — often almost alone — whether Alzheimer’s could be triggered by viruses, she prefers a different term. “I’d call it, ‘repeated burning as a heretic at the stake’. ” For much of her career she was treated “contemptuously”.
Today, as yet another study finds that the shingles vaccine appears to cut dementia risk, that has changed. At a stage in life when most researchers are retired, Itzhaki, an emeritus professor at Manchester University, finds herself reviewing studies from around the world. She is treated with contempt no more. But, she says, it has not been fun. “I just have to stop myself from being bitter.”
Sad to say, it is not an unusual story.
This was the comment, I appended to the Times web site.
There was a wonderful BBC Panorama about a Glasgow Veterinary professor, who believed the messenger of the body was an oxide of nitrogen, at least twenty years ago.
He was ostrasised for being a heretic.
Eventually, he was proved to be right.
I might have exposed how a simple treatment for stroke is ignored in the UK.
I was found to be coeliac at fifty and Addenbrooke’s hospital said that I should have B12 injections every three months.
In my sixties, I had a serious stroke and if I lived in the States, I would have been given B12 injections to aid my recovery. But that simple treatment is not used here, as it is considered American quackery.
However, several doctors have said, I have made a remarkable recovery. Was that because of the B12 injections, I still have?
More research needs to be done and I’ll travel anywhere to help any doctor, who is doing serious research.
It could just be, that as a London Mongrel, I have more survival genes, than a small field of Japanese Knotweed.
I should add, that as the date of my next B12 injection approaches, I can almost feel, the various parts of my body fighting for what little I have left.
But what do I know? I’m just a slightly crazy engineer/scientist and mathematician, with no medical training, who has been given an unusual body to investigate.
Moorgate’s New Light-Controlled Crossing – 5th April 2025
I was on Moorgate this morning and took these extra pictures of the new pedestrian crossing.
It will certainly make it easier to cross the road.
Council’s Boost To Aln Valley Railway Expansion Plan
The title of this post is the same as that of this news item from Northumberland County Council.
This is the body of the news item.
Northumberland County Council has agreed to assist the Aln Valley Railway in Alnwick to extend its rail line and expand its tourism offer in the town.
The county council has agreed to repair and adopt a bridge which is crucial to the expansion plans of the Aln Valley Railway Trust which is working towards the ultimate aim of extending the track from Alnwick to Alnmouth Station.
The Trust is wanting to continue laying track past Eden Hill Bridge which is currently owned by The Historic Railways Estate (part of Highways England). However, the Estate won’t allow the passage of trains under the bridge as it would impose maintenance obligations and costs onto them.
To overcome this hurdle and assist the popular tourist attraction , the county council, as the highways authority, has agreed adopt the bridge which has an unclassified road (U3203) running over it and to repair the bridge so that it can then give consent to the railway to lay track and ultimately operate trains under the bridge.
To bring this masonry arch bridge up to adoptable standards will cost in the region of £255k. One of the main areas of work that is needed is to install a waterproofing concrete overslab to eliminate the current water ingress. Extensive repointing together with masonry repair works are also needed on the bridge arch.
There is a Wikipedia entry for the Alnwick Branch Line, where this is the first paragraph.
The Alnwick branch line is a partly closed railway line in Northumberland, northern England. A heritage railway currently operates along one mile of the line, which originally ran from Alnmouth railway station, on the East Coast Main Line, to the town of Alnwick, a distance of 2+3⁄4 miles (4.4 km).
This OpenRailwayMap shows the route of the Alnwick Branch Line between Alnmouth and Alnwick.
Note.
The blue arrow in the South-East corner of the map indicates Alnmouth station.
The orange line curving through Alnmouth station is the electrified East Coast Main Line between Newcastle and Scotland.
The dotted line curving away North-West from the East Coast Main Line is the route of the AlnwickBranch Line, which leads to Alnwick in the North-West of the map.
The blue text indicates the the two stations of the Aln Valley Railway.
Greenrigg Halt is nearest to the East Coast Main Line and Lionheart is nearest to the town.
The road encircling the town of Alnwick is the A1 Alnwick By-Pass.
This Google Map shows the area between Alnmouth station and Alnwick.
Note.
- Alnmouth and its station is in the South-East corner of the map.
- Alnwick is in the North-West corner of the map.
- The A1 crosses the North-West corner of the map.
- The line of the Alnwick Branch Line can be picked out crossing the map diagonally.
Click on the map to show it to a larger scale.
The Wikipedia entry for Alnmouth station says this about the ambitions of the Aln Valley Railway to connect to the East Coast Main Line.
The Aln Valley heritage railway has long-term ambitions of extending its running line to Alnmouth station[10] from its current terminus at Greenrigg Halt.
This picture shows a Stadler RS-ZERO.
Could one of these powered by hydrogen shuttle between Alnmouth station and Alnwick? Probably, but it’s not powered by steam!
An Orange Pig
I found this on the Internet.
The Tamworth pig breed is known for its distinctive ginger or red-gold coat, making it a pig breed that can indeed be orange.
Where are the Tamworth Two these days?
SSE Files Plans For 100 MW Pumped Hydro Scheme
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on reNews.biz.
This is the sub-heading.
Proposal aims to convert iconic Sloy Power Station into storage facility by end of 2030
These three paragraphs outline the proposals.
SSE has submitted plans to the Scottish Government for the 100MW Sloy pumped storage hydro scheme.
The plans would see the existing Sloy Power Station – a conventional hydro power station – on the banks of Loch Lomond converted into a pumped storage hydro scheme with a pumping capacity of up to 100MW.
If given the green light, the converted Sloy scheme would be capable of delivering up to 16GWh of long-duration electricity storage capacity.
SSE intend to make an investment decision by late 2027 and this is said about increasing capacity.
As part of the planning application, SSE Renewables is also proposing to upgrade the existing 32.5MW G4 turbine to match its sister units, which would increase the station’s generating output by 7.5MW to 160MW.
This appears to be a world-class example of canny Scottish engineering.
The project would turn the current 152.5 MW hydroelectric power station into a 160 MW/16 GWh pumped storage hydroelectric power station.
Not a bad transformation, that was opened three years after I was born.
The Anonymous Widower 