Where The Great Eastern Was Built and Launched
Brunel’s most famous ship, the Great Eastern, wasn’t built in Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow or on the Tyne or Tees, but on the Thames at Millwall. If you take the DLR to Island Gardens station and then walk along the Thames Path towards the City, you’ll see a sign pointing you to the Great Eastern Launch Site. It’s shown in these pictures of the Launch Site itself.
The Great Eastern was so large it was actually launched sideways, as the river wasn’t wide enough for a traditional launch. It was also pushed in by scores of hydraulic rams, as it was reluctant to move. It is said that these rams, built by Tangye, launched that company as well.
A Video of the Thames Tunnel
I went back to the Thames Tunnel on the East London line and took a video of an approaching train.
The video was taken from the same place where I took the still images in Wapping station.
Looking At the Thames Tunnel
The Thames Tunnel is the oldest underwater tunnel in the world and was built between 1825 and 1843 by Marc Brunel and his more famous son Isambard. It is now used to carry the East London line under the Thames and you can actually look into the tunnel from the platforms at Wapping station.
I was looking from the Northbound platform, just by the exit and the stairs that lead up to the street. When the station was designed, they decided to put protective railing to stop you failing on the line, but these do not obscure the view down the tunnel as the train approaches.
Pushed By Roger and Pulled By Isambard
On Saturday on my journey to Ipswich the Class 90 engine pushing the train to Ipswich was named.
Class 90 Named Roger Ford
So who is Roger Ford? Roger is a respected writer on the railways of Britain and writes extensively in the magazine, Modern Railways. On Wikipedia, there is a link between the magazine and these engines.
Through 2006 and 2007 reliability has improved greatly: in 2007 the whole fleet won the ‘Silver Spanner’ from Modern Railways for the most improved main line fleet reliability in the UK.
I doubt that Roger would have allowed his name to be used for the engine, if it was anything to do with the award! The story is here on the National Express East Anglia web site. I wonder what will happen, when the company loses the franchise in the next few months. But then they inherited the engine and its name from Virgin, so hopefully for Roger’s sake, he’ll continue to push the Ipswich/Norwich expresses up the hill to East Anglia.
On Day 37, coming back from Swansea, I was pulled by another named engine. This time a Class 43.
Class 43 Named Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Whether the pusher at the other end of the train was named, I didn’t know. But surely the Brunel nameplates, are the only ones that feature a top hat!
The Infrastructure’s The Star
On the one hand I watching athletics on the BBC in the centre of Newcastle amongst all of the bridges and the iconic buildings. It’s called the Great North City Games.
On the other hand, I’ve just had an e-mail describing the Sound Tracks Festival in East London, which is taking place at three main venues and you get between them on the East London line. Someone has remarked that it’s quicker to get between stages, using the train, that walking through the mud at Glastonbury. And of course there’ll be acoustic acts, including bands and a harpist on the connecting trains. I wonder what the Brunels would have said, if they’d known that their Thames Tunnel, would be transporting mobile concert halls between the two sides of the river.
We now have some fantastic pieces of infrastructure, both new and old and we should be imaginative about how we use them.
The Dark At The End of the Tunnel
After the walk, we were taken into the original entrance of the Thames Tunnel.
This large chamber is one of the original caissons that were sunk so that the tunnel could be excavated. Note the remains of the staircase and the soot from steam trains on the walls. You could also hear the London Overground rumbling beneath your feet.
The Brunel Museum will be improving the access to this chamber, which until recently hadn’t been open for about a 150 years
Walking Along The Thames
On Tuesday night I took a guided walk along the Thames from Bermondsey station to the Brunel Museum at Rotherhithe. The walk is described here.
These pictures were taken as we walked along the river.
The guide was excellent and the trip was well worth the eight pounds it cost.
The Brunel Museum
The Brunel Museum is just a short walk from Rotherhithe on the East London Line and is well-signposted from there.
The Brunel Museum
It is a small museum with some good displays about Isambard Brunel and his often forgotten father, Marc. It is well worth the entrance fee of £2.
One of my most favourite books is the biography of Isambard Kingdom Brunel
The Anonymous Widower 