How To Recycle A Tunnel
Crossrail is Europe’s largest construction project and they are really upping their publicity this year, as the work begins in earnest.
I found this story with a video about the reusing of the Connaught Tunnel on the BBC’s web site. I wrote about this earlier.
It’s a fine piece of engineering and the associated project management.
The Flying Banana
As I was waiting for my train, an unusual yellow one passed through.
It looks like a High Speed Diesel Train, and it is actually a modified one called the New Measurement Train, which travels all over the network, checking track and electrification systems. Inspection is based on a thirteen week cycle. There is a detailed article on the train here in Construction News. And a video here.
You can see why it got its nickname.
In some ways it is a unique train, not only in the UK, but worldwide.
The Japanese and the French have similar trains for their high speed lines, but these are electrically powered, whereas the New Meaurement Train has two powerful diesel power cars. So as the British train is completely self contained, it can check any line in the UK, whether it is electrified or not. Where I saw it at Basingstoke, it was on a section of track, that uses third rail electrification.
As it is a High Speed Train, it can also be used at 200 kph on the East and West Coast Main Lines, thus testing them at their operational speeds.
Note that as the lines through the Channel Tunnel to London, are effectively built using French electrification standards, the French train is used to monitor those lines every two months. But it has to be diesel hauled through the tunnel.
It all goes to show that the High Speed Diesel Train will be laughing at us for a few decades yet.
The Sir Bobby Robson Bridge At Ipswich
The bridge spans the River Gipping at Ipswich.
It effectively connects the new housing on the west bank to the offices, waterfront and football ground on the other.
Note that the River Gipping becomes the Orwell at Ipswich. The name might come from the same source as Gippeswyk, the old name for Ipswich.
Hidden Heroes At The Science Museum
I went to see Hidden Heroes at the Science Museum yesterday. It was quite an interesting little exhibition documenting the stories behind a selection of everyday objects.
As you would expect most of the items shown, had been invented or designed in the major industrial countries like the UK, the United States, Germany, France and Sweden.
But what was surprising was that only one had been designed or invented by a woman. and that was the coffee filter, which was invented by a German housewife called Melitta Bentz. Could it be that she was fed up with her family’s comments on her bad coffee?
In some ways it’s strange, but one of Britain’s most successful and well-known female engineers of the mid-twentieth century, Tilly Shilling, made her name in the field of getting liquids to flow properly. She designed a device, which meant that the Merlin engines in Spitfires and Hurricanes could perform negative-G manoeuvres and thus not be shot down by German fighters.
Writing In An Oven Glove
Can you write or do delicate tasks in an oven or other form of protective glove?
This video shows me writing in an oven glove from Gloven.
It was surprising how much control I had. As an engineer, I feel that it has many applications in the wider world, outside of the kitchen.
Remember they also protect against the cold and one version has extra silicone grips.
I will definitely be getting a pair to help with my gammy hand in the kitchen.
And Here’s A Video
No visit to a museum like Markfield is complete without seeing the machine fully working.
Note how getting a machine like this going, isn’t just a simple matter of flicking a switch, but often involves quite a bit of physical work and gentle coaxing.
The Markfield Beam Engine
The Markfield Beam Engine sits in a park in Tottenham with a cafe and a rose garden.
It is well worth a visit.
A Wonderful Phrase – Meretriciously Obscurantist Techno Tosh
Roger Ford in Modern Railways today used this phrase to describe a letter written from Theresa Villiers about the new IEP train or SET (Super Express Train).
At the end of his article there is this paragraph entitled, Official VTAC figures for SET.
When you need reiable technical details you want an engineer on the job. So I am indebted to my Hitachi chum, Koji Agatsuma, who sent me Network Rail’s official Variable Track Access Charges (VTAC) for the Super Express Train just as this column was going to press.
With the driving pantograph car coming in at 10.95p per vehicle mile and the motored car with underfloor diesel engine costing 13.05p, the total VYAC for a nine-car bi-mode would be £1.07 per mile. So how did the DfT (Department for Transport) get £1.13 per mile for the five car bi-mode?
I would assume that civil servants and politicians can’t do arithmetic. I once met a senior advisor in the Treasury. He lived alone in a terraced house in Surbiton, couldn’t drive, ride a bicycle or swim and had as much real experience of British life, as the man on the Pyongyang omnibus. But he had got a first class degree from Oxford!
An Interview With David Linley
There was a wonderful interview with David Linley in the magazine section of The Times yesterday.
It is much more about design and making things than anything else. I like these quotes.
- Design doesn’t have to be expensive.
- Simple engineering stands the test of time.
- London is the best city in the world.
- You can decorate construction but never construct decoration.
- The ability to be observant is very important.
Everybody who aspires to design or make anything should read the article.
Planning for the August Bank Holiday
As I’ve said before, I hate bank holidays.
For next Monday though I have a plan. Whilst I was travelling in Tottenham, I saw on the map a building named as Markfield Beam Engine and Museum.
I shall be going as it is in steam on the Monday.
I could even go to the football in the evening at Ipswich!
But the aim is to enjoy myself and judging by the way they are playing at the moment, a team made up of eleven fit men in the North Stand could do better.
The Anonymous Widower 