Open House – The Thames Tunnel Revealed
Because it was Open House, the floodlights were left on in the Thames Tunnel today. I took these two pictures.
I did intend to take some more on my way back, but I was rather delayed.
Perhaps it would be a good idea, if Transport for London, lit up some of the disused stations on the Underground, so they could be seen from passing trains on the Open House weekend.
Walking From Manor House To Harringay Green Lanes
According to Wikipedia this is considered to be a walkable interchange between Manor House and Harringay Green Lanes stations between the Piccadilly and Gospel Oak to Barking lines.
Yesterday I walked it from the Manor House end and took these pictures.
It was a reasonably easy walk, as it’s all downhill. It was also very pleasant going into and out of Finsbury Park and past a cafe and a nursery, that sold plants.
Note the Manor House Pub, which was famous in the 1960’s for its rock music.
Coming back, I took a bus from Harringay Green Lanes to the Angel to do some shopping.
Why Are These Containers On the London Overground?
The North London Line of the London Overground is not only a passenger route, but a main freight artery.
Why Are These Containers On the London Overground?
As I waited at Homerton station today, this long train of boxes passed through.
Many of these trains are going to and from the Port of Felixstowe and the West Coast Main line. As the North London line, is the only electrified route between the Great Eastern Main line and the West Coast Main line, there is virtually nowhere else the trains can go.
The main new route will be a more direct line from Felixstowe to Nuneaton. But this route is not complete yet and there are no plans to electrify it, so it may need an engine change or two. It also requires reversing at Ipswich, due to the nature of the track layout, where the Felixstowe branch joins the main line.
There is also an alternative route via the Gospel Oak and Barking line of the London Overground. This takes four freight trains an hour and by-passes eight stations on the North London line. But unlike the North London line, it is not electrified.
This problem is going to get worse when London Gateway, a new port on the Thames east of London starts operating in late 2013. Trains to and from London Gateway will probably feed in directly to the Gospel Oak and Barking line, via the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway.
As to the size and number of trains, read this press release from DB Schenker, who will be handling the rail traffic. Here’s an extract.
The agreement will see DB Schenker Rail introduce at least four rail freight services a day (four in, four out), subject to volumes, and will serve a range of inland terminals including potential new UK locations. Additional rail freight services will be introduced in the future.
DB Schenker Rail will also pursue the development of rail freight services from London Gateway to mainland Europe using the Channel Tunnel.
Something most certainly needs to be done! In the meantime, I certainly wouldn’t buy a house that backed on to either the North London or Gospel Oak to Barking Lines.
The Hackney Stations Link
The councillor involved in transport has replied that Network Rail and Transport for London are actively pursuing plans for a possible pedestrian link between the two Hackney stations, similar to that, that existed before the Second World War, with the aim of completion in 2014. They included this old photograph, taken in 1928.
The amount of steel in the bridge was probably the reason it was taken down. After all there was a war on!
This could be the same bridge today.
The Bridge Taking The West Anglia Main Line Over The Overground
The track layout is slightly different and there is no trace of the footbridge. Judging by the modern-looking support at the right, it could have been rebuilt.
An Excursion South Of The Sewer
I ventured well past the big sewer this morning, travelling underneath it on the Overground, through the Thames Tunnel to New Cross Gate station. The other side though, was far from dry.
Rain and Few Bus Shelters South of the Sewer
You can tell too, it’s South London, as the bus stops don’t generally have shelters. It also always rains, when I go there.
My destination was the cafe called With Jam and Bread.
With Jam and Bread in Lee Green
It was good and the gluten-free orange, chocolate and almond cake, I had with my coffee was excellent.
From my point of view, the cafe has another advatange. It has its own bus stop both ways, so is easy to get to.
New Lifts At Camden Road
Stannah have been working hard again and new lifts have now been installed at Camden Road station on the Overground.
It couldn’t have been the easiest job, but despite that, the fitting of the lifts into the ground floor, seems to have been done in a manner which shows due respect to the building.
Let’s hope that more and more stations get the Stannah treatment! Especially those dreadful ones down the Lea Valley like Bruce Grove, White Hart Lane, Stoke Newington and many others.
The New Lifts At Hackney Central Station
The lifts at Hackney Central station are now complete and working.
As they are made by Stannah, I hope they’re not just for the elderly?
You’ll notice too, that it wasn’t raining this morning, when I took the pictures. Usually it rains hard, when I catch a train at this station.
Olympic Walking Routes
Yet again last night, I feel victim to the badly laid out walking routes away from Olympic sites.
From the Olympic park, they always assume you want to get away on the Jubilee line to the centre of London, so late at night they always ban you from going to Stratford, where they funnel everybody across the bridge to the station. As I want the Overground out of Stratford, it’s very difficult for me. They want everybody to walk to West Ham. It’s probably quicker and easier to get to Dalston from Welwyn Garden City, than it is from West Ham.
Let’s face it, the Jubilee line is about as useful to me, as a chocolate teapot.
In the end last night, I walked to Eaton Manor Gate and then found I just missed the W15 bus, I needed to get to Hackney Central for any number of welcoming buses home. I should have taken the Victoria Gate and walked through the park for a 277 or 30. But hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I had a similar problem at ExCel trying to get to the cable-car, where you had to walk twice the length of the Excel building to get going in the right direction. Wasn’t the Emirates Air-Line supposed to be an important part of the Olympic transport network?
I can only assume that Olympic travel routes were drawn up by someone who doesn’t walk or use a bus and probably lives in Houston. They certainly didn’t bring the 488 bus into their thinking, despite the fact that Transport for London said they extended the route to Dalston for Olympic purposes.
They certainly made it difficult for those who live close to the stadium and just a couple of Overground or Underground stops away difficult.
The New Little Waitrose at Highbury and Islington
It opened yesterday and I was impressed.
The only thing I couldn’t find of my staple purchases was the Waitrose goat’s milk. But surprisingly they had the Genius bread and the Genius fruit bread, which is rather difficult to get elsewhere. There was also gluten-free biscuits and cakes.
It will be a great help for me, as often I come out of Highbury and Islington station after coming home on the Victoria line. So at least I won’t starve.
I was impressed, and the average coeliac could do a lot worse round here. If anybody is going to the Olympics on the London Overground, it will be a good place to pick up a picnic. You could even go round the corner and eat it in Highbury Fields, which is rather a smart little park.
The Anonymous Widower 