The Anonymous Widower

Open House – Crossness

I’ve been to Crossness before, but a guy named Rodney, kindly gave me a lift to one of London”s two cathedrals of sewage, I decided to accept it. The other cathedral is Abbey Mills.

It was heaving with people and the only low point was waiting for the mini-bus in the heavy rain, to get the train home.

September 24, 2012 Posted by | World | , , , , | 10 Comments

London’s Freight Problem

I have hinted in my ramblings around the North London and Gospel Oak to Barking lines, that London has a rail freight problem, which mainly concerns getting large numbers of long heavy freight trains,  to and from London Gateway and the Haven Ports in the east and the West Coast and Great Western Main lines in the north and west.

Without repeating what London Reconnections have done, I would suggest, that before you pontificate down the pub, you read their three part analysis.

Part 1: Reshaping the Network

Part 2:The Freight Must Flow

Part 3: A Quart Into A Pint Pot

The title of part 3 sums up the problem so well.

At the present, all I can see that more and more freight traffic is going to pass through London.

For my own part, I would never buy any house, that was anywhere need the North London or Gospel Oak to Barking lines, as the noise problem is going to get horrific.

The following should also be done as soon as possible.

There should be electrification of the Felixstowe to Nuneaton rail line , so that freight trains from the Haven Ports to the Midlands and the North don’t have to go via London. This would have the benefit of opening up paths on the Great Eastern Main line and also making services from East Anglia to the Midlands electric-hauled.

The Gospel Oak to Barking line should be electrified.  There are always good environmental reasons for electrification, but here the main reason is that replacing noisy diesel engines with quieter electric ones will reduce the noise substantially.

But these will only be stop gap measures and surely in around 2020, the problem of getting the freight through is going to get worse.

Something radical will need to be done.

September 24, 2012 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , | 3 Comments

Open House – SELCHP

SELCHP or the South East London Combined Heat and Power energy recovery facility, is a refuse incinerator, that generates up to 35 MW of electricity. I went for a look round during the Open House weekend.

It’s a long time since, I’ve been given free rein in an industrial plant. The last one that generated power was probably Cliff Quay or Sizewell A. Or it certainly was in the UK, although I have visited two others in the US; AEP Cook and Beaver Valley.

The site was impressive and I think they do a good job, getting rid of London’s rubbish. For those who object to incinerators on principle, it can’t be that bad, as they have now got resident peregrine falcons to keep down the number of pigeons. All I can find is this in a forum.

There’s also a bird of prey of some sort that nests at SELCHP, the incinerator opposite Millwall football ground. They provide it with special nesting boxes. Apparently, the high, bare walls look like the cliffs that are its natural habitat!

But the building probably looks no different to peregrines as does Tate Modern.

September 23, 2012 Posted by | World | , , , , | 5 Comments

Open House – The Limehouse Hydraulic Accumulator

Rather a unique building available for view was the Limehouse Hydraulic Accumulator.

I managed the climb up the tower quite easily and as you can see some pictures were taken of the view from the top.

The machinery in the tower was originally built by William Armstrong and was used to provide hydraulic pressure to the cranes and other machinery around the docks.

September 23, 2012 Posted by | World | , , | 3 Comments

Around The Limehouse Basin

From Ilford station, the one for TUCA, I took the train to Stratford from where I took the DLR to Limehouse station, where I walked around the Limehouse Basin.

My goal was to find another building open today in Open House; the Limehouse Hydraulic Accumulator.

September 22, 2012 Posted by | World | , , | Leave a comment

It’s Open House Weekend!!

I’m following an engineering theme this weekend.

Saturday

  1. Bond Street Crossrail Station
  2. TUCA – London’s University of Hole Digging
  3. Limehouse Accumulator Tower

Sunday

  1. SELCHP
  2. Crossness Pumping Station

Obviously, I may add some more.

September 21, 2012 Posted by | World | , , | Leave a comment

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.

September 21, 2012 Posted by | World | , , , , | 3 Comments

Is This £300m Home Unlucky?

It’s reported in the Standard that a house is being sold for £300m in London.

As the two previous owners died prematurely, would you want to buy such an unlucky house?

I wouldn’t even if I had the money.

And if I did, I certainly would spend that amount on a house.

September 13, 2012 Posted by | News | , , | 2 Comments

Bicycles On The Emirates Air-Line

Although, they say it’s possible on the web site, but I’d never seen bicycles being carried across on the cable-car before today.

As you can see, the seats tip up and the bikes are strapped in by the attendant.

I was in the gondola behind and there was no hold-up at all.

September 9, 2012 Posted by | Transport/Travel, World | , , , | 1 Comment

Signing Off In Style

I suppose that when you’ve gone, it doesn’t really matter to you.

But surely this is the way to go. Especially with such a pair of beautiful and well-behaved horses.

The undertakers are called W. G. Miller, which I often pass on the Essex Road. My father was W. E. Miller and signed his articles and letters in technical journals as WEM.

August 30, 2012 Posted by | World | , , | 3 Comments

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