5,120 Tonne Loading Test Above Moorgate Tube Station
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on IanVisits.
Ian’s article is a fascinating insight into how the foundations of some new tower blocks will be tested.
It is a must-read.
Northumberland Park Station – 22nd October 2018
Northumberland Park station is coming on.
It’s going to be a complicated steel construction.
Some people will like it! Other’s won’t!
I do suspect though, that there will be some superb photographs of this station, when the light is similar to how it was today.
The New Bridge At Tottenham Hale Station – 22nd October 2018
The new footbridge at Tottenham Hale station is being constructed.
It looks like the station should be finished by the middle of next year.
The Victorian Roof At Farringdon Station
Farringdon Station is Grade II Listed and has a Victorian roof dating from 1865. The roof is not a grand but a very practical affair.
As the pictures show, it won a Railway Heritage Board Award in 2015.
I wonder if Barbican station had a similar roof, as you can still see the remains of crudely cut off trusses, not unlike the those remaining at Farringdon station.
If the Barbican station roof should ever be recreated, perhaps something like the one, I wrote about in The New Roof At Crystal Palace Station could be used.
The two stations could be a tribute to Ancient and Modern
A Tribute To Victorian Engineering
These pictures of the Berrmondsey Dive-Under, were taken from a train going between London Bridge and East Croydon stations and eventually on to Uckfield.
I think we are seeing the creation of a piece of superb railway engineering, that although the Victorians did brick arches and interwoven viaducts all the time, creating them now is all too rare.
It doesn’t appear to be a simple struct. But then Wikipedia says this about it.
With the completion of Borough Market Viaduct to the west of London Bridge, Thameslink trains will use the pair of tracks to the north, and Charing Cross trains will use the new pair of tracks to the south. At present, northbound Thameslink trains arrive into London Bridge to the south of the Kent lines. Construction work will be undertaken to the east of London Bridge so that Thameslink trains from the Brighton Main Line can use a grade-separated crossover to avoid impeding trains from Kent bound for Charing Cross.
Services to Charing Cross on the Kent lines will be diverted slightly south in the vicinity of Trundleys Road onto the route of the former branch line to Bricklayers’ Arms. They will then slope up alongside the Brighton Main Line just north of South Bermondsey station. Thameslink trains in both directions will cross over the Kent lines on a new bridge, meeting the existing alignment just north of Jarrow Road.
Simple it isn’t!
I am pleased to see that it looks like they are building some new arches under the lines. Look at the last four pictures!
We Think We Have Problems With Rail Viaducts
Some of the most impressive structures on the UK’s railways are the Victorian brick viaducts.
- Digswell Viaduct on the East Coast Main Line at Welwyn.
- Dollis Brook Viaduct is the highest point on the London Underground.
- Dutton Viaduct on the West Coast Main Line.
- Imberhome Viaduct is on the Bluebell Railway.
- Kingsland Viaduct is my local viaduct on the East London Line.
- London Bridge – Greenwich Railway Viaduct in South East London is one of the oldest.
- London Road Viaduct on the East Coastway Line in Brighton
- Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle Line is regularly featured in newspapers, often with steam trains on the top.
- Royal Border Bridge on the East Coast Main Line at Berwick-on-Tweed is Grade 1 Listed.
- Sankey Viaduct was built in the 1820s, is Grade 1 Listed and is considered the earliest major railway viaduct in the world.
- Stockport Viaduct is the largest brick structure in the UK.
- Welland Viaduct is on the Oakham to Kettering Line.
All of this small selection are still in use on the railways and are Grade II Listed or better.
Many have been renovated at great expense in the last few years and I was prompted to write this post after reading this article on the Network Rail web site, which is entitled Bridges improvement plan for Cheshire will revitalise landmarks. This is said.
Network Rail will refurbish four bridges and two viaducts during an 11-day closure of the Crewe to Manchester and Sandbach to Northwich railway lines, from 13 to 24 February 2016.
The vital work will make the railway safer and more reliable for passengers, motorists, pedestrians and canal users across the county.
Two of Cheshire’s most well-known architectural landmarks, the Grade-II listed viaducts at Holmes Chapel and Peover, will have a full makeover as part of the programme. Water stains on the walls of both viaducts will be removed, damaged brickwork repaired and both structures waterproofed.
At the same time, Network Rail engineers will undertake strengthening work to the Hungerford Road bridge in Crewe, Shipbrook Road bridge in Rudheath, and to the Whatcroft underbridge and the Trent and Mersey Canal bridge in Davenham.
In some ways all this work is a tribute to those Victorian engineers and bricklayers, who designed and built them in the first place.
But it’s an awful lot of work to do!
So I asked myself, if these structures are a uniquely British heritage.
Google and Wikipedia revealed this article about the Göltzsch Viaduct on the Liepzig-Hof Line in Germany. This is said.
It is the largest brick-built bridge in the world, and for a time it was the tallest railway bridge in the world.
As you can get a direct train from Liepzip to Hof, I think, it is still one very much in use.
I think next tme, that I’m in the area, I shall visit.
Whitechapel Station – Steelwork Against The Sky
I took these pictures of the structures above the East London Line at Whitechapel station, as it is being rebuilt for Crossrail.
I do hope that when the station is completed, that a lot of the roof is clear to let in the natural light.
This image from the Crossrail page for Witechapel station gives hope.
I once wrote Is Whitechapel Station Going To Be The Jewel In The East?
We’ll see in a couple of years!
Abraham Cruzvillegas At The Tate Modern
I took these pictures at the new Abraham Cruzvillegas installation in the turbine hall at the Tate Modern. It is called Empty Lot
I quite like it and it’ll be interesting to see if it grows on the visitors!
I shall be going back!
Up Close And Personal With Kings Cross Station Roof
I was walking on the balcony at Kings Cross station to board my train to Stirling, when I took these pictures of the roof.
Did the architect design the building, so that passengers could look at the intricacies of the roof?
Could The Various Lines At Brixton Be Connected?
In their Transport Infrastructure Plan for 2050, Transport for London are proposing a Brixton High Level station.
As they have also proposed interchanges at also Brockley and Penge in the plan, I suspect they have found expertise and equipment to create multi-level stations, where lines cross, in an affordable manner.
The problem at Brixton is best explained in this Google Map.
Brixston Station
The line across the middle of the map carries Overground services to and from the terminus at Clapham Junction, whereas the two merged lines go off roughly north-westerly towards Victoria. The southerly of the branches goes south towards Herne Hill, whilst the northernly branch going towards Loughborough Junction. This schematic from Wikipedia may explain it better.
Lines Through Brixton
The Overground, Thameslink and the Victoria Line are shown in orange, pink and blue respectively.
The only conclusion that is worth saying is that it’s all very complicated. The big advantage that they now have compared to a few years ago, is that much better 3D design software is available.
In TfL’s plan a rough estimate of £25million is given for each of these interchange stations. Some will cost less and some will cost more.
I think Brixton will not be one of the more affordable stations, although it could be one with a high return.
There are various options for connections at Brixton and TfL will probably limit the interchanges to the ones that are most used.
For instance, would there be much point in linking the Victoria Line to the services between Victoria and Orpington, as they both serve Victoria?
Also, as after this summer, the big constraint on frequency on the Victoria Line will be the reversing of trains at Brixton. Under Future Projects for the Victoria Line, Wikipedia says this.
For many years there have been proposals to extend the line one stop southwards from Brixton to Herne Hill. Herne Hill station would be on a large reversing loop with one platform. This would remove a critical capacity restriction by eliminating the need for trains to reverse at Brixton. The Mayor of London’s 2020 Vision, published in 2013, proposed extending the Victoria line “out beyond Brixton” by 2030.
I would suspect this will be done in the near future, as it both increases Victoria Line capacity and it gives an alternative link between the Victoria Line and services between Victoria and Orpington.
Brixton Underground station has recently been refurbished and is pretty-much step-free from the street.
So it would appear that substantial improvement at Brixton could be achieved by creating a High Level station linking the various lines together and perhaps using an iconic lift tower to the ground.
Brixton needs an iconic creation to go with the vibrancy of the area, that doesn’t destroy everything. This could be the High Level station. Having seen the way that the walkway was threaded through at Hackney, I think there are at least one set of engineers and architects up to the challenge.
Brixton doesn’t need a boring station, but one that is exciting, bold and supremely practical for passengers and staff.
