Bridge that Gap: Great Central Railway News

One up phil from davo
Now to the 2nd stage , well done seen as though the south yorkshireman used
To use the G.C.R. from bradford exchange to maryleborne to london and change engines from a L.Y.R. LOCO to G.C.R. LOCO at penistone from neepsend sheds to london. Ile support the project. Best wishes Davo 56F L.M.

 

A quick visit today showed no crane! But also no Lattice girders in place....And no capstones.

So I suspect the capstones were removed but a combination of Canal trust approval to temporarily close the canal whilst the girder lift takes place and the probability that the crane was booked elsewhere has run them out of time. Another day's crane hire before the job is done......

 

The pictures haven't come through Phil-they appear to be on railforum which requires a login, so they can't be linked to directly.

Keith

 

Sorry Ghost, they appear on my screen and on others?? I have tried to delete and repost but no joy so I will post again now.

 

And here is the other picture:-

Note the girder does go down a bit more.....but not quite enough it seems.

 

Oops! Someone probably won’t be getting a bonus this year...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for posting the pic @Flying Phil they've come through this time. They are appearing on your screen because you are logged in to the source website.

Thanks

Keith

 

Looking closely at the picture I wonder if it is the rivet heads causing the problem.

 

It looks like a difference of several inches, although the camera can be misleading.

Keith

 

Hi Keith
The camera shot is a bit misleading as the girder was still being lowered at that point. It really was VERY close to going in! But having a 40foot girder, swinging from a 110 foot high crane over a canal, I can quite understand why they paused the operation....I'm not sure how they got it out last year though, but I suspect the bridge itself was a tiny bit lower with the corroded supports. All the new steel on the bridge and Lattice girders has probably made all the tolerances close-up....to too little clearance.

 

When was the bridge deck last lifted? I wouldn't be surprised if the abutments moved a bit too when unweighted. Have they left the bridge there? I wouldn't be surprised if it could be eased in after the abutments have had a chance to get used to the weight again. (although it is that close, they probably want to think about expansion gaps

 

Hi Bikermike
I am quite sure the abutments have not moved. To repair the bridge, each corner has been lifted in turn ( a few cm only) using the large cantilever beam shown earlier. It seems to be the height of the ends of the lattice girder. Now the capstones are off, they can drop the lattice girder straight down and then re seat the capstones rather than go in from the inside.

 

The crane returned and both lattice girders are in place. They were just tightening the last bolts so the crane can be released.

The Canal Bridge looks very good!

 

Apologies if this has been covered before but I can't find the info anywhere.

I assume that if/when the two GCRs are joined up this will mean at least the removal of the current Loco shed. I've seen, and am tempted to make a donation to the Loco Shed Appeal, to honour my Grandad who drove for the GCR/LNER/BR, but where is the new shed actually going to be? All I can find is a leaflet that basically shows a diagram of the current shed - so will passenger trains actually travel through the engine shed?

Happy to be pointed to where any information or plans for the new shed may be available

 

I think the general idea is that it will sort of be in the area it is at the moment, but moved over to the western side of the trackbed. Problem is, no firm decision/plan has really surfaced yet, and the leaflet you refer to would seem to be rather a flight of fancy, presumably by an artist who doesn't actually understand the layout of the place!

 

Hi 49010
As Johann has said it is all a bit vague....but it will happen! There is more discussion on P54, posts 1063 - 71 on this thread. The GCR actually seems to have a policy of keeping relatively quiet about projects until they have all the elements in place, then things happen!

 

Cheers for the posts fellas, I confess that when I saw the Artists Impression I had the same thought that running even one running line, never mind two, through the shed was a real non-starter.

I definitely want to contribute to the new shed, honouring my Grandad, but at present I can't see how I cna justify forking over hte sum given that I have no idea when, where or how the shed will be built.

I emailed the appeal contact details asking for more info and if I get it I'll share it on here.

 

Hi 49010
I understand - and share, your frustration about the lack of clarity! However it is a complex set of requirements that the GCR is trying to work through to get an optimum resolution and the C-19 situation has certainly not helped. I am sure a good solution will be found and a new shed will be built. Hopefully you will feel able to donate soon...and get a plaque on the wall!
I just hope they will create a photo opportunity by posing a steam locomotive on the canal bridge in the near future......even if they bring it round the shed on a transporter.

 

Thanks for sharing news Phil. I'm confident that GCR will make the right decisions on a new running shed but accept that these may not be as straightforward as replacing as-is with a new structure in a 'similar' location.
A few random thoughts of my own :

Future thinking the GCR (S) being connected and operating through trains to GCR(N), suggests to me that having a running shed and Works squeezed into the middle of the line may not be the optimum solution?
Breaking down the functions carried out from the current 'shed' into "Works" and "Running" then it could be that these are carried out a different locations on the railway?
I've always thought that Rothley (or Quorn) has quite a bit of room compared to Loughborough and Rothley would be close to the southern terminus for Operations whilst there's Ruddington at the other end?
Having a separate "Shed" for the diesel collection perhaps since most of these are left out to the elements atm?

Lots to think about, lots of work and so much to look forward to

 

Ropley? That's one hell of an extension , i assume you mean Rothley
Once both halves are joined up, it makes more sence to have your works somewhere in the middle, because depending on the timetable you will have services starting from either end, and if you have stabling facilities at Either end, that means having to have two sets of equipment, two pits, two coaling points water, where as if your main stabling point was roughly in the middle you have everything in one place, OK it may mean either an LE, or ECS run first thing, or you start the service at Loughborough and either direction run from there.