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Post by dmncf on Jun 6, 2014 20:40:52 GMT
On Wednesday I noticed that several of the sidings at Willesden Junction depot are being reconstructed, presumably to accommodate 5 car trains. For a few years there have been two old wagons on the sidings nearest London Overground's Euston-Watford 'DC Line', and on Wednesday these were still in situ, but marooned on isolated bits of rail with the surrounds rails and sleepers dug up and gone. One of these wagons can be glimpsed in the first photo. IMAG0810 by dmncf, on Flickr and IMAG0812 by dmncf, on Flickr
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Post by dmncf on Apr 5, 2014 21:27:54 GMT
If you google maps Blackmore drive, Stonebridge Park Stn. www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5436123,-0.2781283,325m/data=!3m1!1e3 The first 6 roads south of the buildings. Hope this helps? Thanks very much. I think I see the six sidings you mean, with a blue freight train shown in one of the middle sidings on Google Maps. I had expected that London Overground's sidings would be shorter and more discrete from the rest of the Wembley freight yard, whereas these six sidings look generously long and rather mixed into the rest of the yard. Does anyone know how trains will access the sidings? I notice the south end can be used to access the diveunder that Southern's Milton Keynes to Croydon service uses to access the West London Line.
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Post by dmncf on Apr 4, 2014 21:26:30 GMT
This TfL press release link mentioned that "at Wembley former freight sidings will be upgraded to stable passenger trains". I presume this is because Willesden Junction depot is quite a constrained site and cannot accommodate the additional space pressure of 5 car trains. I already notice that London Overground trains get stabled at Chalk Farm sidings (opposite Morrisons) and inside Euston Station on many weekends. Where exactly will these new London Overground sidings be in Wembley?
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Post by dmncf on Jan 31, 2014 20:40:27 GMT
Is this cross passageway new or was it previously there but not for public access? Half way along the passage it is crossed by a bigger passage that runs parallel to the platforms. Access into this bigger passage is closed off by mesh in both directions. The circular tunnel segments in this bigger passage have the date 1972 cast on them.
I noticed that the next cross passageway further south along the platforms is currently closed off by blue hoardings.
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Post by dmncf on Dec 23, 2012 14:35:32 GMT
Surely something like LU S stock - plenty of doors and standing/circulating room, plus fast acceleration (and OK, a 70 mph service speed IIRC lol) - would have been rather better. Based on some upgrade posters I've seen inside London Overground class 378s, I think London Overground already have some S Stock trains - I'm certain the train on these upgrade posters is not a class 378, and I wonder whether the image on the poster is a modified S Stock recoloured into London Overground livery. Has anyone else seen this poster?
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Post by dmncf on Aug 6, 2012 19:11:09 GMT
I discussed with a friend who works for Southern the transfer of the South London Line to London Overground. I said that Battersea Park would no longer be served by South London Line trains and that platform extensions would sever the end of the platforms they currently use. But he thought that London Overground South London Line trains would serve Battersea Park and would reverse there in newly-formed bay platforms, although he wasn't sure of the details.
Does anyone have firmer details about how this service will operate, e.g. Surrey Quays - Battersea Park reversal - Clapham Junction, and what platforms it will use at Battersea Park?
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Post by dmncf on Jul 7, 2012 17:36:07 GMT
Having just read the report I think it shows that there are failures and weaknesses on all sides and I'll leave it at that. ... I agree that no parties come out well in the report. I do not work for TfL/LUL and something that really surprised me was that the driver was not able to contact anyone by radio for assistance with train technical problems. As a possible causal factor the report lists "The train operator did not request assistance to resolve the activated sensitive edge system", but the accompanying paragraphs 114 to 120 explain that "LUL’s policy is that train operators are primarily responsible for resolving train defects" and there are no train technicians or instructor operators at the service control room to provide 'troubleshooting' advice. Recommendation 4 contains a point that seems critical of the service controllers: "service controllers should be reminded that they should challenge train operators if they believe them to be acting outside LUL’s mandatory instructions". I'm not sure whether the service controllers sat back and let the driver break the rules, or whether the service controllers simply did not have a clear enough picture of what the situation was and what the driver was doing.
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Post by dmncf on Jul 7, 2012 16:52:45 GMT
It's strange that the District line diagram no longer indicates that all District line trains from Edgware Road go to Wimbledon. Is there an intention to alter the service pattern in future once all District line trains use the same rolling stock, or at least to indicate that a more flexible can operate e.g. during disruption?
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Post by dmncf on May 27, 2012 16:14:33 GMT
Additionally, I believe that step free access to the westbound platform only is being introduced, using a new lift.
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Post by dmncf on May 27, 2012 8:24:04 GMT
Good photos - so the train is the: I find it difficult to guess whether Kentish Town West is part of the intended routing of this train.
I would have guessed the train would go from Ruislip depot eastbound, down the Greenford branch then through Ealing Broadway and through Willesden Junction High Level, then reverse using the London Overground reversing sidings to head north along the Euston-Watford DC Line to Stonebridge Park. But I saw the train heading eastbound/southbound through Kentish Town West, so perhaps it goes to/through Camden Road and then reverses to reach the Euston-Watford DC Line?
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Post by dmncf on May 25, 2012 20:06:42 GMT
The London Overground service through Kentish Town West was suspended for a few hours this evening due to a power failure. One of the first trains through once service resumed was a GBRF Class 66 locomotive hauling London Underground battery locomotives that were topping and tailing a train of three or four bogie flat wagons. So there were probably as many locomotives as wagons! This convoy passed through eastbound at 19:14. The second of the two LU battery locomotives, on the rear of the train, was L30. Why would this LU train have been routed through Kentish Town West? Was this the intended route, or a diversion due to the power failure?
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Post by dmncf on May 22, 2012 17:29:18 GMT
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Post by dmncf on Mar 31, 2012 16:39:00 GMT
I tried viewing that application on the Tower Hamlets website, but it's no longer there. Searching for it on the map reveals it has been withdrawn by the applicant, which may be because the applicant thought it would not be given consent:
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Post by dmncf on Feb 15, 2012 9:12:04 GMT
The PSA showed me the reader and the only thing on display was Hounslow East and the time I tapped in there. Is that normal when making an OSI? Surely your Oyster card did show that you had touched out at Tower Hill, and the problem is that it did not show you touching in at Tower Gateway? In my opinion a passenger whose Oyster card was checked between Shadwell and Limehouse on the DLR, and who had touched in at Hounslow East and never touched out, would have a valid ticket, because they could have changed from Tube to DLR at Bank without touching in or out, and then changed DLR trains at Shadwell.
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Post by dmncf on Feb 6, 2012 17:25:26 GMT
Nice photos. I wonder if one day there will be a similar shot with a train stalled on that ramp in snow... J/K!!! I'll make a note in my diary for Winter 2018. Part of me is disappointed that the design of the ramp doesn't incorporate a junction with the Hammersmith & City line, which is also at subsurface level adjacent to the Crossrail ramp. It could even be designed with one Crossrail track rising earlier than the other, to make the Crossrail part of the junction grade separated. But such a junction wouldn't be of much use anyway.
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Post by dmncf on Feb 5, 2012 15:12:32 GMT
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Post by dmncf on Nov 14, 2011 20:16:30 GMT
This shows a plan of the escalators in situ, (new station outlined in red) tinyurl.com/cbhge4mThis shows the plan of proposed new lift shaft and secondary exit stair shaft: tinyurl.com/cnyteygThat second image showing the side view / cross section is really interesting - there seem to be two proposed shafts with staircases in them. Where would these two shafts reach the surface, and was either shaft completed? Why were two staircase shafts necessary, and which shaft had the lifts in it? I tried looking at the plan view, but either I couldn't understand it or it does not show the two proposed shafts.
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Post by dmncf on Nov 9, 2011 13:03:42 GMT
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Post by dmncf on Nov 8, 2011 14:54:39 GMT
The TfL project page says that Blackfriars tube station will gain step free access: www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/11207.aspxNot sure about the December 2011 line diagram which D Stock has photographed. Perhaps the diagram is inaccurate, or perhaps the step free access won't be completed until a later construction phase; later than December 2011.
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Post by dmncf on Sept 12, 2011 12:07:53 GMT
I saw an A-stock train at Great Portland Street eastbound last week with white lights fitted to a trailer bogie, lighting the rails. Perhaps it had cameras or other recording equipment too that I couldn't see. Is this the RAT unit? Shame I didn't note down any car numbers, but I didn't really notice how special it was unit after it had departed, when I realised it hadn't opened its doors.
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Post by dmncf on Sept 5, 2011 19:03:22 GMT
Am I reading the correctly - Heathrow Terminal 5 does not have step free access from street to train? Even though it was built after the Jubilee line extension and most of the DLR?
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Post by dmncf on Aug 19, 2011 20:23:01 GMT
This post referred to the new substation under construction adjacent to Edgware Road D&C Station. A lot of work is being done to construct new retaining walls as part of the substation. districtdave.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ssr&action=display&thread=16374What other new sub-stations will be installed ? The only other one on the Met/Circle (north side) that I know of is in the Farringdon area. There was talk of providing the Hammersmith branch with another, but this appears to have died a death. There will presumably be other upgrades on the District side to enable the S-stock to operate fully.
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Post by dmncf on Aug 6, 2011 19:32:03 GMT
I read in the thread titled "York Road" that this station together with Caledonian Road and Earl's Court Piccadilly line platforms were built with step free access to platform level.
Which other deep tube stations were built with step free access but lost it when escalators replaced lifts? Do Green Park's lifts use existing or new shafts? Did Shepherd's Bush's uncompleted new lift use an existing or new shaft?
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Post by dmncf on Jul 16, 2011 19:11:59 GMT
Unfortunately not! The tracks are to be lifted and the space filled-in to create a very wide platform between 1 & (currently) 4. Platform 2 had no track when I travelled through yesterday evening (Friday 15/07/11). I travelled westbound from West Ham, where the platform indicators were advising passengers to change at Aldgate East for the Hammersmith & City line. I guess that advice may not be so valid now.
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Post by dmncf on Jul 16, 2011 19:03:12 GMT
So according to this quotation, once cannot travel with an unfolded bicycle on a London Overground train from West Hampstead at any time, even during the late evening on a Sunday? Am I reading this correctly? This contrasts with the Jubilee line where you could travel with an unfolded bicycle from West Hampstead.
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Post by dmncf on Jun 12, 2011 18:21:34 GMT
Are these Compulsory Ticket Areas new, or are they existing ones that are simply being repainted so they're more clearly marked? How do Compulsory Ticket Areas relate to Penalty Fares? For example can one be Penalty Fare'd if one boards at a station which is not a Compulsory Ticket Area?
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Post by dmncf on May 17, 2011 19:30:36 GMT
Are London Overground trains from Euston to Watford Junction staffed only by a driver? If so, is this recent or were the old Class 313 units also staffed only by a driver?
I have used this line on many occasions, but I'm still not sure whether there are guards on the trains, or just off duty staff travelling in the cabs.
Are the East London Line trains staffed only by a driver? Can trains on the Gospel Oak - Barking Line, North London Line and West London Line be operated in this manner, including the Southern trains?
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Post by dmncf on Mar 31, 2011 19:43:39 GMT
I noticed that a new ticket office has been opened at Hammersmith H&C and Circle line station. I understand that the previous ticket office was demolished during platform extension work to accommodate S7 trains.
Of course the new ticket office wasn't actually staffed when I visited on Tuesday around 19:00 because ticket office have minimal opening hours these days.
Does this new area on the east side near the station entrance also include a station control room or other facilities? Otherwise the business case for building a new ticket office that is lightly used would be rather poor. I believe Wood Lane was built without a ticket office.
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Post by dmncf on Feb 19, 2011 14:29:26 GMT
I have just been told that from the May 2011 District line timetable change the Kensington (Olympia) service will be axed, except for special events. Surely 'special events' at the Olympia exhibition centre are its everyday business - would this mean that the Kensington (Olympia) District line service still ran most days, except during changeovers between exhibitions? It sounds difficult for the public and difficult for timetable planners to cope with a service that has a good frequency on most days and no service on others. I had also thought that Olympia exhibition centre was likely to be improved and become busier after the planned closure and redevelopment of Earls Court exhibition centre after the 2012 Olympic Games. I think the exhibition centres are owned by the same property developer.
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Post by dmncf on Feb 12, 2011 15:13:54 GMT
London Overground has a number of closures during February: www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/15405.aspxI would like to know what signalling work is being undertaken. Why is the North London Line closed west of Camden Road (to Richmond and Clapham Junction), but still able to open east of Camden Road? Why must the Watford - South Hampstead - Euston service be diverted away from Euston on Sat 19 Feb and Mon 21 - Sat 26 Feb, and routed via Camden Road to serve Stratford instead? Why couldn't there be a Willesden Junction low level - South Hampstead - Camden Road - Stratford shuttle service instead? I am interested in why the Watford - South Hampstead - Euston service had to be diverted, and could not just be supplemented by a separate service to Stratford.
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