Killingworth
Established Member
Not sure why but passenger train performance today has dived. Coincidentally perhaps Drax Biomass trains to/from Liverpool seem to be being diverted this way. I haven't noted this before.
Lots of overcrowding today, Sheffield United at Manchester City, and Manchester United at Nott ForestNot sure why but passenger train performance today has dived.
The biomass trains have caused us massive problems today. They normally go via the Calder Valley or Huddersfield. They're long, heavy and quite slow, especially the ones with Class 60s on. Trying to get them through Sheffield has been, shall we say, interesting. As soon as they've ended up a few mins late, they've destroyed the timetable.Not sure why but passenger train performance today has dived. Coincidentally perhaps Drax Biomass trains to/from Liverpool seem to be being diverted this way. I haven't noted this before.
I arrived at the station around 0820 today and the 0815 Hope Valley stopper was still sat in platform 7 fully staffed and ready to go. A few mins later it was announced that (a) the 0815 was delayed due to a late running freight train & (b) it would run fast from New Mills Central to Piccadilly not stopping at intermediate stations. Another few mins later a slow moving freight ran through platform 8.Not sure why but passenger train performance today has dived. Coincidentally perhaps Drax Biomass trains to/from Liverpool seem to be being diverted this way. I haven't noted this before.
The inward working (2S70) didn't arrive at Sheffield until 08:28, meaning the 08:15 (2S73) was late going back out at 08:41.I arrived at the station around 0820 today and the 0815 Hope Valley stopper was still sat in platform 7 fully staffed and ready to go. A few mins later it was announced that (a) the 0815 was delayed due to a late running freight train & (b) it would run fast from New Mills Central to Piccadilly not stopping at intermediate stations. Another few mins later a slow moving freight ran through platform 8.
The 0815 finally left at 0841, the same time as the EMR to Norwich train which I was on. Presumably there was a reason the 0815 could not have left much earlier, well in front of the freight, but I have no idea what that reason was.
The inward working having been held up at New Mills behind Drax 6E36; https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H33312/2023-12-30/detailed#allox_id=0The inward working (2S70) didn't arrive at Sheffield until 08:28, meaning the 08:15 (2S73) was late going back out at 08:41.
Thanks. It was the announcement about the stop skipping which caught my attention and when I looked over the 0815 was seemingly all ready to go - I must have subconsciously concluded it had been there all the time.The inward working (2S70) didn't arrive at Sheffield until 08:28, meaning the 08:15 (2S73) was late going back out at 08:41.
The Drax diversions would be because the normal route via Mirfield and Wakefield Kirkgate was blocked for TRU works. I imagine these diversions will be a regular occurrence now the Huddersfield to Ravensthorpe four tracking has started. Biomass deliveries have to be "Just In Time" - it cannot be stored like coal.If that was an experimental Drax day it proved how much the Bamford and Dore loops are needed, and the second track through Dore & Totley!
Quite why Northern put a 2 car unit on the Hope Valley route today with all the predictable extra football traffic must remain a mystery - last year they found 6 cars and this year 4 have been run at weekends. Even the regular 3 would have been tight.
The Drax diversions would be because the normal route via Mirfield and Wakefield Kirkgate was blocked for TRU works. I imagine these diversions will be a regular occurrence now the Huddersfield to Ravensthorpe four tracking has started. Biomass deliveries have to be "Just In Time" - it cannot be stored like coal.
Maybe Northern was short of DMUs because its Calder Valley services were strengthened to cope with extra Manchester - Leeds passengers?
A silver lining to the cloud is that the diverted Drax trains use the Cheadle Heath freight line to avoid Stockport, so do not have to cross all four tracks of the WCML between Edgeley and Heaton Norris as they normally do!
Great photographs - thank you for the update. What works are underway at the other end of the loop/chord (I'm not sure what acess is like at the other end)?My understanding is that one of the final strands supporting the Hope Valley scheme's case was to provide just this sort of diversionary option. Completion in March is likely to be about 6 months later than hoped for when work began but still looks probable, winter bad weather permitting.
Of course unblocking the Hope Valley route doesn't unblock paths down the Sheaf and Don Valleys and through Sheffield.
Today there's a blockade through Dore so Northern units will be released to assist elsewhere.
1st January 2024 update from Dore & Totley.
Not much progress to see since before Christmas. There's been some attention to an overbridge out of sight to the right. Brick facing on the lift shafts is almost complete and smaller buildings below are up to waist height. Until they're complete the footbridge span, stairs and roofs cannot be brought in. There's still a lot to do in 12 weeks.
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The Dore loop/chord site below Poynton Wood and West View Lane seems to have seen relatively little action recently. With all the recent very wet weather that must be causing concern although it's still expected to be ready on time.
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Thank you for the update!My understanding is that one of the final strands supporting the Hope Valley scheme's case was to provide just this sort of diversionary option. Completion in March is likely to be about 6 months later than hoped for when work began but still looks probable, winter bad weather permitting.
Of course unblocking the Hope Valley route doesn't unblock paths down the Sheaf and Don Valleys and through Sheffield.
Today there's a blockade through Dore so Northern units will be released to assist elsewhere.
1st January 2024 update from Dore & Totley.
Not much progress to see since before Christmas. There's been some attention to an overbridge out of sight to the right. Brick facing on the lift shafts is almost complete and smaller buildings below are up to waist height. Until they're complete the footbridge span, stairs and roofs cannot be brought in. There's still a lot to do in 12 weeks.
View attachment 149519
The Dore loop/chord site below Poynton Wood and West View Lane seems to have seen relatively little action recently. With all the recent very wet weather that must be causing concern although it's still expected to be ready on time.
View attachment 149520
It's been very wet in recent weeks, not least today, and it's understandable if work may be slipping a little behind target. Nevertheless the aim is for track to be laid on the Dore loop next month. Many moons ago we were told at a local information event that they planned to do all civils over the summer months to avoid bad weather. We must all cross fingers and hope we've had most of this winter's rain and snow and that severe frosts keep away.Great photographs - thank you for the update. What works are underway at the other end of the loop/chord (I'm not sure what access is like at the other end)?
Presumably the scaffolding is to do with the retaining wall, there must be a vast amount of concrete going into that, the sort of quantity which would warrant an on-site production plant?
Thank you - great shots as always.It's been very wet in recent weeks, not least today, and it's understandable if work may be slipping a little behind target. Nevertheless the aim is for track to be laid on the Dore loop next month. Many moons ago we were told at a local information event that they planned to do all civils over the summer months to avoid bad weather. We must all cross fingers and hope we've had most of this winter's rain and snow and that severe frosts keep away.
Today's (3/1/24) pictures. First shows the loop from the west. Currently used crossover still in place. Both tracks merge just out of shot. Signal to the left appears from the opposite side in pictures two and three. Telephoto shots foreshorten the images.
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It's been very wet in recent weeks, not least today, and it's understandable if work may be slipping a little behind target. Nevertheless the aim is for track to be laid on the Dore loop next month. Many moons ago we were told at a local information event that they planned to do all civils over the summer months to avoid bad weather. We must all cross fingers and hope we've had most of this winter's rain and snow and that severe frosts keep away.
Today's (3/1/24) pictures. First shows the loop from the west. Currently used crossover still in place. Both tracks merge just out of shot. Signal to the left appears from the opposite side in pictures two and three. Telephoto shots foreshorten the images.
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Getting drier for a period of time from today, so a chance to catch up now people are back at work from the festive period.
Entry into service for the Hazel Grove resignalling is expected on 21 January. This will see the Edgeley to Hazel Grove line speed increase to 60mph (Down/to Manchester) or 55mph (Up), an increase from the existing 40/35.
Is a capacity uplift still on the cards?Remarkable how much better the railway looks like this - more fitting of something carrying 6 trains per hour (to be 8 in future).
Is a capacity uplift still on the cards?
That's what I love about some of these signalling schemes. You end up with less signals than before, which impacts on headway and capacity. The East Nottingham scheme was just the same.Well, training has begun for the Signallers regards the new Sheffield Outer Workstation. As you can see, we won't be able to give a freight at Dore South a proceed until the train in front has got to Dronfield Station. So Greens only from S48. Makes it almost impossible to find a decent gap in times of disruption for the late 1900 ton freight, for example. As it is now, at least we can move a train from Dore South as soon as the train in front leaves Bradway Tunnel.....
There is no bi-di on the photos of the workstation upthread, and the Bamford loop is only accessible to Sheffield-bound trains. So any late running on westbound trains will need to be dealt with before Dore station junction, as it is today.Obviously it depends on how the late the express it but will there be passing options further down the line at e.g. Dore and Bamford, assuming no freight is already there?
What's the plan for pathing late expressses vs stoppers please @Killingworth?
I was on the stopper yesterday and we got held in Sheffield for a late TPE but departed ahead of it, then got held at Heeley for the TPE to pass, which meant we we late all the way down the line.
Obviously it depends on how the late the express it but will there be passing options further down the line at e.g. Dore and Bamford, assuming no freight is alreaedy there?
The Northern stopper being late then knocks the freight path behind it and that the EMR which then quite often loses it's path through Manchester, repeat ad infinitum. It's hugely tedious.
If I'm understanding your proposal correctly, you'd be cutting the effective length of the chord, which was a major aim of the project. Looping the stopper at or near Dore is not the correct solution, the focus should be on getting the TPE to run to time and asking why that doesn't happen, because then nobody would be suggesting infrastructure solutions costing tens of millions of pounds if the timetable was kept to.Since the new chord round the west to east curve at the triangle seems to be longer, perhaps they could install a set of points where it veers off, to make it an effective loop; it looks plenty long enough to hold a 6 car train for a short time.