WCML Power Supply & Auto Transformer Upgrade

[WAO]

As I understand it (from a number of sources):

1. The old FS at Parkside in the SW corner of the intersection has been de-commissioned - there is satellite indication of this.

2. A new ATFS has been built called Willow Park, using the former grid feed, to the North of the L&M, a little to the West of the junction.

3. The WCML is now fed from an ATFS (but could be in classic mode) called Rivington Road (an industrial estate back road!), fed from Frodsham SG sub-station, essentially connecting to the OLE at Weaver Jn. NR tried for its own site at Weaverham but ran into local opposition.

Things do seem in a state of flux, with the traditional 132/25kV FS with TSC's every 6.5miles (quarter distance nc and mid-point no) and boosters, replaced by the autotransformer system with 25-0-25kV, high 12kA fault rating and remote controlled switches. Now classic feeds seem back in fashion and static frequency converter feeding is planned, capable of balanced grid phase loading and working from lower distribution network operator voltages than grid transmission levels. Let's hope it makes wiring more attractive.

Apologies for the abbreviations.

WAO

 

[bramling]

As I understand it (from a number of sources):

1. The old FS at Parkside in the SW corner of the intersection has been de-commissioned - there is satellite indication of this.

2. A new ATFS has been built called Willow Park, using the former grid feed, to the North of the L&M, a little to the West of the junction.

3. The WCML is now fed from an ATFS (but could be in classic mode) called Rivington Road (an industrial estate back road!), fed from Frodsham SG sub-station, essentially connecting to the OLE at Weaver Jn. NR tried for its own site at Weaverham but ran into local opposition.

Things do seem in a state of flux, with the traditional 132/25kV FS with TSC's every 6.5miles (quarter distance nc and mid-point no) and boosters, replaced by the autotransformer system with 25-0-25kV, high 12kA fault rating and remote controlled switches. Now classic feeds seem back in fashion and static frequency converter feeding is planned, capable of balanced grid phase loading and working from lower distribution network operator voltages than grid transmission levels. Let's hope it makes wiring more attractive.

Apologies for the abbreviations.

WAO

No.3 above is “Weaver Junction ATFS”.

 

[WAO]

Glad they've given it a sensible name!

WAO

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

3. The WCML is now fed from an ATFS (but could be in classic mode) called Rivington Road (an industrial estate back road!), fed from Frodsham SG sub-station, essentially connecting to the OLE at Weaver Jn. NR tried for its own site at Weaverham but ran into local opposition.

I think this article confirms the Frodsham link, implemented a decade ago it seems.

Frodsham & Hutton

"Frodsham" I suppose is the large substation on the isolated patch of land between the River Weaver and the Weaver Navigation, just north of the M56.
It doesn't say what the 3.5km underground route is from there to the WCML, but presumably it goes across the Navigation and through Sutton Weaver.
"Rivington Road" is next to the Liverpool-Weaver Jn line just short of where the Up line crosses over the WCML at Birdswood.
Must have a look when I pass next on the train.

 

[59CosG95]

As I understand it (from a number of sources):

1. The old FS at Parkside in the SW corner of the intersection has been de-commissioned - there is satellite indication of this.

2. A new ATFS has been built called Willow Park, using the former grid feed, to the North of the L&M, a little to the West of the junction.

3. The WCML is now fed from an ATFS (but could be in classic mode) called Rivington Road (an industrial estate back road!), fed from Frodsham SG sub-station, essentially connecting to the OLE at Weaver Jn. NR tried for its own site at Weaverham but ran into local opposition.

Things do seem in a state of flux, with the traditional 132/25kV FS with TSC's every 6.5miles (quarter distance nc and mid-point no) and boosters, replaced by the autotransformer system with 25-0-25kV, high 12kA fault rating and remote controlled switches. Now classic feeds seem back in fashion and static frequency converter feeding is planned, capable of balanced grid phase loading and working from lower distribution network operator voltages than grid transmission levels. Let's hope it makes wiring more attractive.

Apologies for the abbreviations.

WAO

Thanks for the clarification @WAO. I believe that AT feeding is still preferred for newer installations (it's certainly the way the GWML is fed, and how the MML was planned to be fed before Grayling happened), but the new SFC & Boosterless Classic modus operandi seems confined to the ECML (as far as planning is concerned).

It was all meant to be Autotransformer fed from Wood Green to Bawtry (Phase 1) on that route, along with remote-operated switches and a 12kA fault rating, but BC-feeding with RSCs and a 6kA fault rating were deemed to be sufficient for Azumas and Desiro Cities to take over. Phase 2 is still at the design stage IIRC, although there are some site compounds being established at various points north.
HS2 is still planning to use AT feeding, so based on that, I think Phase 2 might have more of an emphasis on AT, at least as far as Newcastle.

It's also worth mentioning that in the Berwick-upon-Tweed area (specifically around Marshall Meadows FS, just south of the Anglo-Scottish border), the booster transformers have already been disconnected, yet there still isn't enough power to cater for TPE's 802s and about half the LNER services up that way. Add the supposed long-term aim to get containers up the ECML to reach Millerhill/Mossend from the east, and you'd definitely want to maximise power output through there.

But still, the SFC feeding arrangement looks promising - let's hope it delivers.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

To save everyone googling SFC- Static Frequency Converter, I have put some links for "bedtime reading" here. Full disclosure - I am a scientist and mathematician but find them very soporific!

Basic understanding - not really but fairly good.
http://www.frequencyconverter.net/understanding-static-frequency-converter.html

Another basic one
https://www.pscpower.com/3-phase-frequency-converter/

Advantages
http://ecetutorials.com/electrical/static-frequency-convertor-and-its-advantages/

Hitachi - not an advert I promise
https://www.hitachiabb-powergrids.c...-system/facts/static-frequency-converters-sfc

This is the wikipedia entry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_changer

 

[Laryk]

I think this article confirms the Frodsham link, implemented a decade ago it seems.

Frodsham & Hutton

"Frodsham" I suppose is the large substation on the isolated patch of land between the River Weaver and the Weaver Navigation, just north of the M56.
It doesn't say what the 3.5km underground route is from there to the WCML, but presumably it goes across the Navigation and through Sutton Weaver.
"Rivington Road" is next to the Liverpool-Weaver Jn line just short of where the Up line crosses over the WCML at Birdswood.
Must have a look when I pass next on the train.

Impossible to see any sign from the train, unless you get a glimpse of the cable route from Weaver ATFS down to to Weaver Jcn. It's set back from the railway on a substantial embankment. Of note, Weaver ATFS is indeed feeding in classic mode.

This is the route of the buried cables:

 

[swt_passenger]

The advantages of the SFC feeder are also helpfully explained in post #28 of the main ECML Power Upgrade thread.
Link: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/ecml-power-supply-upgrade.190071/

 

[GRALISTAIR]

The advantages of the SFC feeder are also helpfully explained in post #28 of the main ECML Power Upgrade thread.
Link: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/ecml-power-supply-upgrade.190071/

Fantastic thanks for that - I have edited and posted a short version here.

One key advantage of this technology is that it enables connection to the utility grid at lower voltages (compared to normal 132kV and above for the range of power required). It also potentially eliminates neutral sections on the railways and enables the power utility to see a ‘balanced’ supply into the railway power infrastructure. Based on an earlier engineering and option selection scheme by Network Rail, it is estimated that the chosen SFC solution, which eliminates the need for a costly high-voltage grid connection, reduces the cost of a new feeder station by 60 per cent.
High-voltage grid connections were previously needed, as a single-phase 25kV OLE supply would otherwise result in an unacceptable phase imbalance in the grid supply.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Impossible to see any sign from the train, unless you get a glimpse of the cable route from Weaver ATFS down to to Weaver Jcn. It's set back from the railway on a substantial embankment. Of note, Weaver ATFS is indeed feeding in classic mode.
This is the route of the buried cables:

Thanks for the detail and map.
I did wonder if it followed the existing railway routes but evidently not.
You can see the cable route from Weaver ATFS to the WCML if you look close up on Google Maps, on the north side of the Up line.

 

[thecrofter]

Let me correct a few anomalies in the latest additions to the above thread (excluding SFCs) here:

The Network Rail ATFS and the accompanying 25 kV National Grid site is indeed located at Rivington Road industrial park and is officially called Weaver Junction ATFS. The incoming 25kV cable route for the Grid Supply from Frodsham 400 kV Grid Supply Point to Weaver Junction ATFS is completely buried - it cannot be seen from trackside / roadside or anywhere else other than the actual outgoing and incoming connections. The google map cable route excerpt seems reasonably accurate from what I recall of the project. What you can see from the ATFS from the high embankment to the trackside are the track feeder cables. These run down the embankment in troughing to feed both the West Coast Main Line (North & South either side of the Neutral Section) and the Liverpool lines (Up/Down Ditton).

Weaver ATFS was originally designed and configured to feed AT both ways along the WCML (southwards as far as Whitmore) and northwards to meet the Oxenholme south feed but only ever in classic to Liverpool. It is currently feeding in AT northwards (only) as far as Euxton Junction MPATS Neutral Section. What is happening with completion of the WCML AT project will again be dependent on the enhancement funding in CP6 and whether or not HS2 services on the conventional lines need the additional power provided by AT.

The original Feeder Station at Parkside was replaced with a new ATFS at Newton-le-Willows which takes its supply from the old Parkside and hence gained the name Willow Park. Willow Park ATFS normally feeds the Liverpool - Manchester Route not the WCML which is provided by the supply from Weaver. See attached.

 

[Elecman]

Hovering over the northern section of the WCML again on Google Maps - did the new feeder at Newton-le-Willows (an ATFS as far as I can tell) replace the legacy feeder off Newton Park Rd?

No the 132 KV gsp is still at Parkside (the old site) it’s then cabled at 25 Kv to Willow Park ATFS for use

 

[59CosG95]

Let me correct a few anomalies in the latest additions to the above thread (excluding SFCs) here:

The Network Rail ATFS and the accompanying 25 kV National Grid site is indeed located at Rivington Road industrial park and is officially called Weaver Junction ATFS. The incoming 25kV cable route for the Grid Supply from Frodsham 400 kV Grid Supply Point to Weaver Junction ATFS is completely buried - it cannot be seen from trackside / roadside or anywhere else other than the actual outgoing and incoming connections. The google map cable route excerpt seems reasonably accurate from what I recall of the project. What you can see from the ATFS from the high embankment to the trackside are the track feeder cables. These run down the embankment in troughing to feed both the West Coast Main Line (North & South either side of the Neutral Section) and the Liverpool lines (Up/Down Ditton).

Weaver ATFS was originally designed and configured to feed AT both ways along the WCML (southwards as far as Whitmore) and northwards to meet the Oxenholme south feed but only ever in classic to Liverpool. It is currently feeding in AT northwards (only) as far as Euxton Junction MPATS Neutral Section. What is happening with completion of the WCML AT project will again be dependent on the enhancement funding in CP6 and whether or not HS2 services on the conventional lines need the additional power provided by AT.

The original Feeder Station at Parkside was replaced with a new ATFS at Newton-le-Willows which takes its supply from the old Parkside and hence gained the name Willow Park. Willow Park ATFS normally feeds the Liverpool - Manchester Route not the WCML which is provided by the supply from Weaver. See attached.

View attachment 81577

Am I right in guessing that the shapes correspond to different types of AT site or feeder, and the shading (or lack thereof) to the operational status (i.e. AT or classic)?

 

[thecrofter]

Am I right in guessing that the shapes correspond to different types of AT site or feeder, and the shading (or lack thereof) to the operational status (i.e. AT or classic)?

Yes the shapes signify the type of site be they ATFS, MPATS, ATS, and classic FS, TSC etc. The shading just aids the number of symbols and doesn’t refer to their operational status.

 

[Class 170101]

Impossible to see any sign from the train, unless you get a glimpse of the cable route from Weaver ATFS down to to Weaver Jcn. It's set back from the railway on a substantial embankment. Of note, Weaver ATFS is indeed feeding in classic mode.

This is the route of the buried cables:
View attachment 81541

Would it not have been easier to wire Frodsham to Warrington Bank Quay (or even to Chester) rather than that 'Extension Lead' That phrase being noted for its use elsewhere!

 

[59CosG95]

Would it not have been easier to wire Frodsham to Warrington Bank Quay (or even to Chester) rather than that 'Extension Lead' That phrase being noted for its use elsewhere!

Sutton Tunnel would have been easier to wire as a standalone scheme, but I think that would have been the straw that broke the WCRM camel's back.
As it stands, all the services that use the route via Frodsham pass onwards into Wales anyway, so the wires would have been unused (which was and still is largely politically untenable).

I do however think that, with the decarbonisation report due (late, as per the DafT), it might be a time to reconsider, even with TfW's recent order of DMUs.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I saw an announcement that work is to take place on the OHL between Preston and Carlisle replacing parts etc to make it more reliable etc. I will post the link when I can find it. Do you know if this will include finishing off the AT upgrade between Euxton and Catterall?

Overhead electric line overhaul to improve passenger journeys

www.railtechnologymagazine.com

 

[Bald Rick]

I saw an announcement that work is to take place on the OHL between Preston and Carlisle replacing parts etc to make it more reliable etc. I will post the link when I can find it. Do you know if this will include finishing off the AT upgrade between Euxton and Catterall?

Very unlikely, it’s essentially heavy maintenance.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Pity I am not home in the UK I could view the work from my back garden here https://earth.google.com/web/@53.80...,0r?utm_source=earth7&utm_campaign=vine&hl=en

 

[Elecman]

I saw an announcement that work is to take place on the OHL between Preston and Carlisle replacing parts etc to make it more reliable etc. I will post the link when I can find it. Do you know if this will include finishing off the AT upgrade between Euxton and Catterall?

Sadly but no

 

[59CosG95]

Sadly but no

I recall VT's website had a similar large amount of WCML maintenance work in that area around last October (IIRC). No such upgrade then either.

 

[mcmad]

I recall VT's website had a similar large amount of WCML maintenance work in that area around last October (IIRC). No such upgrade then either.

There is a fairly cyclical nature to disruptive possessions in that the same geographical areas are (usually) always blocked at the same time ever year. Its co-ordinated across the Country to avoid (as far as possible) blocking complimentary routes at the same times. This gives operators and even event planners some degree of certainty that, for example, the WCML in Scotland will be blocked May and June between the Border and Carstairs whereas the ECML will be in September and October

 

[The Planner]

That's waiting on the 807s and always was.

And power supply upgrades, and ORR sign off of the rights.

 

[The Planner]

Where is there a power supply shortfall on London-Liverpool?
I thought the ATF upgrade fixed all that, at least as far as Shap.
Train frequency won't be any higher than applied in the peaks before Covid.

Bushey.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Bushey.

I'm a bit confused why that's an issue now when there's one fewer train per hour on the south WCML than there was pre COVID because of the change to LNR services. Or are 80x particularly power hungry?

 

[The Planner]

I'm a bit confused why that's an issue now when there's one fewer train per hour on the south WCML than there was pre COVID because of the change to LNR services. Or are 80x particularly power hungry?

The full timetable with the second Liverpool tipped it over with the 800s.

 

[Adrian1980uk]

The full timetable with the second Liverpool tipped it over with the 800s.

We have to remember that as we add extra facilities on train, like charging ports, all the computer controls, air conditioning etc. No matter how miniscule the demand is like with laptop/ phone chargers - 400 per train and 5 or 6 trains on a section it adds up quite considerably. More modern trains are likely to consume more power

 

[Bletchleyite]

We have to remember that as we add extra facilities on train, like charging ports, all the computer controls, air conditioning etc. No matter how miniscule the demand is like with laptop/ phone chargers - 400 per train and 5 or 6 trains on a section it adds up quite considerably. More modern trains are likely to consume more power

The demand from charging points is tiny. It's even been possible to fit USBs to existing 1980s DMUs with the existing alternator, with the power for it "created" by changing the lighting to LED.

 

[Bald Rick]

Or are 80x particularly power hungry?

They take a lot more from the OLE than the 221s!

(The 221s ran at least one, and usually two of the trains per hour out of Euston Pre Covid).

 

[Bletchleyite]

They take a lot more from the OLE than the 221s!

(The 221s ran at least one, and usually two of the trains per hour out of Euston Pre Covid).

Does that mean the 805s will need to run on diesel throughout until that work is done, I guess?