Is It Architecture,Engineering Or Art?
I heard good reports on the television of the rebuilt Reading station, so today, as I hadn’t anything specific to do, I decided to go to the town and have a look at the work that has been done.
I think Isambard would have been proud of what has been done, as he rarely did boring! And the new Reading station is certainly not that!
The concept of the station is very simple. The thirty metre wide overbridge is connected to all the platforms by escalators and lifts. Then at one end there is another set of four escalators and lifts to take people to the main south entrance.
But in all my life, I’ve never seen so many people walking wide-eyed in awe around a new building or even an art gallery. One guy told me he’d come into the station specifically to photograph the building and had taken fifty pictures. Even railwaymen who’d probably seen it all, were walking around giving the new station a critical look.
There was also the teacher, who’d travelled with me from London. She was amazed at it all, especially as she had left on Thursday from the old Reading station.
Very little has been reported on the media about the design and quality of this new station. The only news seems to be stories pointing out the fact that the handover is a few days late and there’s a bit of chaos. None of the stories mention, that the project will be completed a year ahead of the original plan.
I do wonder if Reading is the shape of stations to come.
The wide overbridge concept is used in a similar, but smaller and less dramatic form at Leeds and Derby, but how many other stations could benefit from this type of design?
In the pictures, you’ll see some of Inter City 125 trains, that are used on all services from London to the West and Wales. They are genuine high speed trains capable of 200 kph, ride as smooth as silk and they are now forty years old. I doubt they’ll all ever be retired, as for running through the Highlands of Scotland and from Bristol to Cornwall, where electrification is virtually impossible, there is no other fast train, that can handle the route.
So at last, these trains have got a modern station, to complement their design.
What Would Brunel Have Thought?
It is being reported that the bridge at Dawlish station is being replaced by a new copy in plastic, because the steel work has corroded. You can get a measure of the conditions from this picture taken on the line through the station.
The South Devon Railway, on which Dawlish station is situated was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
So what would he have thought about the use of plastic?
Brunel was an innovative user of the materials he had available and I believe he very much used the best material he had at his disposal for a particular job. His prefabricated timber bridges could best be described as masterpieces.
So I suspect that his ghost is right behind Network Rail’s decision.
Open House – The Thames Tunnel Revealed
Because it was Open House, the floodlights were left on in the Thames Tunnel today. I took these two pictures.
I did intend to take some more on my way back, but I was rather delayed.
Perhaps it would be a good idea, if Transport for London, lit up some of the disused stations on the Underground, so they could be seen from passing trains on the Open House weekend.
Where The Great Eastern Was Built and Launched
Brunel’s most famous ship, the Great Eastern, wasn’t built in Liverpool, Belfast, Glasgow or on the Tyne or Tees, but on the Thames at Millwall. If you take the DLR to Island Gardens station and then walk along the Thames Path towards the City, you’ll see a sign pointing you to the Great Eastern Launch Site. It’s shown in these pictures of the Launch Site itself.
The Great Eastern was so large it was actually launched sideways, as the river wasn’t wide enough for a traditional launch. It was also pushed in by scores of hydraulic rams, as it was reluctant to move. It is said that these rams, built by Tangye, launched that company as well.
A Video of the Thames Tunnel
I went back to the Thames Tunnel on the East London line and took a video of an approaching train.
The video was taken from the same place where I took the still images in Wapping station.
Looking At the Thames Tunnel
The Thames Tunnel is the oldest underwater tunnel in the world and was built between 1825 and 1843 by Marc Brunel and his more famous son Isambard. It is now used to carry the East London line under the Thames and you can actually look into the tunnel from the platforms at Wapping station.
I was looking from the Northbound platform, just by the exit and the stairs that lead up to the street. When the station was designed, they decided to put protective railing to stop you failing on the line, but these do not obscure the view down the tunnel as the train approaches.
Pushed By Roger and Pulled By Isambard
On Saturday on my journey to Ipswich the Class 90 engine pushing the train to Ipswich was named.
Class 90 Named Roger Ford
So who is Roger Ford? Roger is a respected writer on the railways of Britain and writes extensively in the magazine, Modern Railways. On Wikipedia, there is a link between the magazine and these engines.
Through 2006 and 2007 reliability has improved greatly: in 2007 the whole fleet won the ‘Silver Spanner’ from Modern Railways for the most improved main line fleet reliability in the UK.
I doubt that Roger would have allowed his name to be used for the engine, if it was anything to do with the award! The story is here on the National Express East Anglia web site. I wonder what will happen, when the company loses the franchise in the next few months. But then they inherited the engine and its name from Virgin, so hopefully for Roger’s sake, he’ll continue to push the Ipswich/Norwich expresses up the hill to East Anglia.
On Day 37, coming back from Swansea, I was pulled by another named engine. This time a Class 43.
Class 43 Named Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Whether the pusher at the other end of the train was named, I didn’t know. But surely the Brunel nameplates, are the only ones that feature a top hat!
The Infrastructure’s The Star
On the one hand I watching athletics on the BBC in the centre of Newcastle amongst all of the bridges and the iconic buildings. It’s called the Great North City Games.
On the other hand, I’ve just had an e-mail describing the Sound Tracks Festival in East London, which is taking place at three main venues and you get between them on the East London line. Someone has remarked that it’s quicker to get between stages, using the train, that walking through the mud at Glastonbury. And of course there’ll be acoustic acts, including bands and a harpist on the connecting trains. I wonder what the Brunels would have said, if they’d known that their Thames Tunnel, would be transporting mobile concert halls between the two sides of the river.
We now have some fantastic pieces of infrastructure, both new and old and we should be imaginative about how we use them.
The Dark At The End of the Tunnel
After the walk, we were taken into the original entrance of the Thames Tunnel.
This large chamber is one of the original caissons that were sunk so that the tunnel could be excavated. Note the remains of the staircase and the soot from steam trains on the walls. You could also hear the London Overground rumbling beneath your feet.
The Brunel Museum will be improving the access to this chamber, which until recently hadn’t been open for about a 150 years
Walking Along The Thames
On Tuesday night I took a guided walk along the Thames from Bermondsey station to the Brunel Museum at Rotherhithe. The walk is described here.
These pictures were taken as we walked along the river.
The guide was excellent and the trip was well worth the eight pounds it cost.
