Trams Need Rails (1)

And Rails Need Replacing

A while back, the above was a big job replacing track in the Sheffield University area.

The tunnel takes the service under the main roundabout.

But when the rails are being replaced, no trams can run and Supertram has to organise replacement buses.

If your tram network is complex, then there may be alternative routes as here in Paris in the 1920s ...

... or today in Basel.

There are no by-pass tracks in Sheffield.

The latest renewal project is at Manor Top on the BLUE  line and the PURPLE line. The work is on rails via a road junction between Sheffield's outer ring road and the main road to Mansfield.

The tracks are on-street on the A6135 and 'reserved' on Ridgeway Road ...

... but the interface at the junction is complex. It is going to be fun for road traffic as well.

For the duration of the school Easter holidays no trams will run between Sheffield railway station and Gleadness Town End.

What happens is shown diagrammatically. BLUE trams run from Malin Bridge to the station ...

... where they terminate.

A replacement bus service in GREEN starts from Fitzalan Square ...

... connects with BLUE trams for Halfway at Gleadless Town End then continues to Herdings totally replacing the PURPLE service.

But the bus cannot always follow the tram tracks exactly. Here is the bus route geographically.

The detail is of interest. Buses will follow an anti clockwise loop in the city centre to stop opposite the Fitzalan Square tram stop.

After a call at the bus station, buses will stop a good bit further from the trains than the tram offers, close to the Granville Road tram stop and then joining the route via Norfolk Park.

Let's hope the tramway travellers of Sheffield remember to interchange at Fitzalan Square/Commercial Street and nor risk a hike from station tram stop to station bus stop!

The bus diverts from the tram route between Norfolk Park and Manor Top ...

... which means that the Spring Lane tram stop sees no service whatsoever.

After a stop at Gleadless Town End to connect (?) with a tram to Halfway, the replacement bus finds its way to the Herdings terminus.

It cannot turn right into Raeburn Road, so has to trundle on and do a 'U' turn at the next junction. The tram stop is hidden in foliage opposite (ish) the bus turning circle.

Can you see a tiny yellow dot in the trees, centre right? Well it is there and it is ...

... the buffer at the tram terminus!

More tomorrow including a look at the temporary timetables and some of he buses operating the replacement service.

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We have seen two surprises so far. Jesus arrives as a King coming in peace, welcomed by the people; then follows a less than peaceful rant at the temple.

After his anger about the commercialisation of worship (have you visited a Cathedral recently?) Jesus takes his inner circle away from controversy, only to create another.

He is looking across the Kidron Valley at the ...

TEMPLE

... the centre of religious activity, of the law and of the governance of the Jews.

And he predicts (accurately, as it happened just 37 years later!!) its total destruction.

Does this Jesus guy want to infuriate the establishment? Does he want to be provocative? Is there more angst to come?

Does he have an alternative plan?

..

=======================

 Next tram replacement blog : Weds 1st April  

Monday Variety

Looking at Lumo

Lumo has made a name for itself as a low cost inter city operator between King's Cross and Edinburgh. From the late May tinetable change, we were told, trains would be extended to Glasgow.

Two trains arrive in Glasgow early evening but only one returns later in the evening.

Arriving back in London at midnight does not seem an attractive proposition! It may be cheap, but becomes very expensive if you need an overnight stay before completing your journey.

That is the trouble with these low cost companies. They are absolutely fine if you can travel when they want you to.

Also on-line is the new Stirling to Euston timetable.

Calls at Larbert, Greenfaulds'(for Cumbernauld) and Whifflet will all be useful for folk from areas to the east of Glasgow.

But the web site seems to back-track on what is actually running (none of it at the moment) and when the service will start. The website does list several journeys that will not start until near the end of July.

There is little point in publishing times of the trains are not running.

Neither is it clear what rolling stock you will get for your money. It won't look like this, however.

Remember when you could squeeze you face out of those opening carriage windows and spot what was coming in the opposite direction. Armed with that generic information a skilled loco spotter could just spot the number for his Ian Allan "Combine" book as the train roared past!

At least Lumo will have air-con!

Lumo Look-Alike

The above train is run by Dutch low cost operator GoVolta.

It has recently started services from Amsterdam to Berlin and from Amsterdam to Hamburg.

Don't look for high frequency; indeed, don't look for frequency at all! Each service currently operates three days a week!

The company promises a once daily service later in the year with Amsterdam to Paris to follow.

It's timetables are totally secret. At least, fbb has not found one yet. Presumably you only get times when you book! 

There are web sites in Dutch ...

... and German, with the latter changing to English when you open it.

There has been a launch ...

.. and pictures are available of the carriages, outside ...

... and in.

Opening windows? And more room in 'Comfort' class.

An NS compatible loco will haul the train in the Netherlands, replaced by a DB suitable loco at the border. These machines will come from 'spot hire' companies.

The web site does admit that the trains will be slower than the current DB services on similar routes - due to a speed restriction on the old coaches which are from Belgian Railways!

The ambiance looks somewhat tired even if the outside is pretty.

Peachy's Batty?

No, that is not an adverse comment on the sanity of Peachy, whom we met yesterday. It refers to his latest model railway in the new TT120 scale.

It's  official name is Batty Moss, but he calls it, simply, Batty; so it really is "Peachy's Batty"!

Wikipedia, which knows everything almost to a divine level of omniscience, tells fbb that Batty Moss is an alternative name given to Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle and Carlisle line.

But Ordnance Survey knows nothing of such a name.

Some maps offer Batty Green ...

... and areas of Shake Holes. 

No, neither did fbb!

They occur when areas of top soil etc are washed through gaps in the rock into water courses below. They are different from sink holes, apparently!

Anyway here is Ribblehead Viaduct for real ...

... and here it is with a steam special crossing.

Here it is photographed from Peachy's private Gyrocopter.

Big, innit?

And fbb never knew that the viaduct had been made single track in 1984.

Peachy's Batty is also single track and far from being finished.

It is a "representation" and not built to exact scale. Compare the model with the steam train picture!

Or here us a Northern two car diesel unit for real ...

... and Batty Peachy's  Heljan 'Bubble Car" on his model.

Peachy's first name is Chris, he says so in his video.

The interwebnet (from whom no secrets are hid!) reveals that he is really Chris Hobbs and is a very good modeller - one of those that makes fbb weep at his own inability.

Thanks for your helpful and entertaining YouTubings, Chris, Peachy or Mr Hobbs!

=====================

Yesterday's picture ...

... showed Jesus arriving in the Temple after his Palm Sunday parade. The missing words could be either ...

DOVES

or

BIRDS

If you wanted to offer a sacrifice, you had to buy an official dove at a much inflated price. This was ostensibly to ensure,that the bird-to-be-excised was pure enough for God. It was a rip-off and had no basis in Biblical teaching.

Likewise the collecting box. 

MONEY

or

COINS

Ordinary specie was not good enough for the Temple - it might be "unclean", so you changed your cash into official Temple coinage. Rip-off the second!

Jesus was right to condemn this corruption of Bible Faith. As the Old Testament tells us, what God hates is religion.

What God loves is a repentant soul.

But "the authorities" did not like his arrogant attack on their profitable and 'essential' enterprises!

Tomorrow's Puzzle

Find the missing item.

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  Next 'bus replacement' blog : Tues 31 Mar