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Latest Excuse - Overhead power lines saggin in the heat!
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 6:59 pm
by Chris23
Another new one. Liverpool Street station & the surrounding lines are in trouble because the heat is causing sagging in the overhead 25kv lines.
How many excuses are there?
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 7:01 pm
by jolly
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 7:14 pm
by southcoasttrains
You did know metal expands in the heat?
I though the overhead lines had weights at certain distances to stop sagging.
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 8:01 pm
by ThinLizzy
southcoasttrains wrote:You did know metal expands in the heat?
I though the overhead lines had weights at certain distances to stop sagging.
I suppose that like rails, they werent designed for these heat, and so all the leaway has been used up.
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 8:10 pm
by LucaZone
Excuses?
Travelling on a rail network that hasnt properly been looked after for decades, and now it looks like we might be seeing something happening that has a bit of sense, and ur slatting it.
People moan about the railways being unsafe as it is. With extreme weather conditions many things are affected. But how can we moan to Network Rail about they problems u say they are causing by all these restrictions, when they are doing it in the best interest of us all.
Noone gets any money if people dont travel on the railways...so i dont think they cause problems willingly.
If this is the action that needs to be taken to get our railways in a better state, then so be it.
Theres no gain without pain...........
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 8:11 pm
by ThinLizzy
Why do aircon units always fail in the hot weather?
Re: Latest Excuse - Overhead power lines saggin in the heat!
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 8:37 pm
by anakha
Chris23 wrote:Another new one. Liverpool Street station & the surrounding lines are in trouble because the heat is causing sagging in the overhead 25kv lines.
How many excuses are there?
Having just spent 4 hours on what should be a 90 minute journey out of Liverpool Street tonight I can tell you it wasn't pretty at LS this evening
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 9:24 pm
by buffy500
ThinLizzy wrote:Why do aircon units always fail in the hot weather?
Cos thats when they are under most pressure and do the most work.
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 9:27 pm
by ThinLizzy
buffy500 wrote:ThinLizzy wrote:Why do aircon units always fail in the hot weather?
Cos thats when they are under most pressure and do the most work.
Yeah, but their dropping like flies when working in the normal environment they were designed for?
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 9:33 pm
by asalmon
ThinLizzy wrote:I suppose that like rails, they werent designed for these heat, and so all the leaway has been used up.
In the old days, everything was built with a safety margin.
I doubt you'll find the tamar bridge buckling in the heat!
Everything seems to be done on the cheap these days, even though projects go way over budget!
Alan
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2003 11:03 pm
by Chris23
In the end I ask the same question that I asked with the rail buckling problem. We have less hot summers than some places that ALSO have colder winters but don't suffer these problems.
I don't see the weights that tension the overhead cables resting on the floor so what is the problem? I can't believe that it would cost any more to have cabling that didn't mind the weather.
Having lived on the West Coast line for a number of years I also noticed how incapable the overhead wires were of handling wind.
I just find it incredible that in a country with such a moderate climate we should have so many weather related problems.
What EXACTLY were the design/ maintainance compromises that causes weather to be such a problem to track & catenary?
This is not to knock the current management but to try & find out how we got here and what can be done about it. As the intention is to spend less on many lines maintenance I guess not much.
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2003 7:19 am
by philbozz
ThinLizzy wrote:Why do aircon units always fail in the hot weather?
lolz, do what British Gas say you should! Switch your central heating on!!
Heard it on Sky News yesterday, British gas are urgin people to switch their heating on, because, if it is idle for too long it might breakdown.
Hottest day of the year,tellin ppl to bake themselves even more

Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2003 8:06 am
by buffy500
ThinLizzy wrote:buffy500 wrote:ThinLizzy wrote:Why do aircon units always fail in the hot weather?
Cos thats when they are under most pressure and do the most work.
Yeah, but their dropping like flies when working in the normal environment they were designed for?
Bet you'll find that 28 + is not the designed temperature range.
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2003 1:35 pm
by Stooopidperson
Why would overhead line's sag cause delays? Aren't they designed for sagging in hot weather and straighterning up in cold weather?
Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2003 1:43 pm
by TomB
Is it worth spending an extra x million to make the equiptment work in extreamly hot summers like this one?