Totally off topic: Under the Severn

[Eric The Viking]

A British Transport Information Film about the Severn tunnel, including the beam engines working.

It brought rather a lump to the throat, but progress is, er...

... enjoy.

E.

 

[n0legs]

ETV thank you, what a find =D>

Due to work I have had some privileges over the years and one was when I was allowed a peak over the edge of the shaft in the pump house.
We were installing some new and uprated HV supplies in '91, maybe '92. There's a primary substation just outside the pumping station grounds. They needed some more power so IIRC four new 11Kv feeders were installed.
Anyway as is usual you make a few friends, so over the few days we were there we had got chatting with some of the guys there. One of the days one of the new friends came to call us up into the pump house, he had a surprise for us. As instructed we had a look out over the shaft head as he gave us a little background info.
Well this roar starts, getting louder and louder. Along with the noise the air pressure was building. He had timed his "visit" just as a train was going through the tunnel bellow us.
Wow! What a rush and I'm not just talking about the excitement, the gust of air coming up that shaft was unbelievable. I swear if you were on one of the ladders in it, it would have blown you up the beggar. Absolutely incredible.
One thing of note is how serious they take security there. Vehicles left outside, carry the kit in. Can't blame them though, if those pumps go off the tunnel will flood in a day so I was told.
The house I built/extended/refurbished in Caldicot is pretty much right on top of the tunnel. Late at night when all is quiet you can hear the tunnel as trains pass through, and a definite little tremor is felt.
In 2002 a friend who owns a fabrication company took on a contract to make very very heavy steel gratings. 30mm thick plate welded into the grating shape. Double galvanised and multiple coats of paint finished.
On a visit I asked what they were for, the Severn Tunnel was the answer.
Are you fitting these, are you going down, when ????? So by hook and by crook I got myself a little visit down the tunnel from our end. The principle contractor was amused that someone wanted a visit, but they were very quick in the answer of "Aye, have a look if you want".
I only went in a hundred metres or so, but wow, seriously wow. What a feat of engineering.
One thing that dawned on me when I was in the tunnel. I was there in steel toecaps, hard hat and waterproofs. There were those special rail riding vehicles and lighting, great big floodlighting everywhere. Walkie talkies for communications and a comforting feel of "everything is under control".
The guys who built the tunnel had none of this and I take my hat off to them, every single one of them.

 

[HOJ]

Still tunnel related, as a young apprentice I was offered some weekend work, putting up some lights, ended up in Kilsby Tunnel, started 10pm Friday night came back out 6.00am Monday morning.

That was late 1970's we stood on top of carriages with no barriers or guard rails as we had to fix to the the side walls, dark & dirty, but well paid.

Little did I know at the time, the full story behind it.

If anyone is interested.

http://www.engineering-timelines.com/sc ... .asp?id=81

 

[Eric The Viking]

@ n0legs: A long-time friend of mine, Fred, used to be Clerk of Works for the tunnel. Now retired, but he did the present staircase in the Sudbrook shaft in the late 1990s, and something to do with the drainage in the 7' heading. Got his pic on the front of Railway Engineering (I think), standing on boards over the spring outflow, right in front of the permanently-closed door that dams it up.

It's a wonderful bit of engineering. Years ago, I used to take the children to watch trains in the cutting, which is an impressive bit of work in its own right. I expect elf'n'safety means you can't any more but you used to be able to stand at the top of the steps down into the cutting at the portal end. You didn't get any idea of scale until you actually saw trains running - they looked like toys.

The film doesn't explain that one reason for locating the Caerwent complex was the quality of the water from the Great Spring - it is extremely clean and relatively pure, apparently (carbonates notwithstanding). Not only could they get lots of it, but it needed very little treatment. Since the closure of the factory, it's now taken, I believe largely untreated, by Welsh Water.

Apparently it's not the only spring that emerges into the bed of the Severn either. There are about three I know of over here, too, in the bed of the Avon gorge (one is almost right under the Clifton suspension bridge, and there are a couple more downstream).

 

[morturn]

It’s so sad that those Cornish beam engines were destroyed, they are a magnificent beast to see when working and an enduring testament to our engineering skills.

In the 1960’s British Rail (BR) became so obsessed with modernisation that it escalated its programme of removing anything related to steam power. Unfortunately, this meant that those six engines, and a couple of other on the Severn tunnel were cut up for scrap, when in reality, they could have been just left in place.

For the engineers and any other interested people amongst us, I am now, in retirement director of a registered charity that was set up to save one of these amazing Cornish beam engines that is a similar design and size to the Sudbrook engines.

Photographs are here https://flic.kr/s/aHsjzJ2AS4

Details of the works we are doing here http://www.lichfieldwaterworkstrust.com/

As other members have quite rightly pointed out, the Severn Tunnel is a masterpiece of Victorian engineering. When I read about the endeavours of the divers when the spring broke into the workings, I could feel the hair on the back of my neck sanding up.

Here’s a link to a very interesting account of its construction http://www.greatwestern.org.uk/severn1.htm

Finally, here is a short video of one of the very few remaining none rotive water pumping engines still working on steam https://vimeo.com/144336519

 

[AES]

Thanks to ETV for the link to a very interesting film, and to the other posters for their links. There's enough interest here to keep me from "hanging around on street corners" for hours.

We don't have the equivalent of the Severn here in Switzerland, (does anyone, anywhere?) but I'm sure everyone knows about "the" Gotthard tunnel under the Alps between Switzerland and Italy.

In fact there are now 3 tunnels - the original rail tunnel, something over 100 years old now, the road tunnel (about 50 years old) and the new tunnel, which was finally broken through from each end a year or so ago (and televised!) and which is now in final fitting out ready for pax trains to run early next year I think. That's the longest rail tunnel in the world BTW.

A few years ago, as a Christmas present, my better half bought me a special rail ticket. With that I was entitled to be sitting in the driver's cab of a scheduled train running through the tunnel. I'll have a look and see if I can find any of the many pix I took if anyone's interested (AFTER I've looked at some of the stuff in the links above!).

But suffice it to say that even I, knowing nothing whatever about civil engineering, found the whole thing very impressive indeed, especially since it was built primarily by hand labouring. Literally, the trip of a lifetime.

I could just imagine the original surveyor, on horse back of course, stopping at the head of some pass or other and saying to his assistants "OK boys, we're going to build a railway tunnel through this little lot" and his mates responding with something like "Are you completely nuts? - Sir!!!"

AES

 

[RogerS]

Slightly off-topic but rail related, I take my hat off to train drivers - especially high speed trains - who will happily sit in the front of their locomotive in dense fog belting along at over 100 mph and seeing? Zilch. Do they suppress to the back of their mind that some eejit hasn't dropped something onto the track ?

 

[Harbo]

As a Civil Engineer it's nice to see the word "Civil" used, normally we are just named "engineers"
There was a recent series on TV about Great Bridges when I think he only mentioned the "C" word when he visited The Institution of Civil Engineers in Great George Street.
Have to take my hat off to the early pioneers with no electronic surveying instruments, no powerful hydraulic machines and most of the design theory untested.

Rod

 

[RogerS]

As a Civil Engineer it's nice to see the word "Civil" used, normally we are just named "engineers"
There was a recent series on TV about Great Bridges when I think he only mentioned the "C" word when he visited The Institution of Civil Engineers in Great George Street.
Have to take my hat off to the early pioneers with no electronic surveying instruments, no powerful hydraulic machines and most of the design theory untested.

Rod

I agree. I watched the Building of The Severn Bridge - absolutely fascinating.

 

[AES]

also agreed - I managed to see all but 1 of those bridge programmes and found them all very interesting.

P.S. Sorry I didn't capitalise "civil engineer/ing" Rod. I'll accept a (hammer) from you!

Still much off the original topic. Pure coincidence, but on our national TV news tonight they showed a church service held deep into the new Gotthard tunnel to celebrate the new tunnel in the name of St. Barbara - apparently the patron saint of tunnel diggers.

I can't find the pix of the train trip I made through the old Gotthard train tunnel, but below is a small scan of a double page 3d-ish magazine spread showing the new tunnel, the old train tunnel, plus the road tunnel.

Sorry the pix aren't all that good in this small size, and that it's all in German. IOf anyone wants a better pic, and/or translation, send me a PM.

BTW, I learnt from the above TV news item that the new tunnel opens for regular pax service next week.

AES

 

[llangatwgnedd]

As a six year old in 1962 my memories of going throught the tunnel on our way to Bristol Zoo in a smelly steam train are still vivid.

Third of the way in they would put the carridge lights on, as we all tried to close the windows as the bore and carridge would be full of sulphur.

Oh what joy to see a diesel engine pulling up on Clifton Station for our return journey.

How times have changed.

 

[Woodmonkey]

Wow! Those engines were truly stunning, they don't make em like that anymore.
15 million gallons every 24 hours! :shock:

 

[rafezetter]

Off topic a little but still about railways - there are thousands of rail journeys on youtube, some several hours long. I've just looked up the Gotthard Tunnel and there's quite a few from different perspectives around the tunnel and the mountain valley.

Quite peaceful to watch actually!

 

[WoodMangler]

A British Transport Information Film about the Severn tunnel, including the beam engines working.

I have a vague recollection of going through that tunnel on a family holiday 60 years ago, with the car (Standard Vanguard??) on a railway truck. I can't remember if we travelled in the car or a railway coach.