The 12:08 service to...

[GeorgeUK]

How's that feature on the end of steam coming along?

[Swede]

Any chance of an update soon?

[Simon]

Certainly been enjoying this timeline, although not really knowledgeable to contribute much, and would like to see more.

[Devvy]

Yeah, it's coming on soon.

I've just finished an effective 4-week hiatus from home - 2 weeks away with work in Wolverhampton, 1 week holiday in Iceland, 1 week away with work in Chepstow.

New updates will come along at some point this week when things get back to normal

[JN1]

I was beginning to get worried about this TL. Was thinking about it when I was in the train last week, appropriately enough.

[Tonymecury]

That 1990 tube map appears to have two x North Greenwich, if my eyesight isn't failing!

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Devvy

Yeah, it's coming on soon.

I've just finished an effective 4-week hiatus from home - 2 weeks away with work in Wolverhampton, 1 week holiday in Iceland, 1 week away with work in Chepstow.

A fortnight in Wolves? No wonder you needed a holiday.

New updates will come along at some point this week when things get back to normal.

Excellent news.

[Devvy]

Originally Posted by Tonymecury

That 1990 tube map appears to have two x North Greenwich, if my eyesight isn't failing!

Ouch! Yep, indeed. Thanks for spotting that, I'll correct it later. The terminus should be North Woolwich.

Originally Posted by Simon

A fortnight in Wolves? No wonder you needed a holiday.

Yeah, while the work stuff was interesting...let's just say it didn't change much about my opinions of Wolverhampton!

[Devvy]

Originally Posted by Devvy

Ouch! Yep, indeed. Thanks for spotting that, I'll correct it later. The terminus should be North Woolwich.

Had 2 minutes before I left, so that mistake is now corrected.

[Devvy]

British Rail Press Release
November 1990


A BR APT2 train snakes it's way through the countryside.

British Rail APT2 trains are now taking over all services on the West Coast Main Line, providing express services between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, as well as other regional destinations.

It's been a long road for the APT2 trains, which originally started development in the early 1970s. Problems with mechanics, wheels, electrics have all played their part in delaying the project, but BR Engineering were finally able to overcome the problems to deliver a brand new high speed train for use, specifically optimised for use on the West Coast route.

All passengers travelling on the West Coast Main Line will now benefit from the shortened journey times and increased comfort that the trains bring, linking London to the north west and Scotland.

The APT2 trains run on London-Birmingham, London-Manchester, London-Liverpool, and London-Preston-Glasgow/Edinburgh routes.

---------------

National Newspaper
November 1990



Raucous scenes played out in Parliament today as the Government attempted to side step questions relating to the full costs of the Channel Tunnel, High Speed 1 line & Cannon Street station reconstruction. The Government defended itself, again commenting that it was only fulfilling the Opposition's project that they started, with the Opposition slating the Government for poor project management and spiralling costs.

The Government commented that "specific total costs" were hard to formulate, but eventually committed to providing a complete figure soon. The Opposition slated the Government for it's inability to produce figures and sarcastically wished the incoming Prime Minister, John Major, better luck at managing the wheels of Government.

All this comes only 3 days after the Government announced a freeze on new railway projects after the large expenditure on the Channel Tunnel (no doubt now exacerbated by HS1) and following the slowing of the economy.

---------------
Notes: So just 2 smaller updates right now...the APT2 train finally makes it into full service in 1990, after being downgraded to 125mph running with rheostatic brakes. Just to show what's happened with the APT2 trains before I nip onwards. Government spending has also been suspended for new railway projects, so no Crossrail (until a new Labour Government in 1997 I'm planning). The Heathrow branch has already begun, so that's excluded from the freeze.

Just starting to write a Spotlight for the GCML network (read as GCML and branching routes) to have a little look at the train routes, rolling stock, stations etc, as the GCML is that forgotten line. Thought it deserved some love.

After that, I'm planning a little look at how widespread electrification is now in this TL.

[FDW]

Interesting…

[JN1]

Hooray this TL is back and APT is in service!

[Devvy]

Network South East Press Release
December 1990


The new BR Class 332 NSE service at Stansted Airport station

With the completion of electrification on the Bishops Stortford - Witham, including the airport station at London Stansted Airport, Network South East are unveiling a new train service.

The new "Stansted Skytrain" service will link London Liverpool Street station and Stansted Airport, calling at Tottenham Hale, Harlow Town and Bishops Stortford, linking the airport to the capital and surrounding towns in record time. The service will be operated by the new BR Class 322 trains, designed specifically for the service with large suitcase storage areas.

The completion of electrification on this line is another highlight of British Rail's rolling electrification project, which after finishing work on HS1 has been working to electrify several smaller but strategic railway lines.


AC overhead electrified lines in Great Britain

The new link line via Stanstead Airport will allow Cross Country services from across the country to be extended from Cambridge to Stansted Airport and on to Ipswich. This will further the reach of cross country passengers and allow passengers from other areas of Britain easy access to the Airport.

---------------------
Notes: Stansted Skytrain (as the Express was then known!) gets off and away with new NSE stock. Note the line still goes all the way to Witham in this TL, so the line is an obvious choice for electrification with the WAML (West Anglia Main Line) being electrified earlier in the 1980s.

It's also an excuse to show a map of the OHLE AC electrified lines, to show how widespread electrification is now. There are still several blackspots where it makes sense, and those will come (Stoke springs to mind). The dotted lines in the south represent NSE's ambition to get those lines OHLE electrified, so dual-voltage stock rather then the clumsy EMU with a diesel engine on the front can operate services to the southern towns & cities. It also ties in nicely for electric freight trains from Southampton docks up on to the London orbital freight route from the Channel Tunnel.

Also note - the HS1 branches for domestic services have been converted to OHLE. The only difficult one would be the line from Tunbridge Wells to Hastings as it goes through several small tunnels. The tunnels were build as double track tunnels, are now single track in a lowered "ditch" in the tunnel to provide room for the OHLE (See the Wikipedia link on the Hastings Line for details).

[Ogrebear]

A very interesting timeline - I have enjoyed reading about 'what could have been' for BR immensely.

A question - will you be looking at Northern Island railways?

[Devvy]

Originally Posted by Ogrebear

A very interesting timeline - I have enjoyed reading about 'what could have been' for BR immensely.

A question - will you be looking at Northern Island railways?

Alas probably not, at least at the moment (leaving the door open for a spinoff one day). NI Railways have always been completely separate from British Railways, so it's somewhat outside the scope of this TL.

On a sidenote, if BR is garnering a better relationship with the Government in this TL then OTL, then railways in Northern Ireland might fare better as well in this TL. Who knows, the Belfast - Dublin Intercity service might actually be useful....

[El Pip]

Originally Posted by Devvy

On a sidenote, if BR is garnering a better relationship with the Government in this TL then OTL

Doubt it, as per the update earlier;

"Raucous scenes played out in Parliament today as the Government attempted to side step questions relating to the full costs of the Channel Tunnel, High Speed 1 line & Cannon Street station reconstruction."

Money is being sprayed up the wall with gay abandon, far worse than OTL as Channel Tunnel is a government scheme TTL, and the government is taking a lot of pain for something that really is a minority interest (Current figures have >70% of people commuting to work in a car with walking and buses also picking up big shares. And that's a national figure so badly skewed by London commuters.)

A sensible government would conclude the same money spent on roads would have achieved epic things (finishing the M1, a few more lanes on the M25, the M4-M3 link, finally building the South Circular and all the other plans the DoT has), kept more people happy, come in on time and on budget (simpler engineering) and won them more votes.

They wont of course, this is a train wank after all, but I can't see any PM going 'Mega train projects. Yes I really want more of those over-budget political disasters that will take so long it will be my successors, successor who may get the credit for it.'

[Devvy]

Originally Posted by El Pip

Doubt it, as per the update earlier;

"Raucous scenes played out in Parliament today as the Government attempted to side step questions relating to the full costs of the Channel Tunnel, High Speed 1 line & Cannon Street station reconstruction."

Money is being sprayed up the wall with gay abandon, far worse than OTL as Channel Tunnel is a government scheme TTL, and the government is taking a lot of pain for something that really is a minority interest (Current figures have >70% of people commuting to work in a car with walking and buses also picking up big shares. And that's a national figure so badly skewed by London commuters.)

A sensible government would conclude the same money spent on roads would have achieved epic things (finishing the M1, a few more lanes on the M25, the M4-M3 link, finally building the South Circular and all the other plans the DoT has), kept more people happy, come in on time and on budget (simpler engineering) and won them more votes.

They wont of course, this is a train wank after all, but I can't see any PM going 'Mega train projects. Yes I really want more of those over-budget political disasters that will take so long it will be my successors, successor who may get the credit for it.'

Granted, I just completely forgot about the last few posts in my mind when I posed that a bit ago this evening, but....

I'll agree that the Channel Tunnel / HS1 might be a debatable stretch in hindsight, and looking, but the rest of it is all stuff/money that generally been spent OTL. Note that the trains are OTL TGV trains anyway, so little expense for BR to run trains. We'll chalk it down to Government oversight and spending large amounts of money without enough thought. It occurs easily enough in OTL

- Yes more rail lines are still open, but OTL so many branch lines closed that it stopped people taking the train to get to the still-open lines, and so decreased traffic on the still-open lines. It seems the GCML was generally profitable anyway when it was closed (due to express freight).
- APT - ran out of political time rather then money in OTL. Problems could of easily been sorted given time - and in this TL it's been easier then OTL due to the lowering of the top speed.
- APT2/APT3 (IC125/IC225) were delivered anyway at roughly the same time anyway.

The biggest change is the much wider electrification...but official documents from the ECML electrification in OTL show that as long as you are literally just OHLE electrifying the line, then it's not difficult or that expensive. The ECML problems were largely due to resignalling the line in areas at the same time. DC electrification isn't as widespread though...and so some of the efforts going into DC have gone into AC OHLE instead.

The London Underground is little beyond what existed in OTL at the time either, and yes there is a Thameslink East which isn't in OTL, but then there is no DLR in this TL.

[JN1]

They wont of course, this is a train wank after all, but I can't see any PM going 'Mega train projects. Yes I really want more of those over-budget political disasters that will take so long it will be my successors, successor who may get the credit for it.'

Now a real train wank would be if the UK built no motorways and decided to rely completley on rail for long distance travel. I think a TL of that nature has been written here.

[JN1]

Originally Posted by Devvy

On a sidenote, if BR is garnering a better relationship with the Government in this TL then OTL, then railways in Northern Ireland might fare better as well in this TL. Who knows, the Belfast - Dublin Intercity service might actually be useful....

You'd have to stop some pesky people from regularly trying to blow the service up in the '70s and '80s. 'The 12:08 Dublin to Belfast service is delayed due to the wrong kind of bomb on the line' certainly beats the wrong kind of snow

The NI government and then the NI Office (when Direct Rule took over) were probably a bit distracted with another problem to do much better with the railways for at least three decades of this TL. Between 1945 and 1969 something might be done and again post-1999 Good Friday Agreement there may be resources and time for improvements.

[Devvy]

Originally Posted by JN1

You'd have to stop some pesky people from regularly trying to blow the service up in the '70s and '80s. 'The 12:08 Dublin to Belfast service is delayed due to the wrong kind of bomb on the line' certainly beats the wrong kind of snow

The NI government and then the NI Office (when Direct Rule took over) were probably a bit distracted with another problem to do much better with the railways for at least three decades of this TL. Between 1945 and 1969 something might be done and again post-1999 Good Friday Agreement there may be resources and time for improvements.

Fair point, that's half the reason I've stayed well away from Northern Ireland - I know little about it's history let alone the rail network.

Originally Posted by JN1

Now a real train wank would be if the UK built no motorways and decided to rely completley on rail for long distance travel. I think a TL of that nature has been written here.

Well, I'll settle for the HS1 thing as a slight wank (although I think the line would of been cheaper then OTL as it runs all the way to Tonbridge down the side of the SEML, and from Orpington to Cannon Street it takes over already existing tracks). But I maintain the rest of it is perfectly plausible....the crux of it being the mass electrification being done instead of hundreds of millions on wasted freight stuff from the 1955 Report.

T&W Metro has less tunnelling then OTL, Merseyrail is roughly the same as OTL. Manchester Crosslink exists, but other then the central core tunnel, there's nothing extra over OTL. Let's assume the Birmingham Tram system never got off the ground (as I'd planned since reading the comments after that update) and was so scrapped by this point in this TL. London has no DLR, but an extra Thameslink tunnel.

I'm open to opinions though (and would rather like to hear thoughts on the wank or not stuff). I don't think the motorway network would of suffered *that* much in this TL, although maybe some of the inner-urban motorways wouldn't of been built (ie. M32, A38(M), M602).