The Radioactive Tunnel at Windsor Hill.
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- Опубликовано: 29 янв 2022
- Rebecca's behind the scene... • Behind the Scenes with...
Welcome to the Somerset and Dorset Line, and more specifically a gorgeous piece of landscape with a whole lot of history. We had heard that there was a campaign by the good people at "The Friends of Windsor Hill", so dropped them some DM's and emails. Alas, no reply (we aren't that famous yet ;-) ) so decided to rock up and see what was going on.
Friends of the Windsor Hill Tunnels FB Group: / windsorhilltunnels
Pictures used with permission: forgottenrelics.co.uk/tunnels/...
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Rebecca's behind the scenes... ruclips.net/video/XKXKcucfaAQ/видео.html
I've jest realised that I've already seen the behind the scenes doo dee doo already. It's a bit like watching the extras on a dvd before watching the film. Synchronise your output please! Spanking over!
I think the term Radio active oil is a red herring .
I am not aware of any purpose of such material and if the site had any such contamination that gave a count of say 10 x over background radiation which on my Geiger would be a count of 150-200 background is 15-20 . Next time Im down that way to Binegar I will take a walk up and confirm the actual count
Then there would be official signage warning any person of risk .
The next question would be Isotope type and half life of the isotope some of the potential low risk materials have very short half lifes ( fast decay ) used in medical xray of peoples internals .
So any trace of radioactivity in the tunnel would be long gone since 1970 .
There are two separate Andy Richards commenting on this video !!
Im a retired engineer from Bristol I walked both tunnels back in about 2010
Hmm, they did, until the 80's, use radioactive tracers in oil to find fine fatigue cracks in high performance engines, including jet turbines. It showed up very fine cracks not normally visible to x-ray examination.
So the story could quite easily be explained.
Yep.
I worked on engine development for many years, not aero but heavy diesel, for a short period of time, we used radioactive components in engines built for endurance testing. The oil would contain particles of the engine components due to wear.The count on the engine would reduce the count on the oil when changed would be measured to gauge wear rates.We were told at the time the radiation levels would do you no harm, no more than luminecent watch face? however all used oil and any cloths etc containing oil were to be contained and sent to Porton Down. I kid you not. Im 69 and stil here so given that at the same time we were told that it was only blue asbestos that was dangerous and we were using white asbestos tape as insulation, I always feel reassured when someone in authority tells you it safe and wont do you any harm.
Jim (dont think i glow in the dark)
Sorry for some reason Google had logged me in as my wife, It is not Ros that glows in the dark but me, Jim.
@@jimgoulding9155 That must be very useful when you have to nip down the yard in the middle of the night..
Whilst it's good to be cautious around radioactivity, biochemicals use radioactive tracers to determine what they are used in and determine pathways.
@@UTubeThePatient different types of radiation are associated with different dangers. For example alpha particles are dangerous to humans because they can stay in the body, where as X-rays tend to pass through. But even X-rays can be dangerous in the wrong dose. Just because some circumstances are ok, I wouldn’t make any assumptions without knowing what was actually used in those tunnels. Short half life beta and gamma emitters are used in medical imaging safely. For wear detection i would imagine they might gamma irradiate some components or perhaps embed small amounts of beta emitting isotopes. The point is that there is complexity in determining what is “safe”.
I live just round the corner. My understanding is, they were testing the engines to see what happened in the event of problems like lubrication failures, and doing this in a tunnel would contain catastrophic failures (engine blows up!) They doped the engine bearings with Uranium: if the bearings started to fail then they would shed material, and the radioactivity could be detected in the engine exhausts.
This was what I figured.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 steam system on an aircraft engine?
@@andreww2098 should have waited a little longer.
Aircraft engines are designed to contain the maximum amount of material within the engine casing in case of explosive failure. They usually take an engine upto the 3ngine speeds required at the most critical phase of take off and explode a small change to release the heaviest of the rotating blades to see what happens. Alternatively they fire some small object (about the size and weight of a chicken) in to the intake to see what might happen. No need for radioactive oil and can be carried out at a normal test centre with high speed film cameras.
Letting it run dry would be an expensive test to perform and would result in the rotating sections welding themselves to stationary sections and at that point any need for radioactive oil becomes pointless.
Barium meal for bearings
The use of radioactive oil during the engine testing was presumably to enable the engineers to make sure it was going where they expected it to in the engine, bearing in mind it was the 1960s so they wouldn't have had fibre optics, miniature cameras and the like that we take for granted today.
Yeah, people don't seem to know just how much radioactive compounds are used in both engineering and manufacturing, and we certainly have no idea as to how much has been used to date.
Lived in Shepton '86 - '90.
The long tunnel had a heavy and quite tall steel door on it, but easily scalable by 20-something me and friends with a decent gap at the top that made swinging over no problem. We'd regularly climb in the long tunnel, walk to the other end and climb out.
35 years later, no radiation sickness to report.
As I recall, the short (new) tunnel was open then as now, and was the route our girlfriends took whilst we brave adventurers risked it all in the long 'un.
Happy memories. Lovely video. Thank you!
My grandad worked on the Concorde engine tests. They picked those tunnels because they wanted to test the engines to destruction. One of the tests involved running an engine at high power without lubricant and he always said they got bored waiting for it to go bang and gave up trying.
Cool. Confirms what I heard. Thanks.
That is not the first time I have heard of testers getting bored like that. Some I knew in the past tested underwater devices. Every now and again they took them to well above their intended test range, usually with boring results, but every now and again...
As something of an aside, but related: Pathe Eng/late of Chatsworth Road, Chesterfield, folded after twas found that wide joints supposedly welded, were in fact loads of rods laid down and welded over. Unbelievable, but true. Circa early 80's.
My uncle from Derby also worked on them .
Trace isotopes in the oil halp show where ther oil is doing its work and where it isn't. For it to do you harm you would probably need to drink the stuff, at which time you will have other, more urgent problems! That first shot of the viaduct was impressive, shouted "Argonath" to me for the Pillars of The Kings in Middle Earth. Really good film thank you.
I used to look at the brick bridge at Evercreech and see the later bridge married to the original. In 1947 the newer half at Shepton Mallet viaduct, over the Bath Road, collapsed yet the older half was sound and continued to bear traffic...somewhat unnerving to view from the line. The cement plaque commemorating the rebuild was still by the road on the new abutment when I last saw it.
When I see these tunnels and viaducts, I marvel at the beautiful craftsmanship in making utilitarian structures, and all without modern machinery! If constructed today, they'd be drab, unadorned reinforced concrete - and boring.
Also quite a few men gave their lives in the building of our railway infrastructure.
Even though I'm in the USA I still enjoy your videos as a learning tool. I love abandoned places especially rails. I can't wait to be able to walk properly again so I can do some exploring of my own here.
Interesting to have gone from watching Robert and Toyah earlier, to Paul and Rebecca!
Get well soon
Hi Paul & Rbecca Greetings, you are In my home territory again. No comments lately as I am under going cancer preventative radio therapy treatment at Bath Royal United Hospital. Intrepid explorers and historic adventurers like you make it all worthwhile.
All the best to you Leroy. History made us who we are.
Radioactive oils is still used in engine testing today. Wear and oil efficiency can be measured and naturally contamination does happen. Harwell atomic site used to take the nearby Esso research sites engine components that were radioactive and contaminated to store/deal with them.
Large store - explosives Small store - detonators.
Oil at exceptionally high temperatures and pressures undergoes chemical changes. Additionally, the testing process may involve radioactive materials to allow the engine to be examined whilst running. The end results after testing may be contamination of a radioactive nature, hence the warning. In future, take a geiger counter with you.
Top class film as always, love the very atmospheric incidental music.
It would be interesting to see the reading on a Geiger counter.
Technical term used when we thickness test stuff non destructively is called "Bombing" using radioactivity.
Another possible explanation: engine casings are quite often slightly radioactive as a result of treatment to toughen the material (with Thorium). Casings could release contamination as a result of catastrophic failure or, more likely, erosion by casing contact with rotating parts. The risk may be small but a warning from RR could easily be a part of the risk mitigations. If the contamination was anything like significant, a full clean up probably would have been undertaken.
@@gordonmculloch4904 Not really, a little needle flicking from zero to whatever gets a bit boring after a few times of watching it, a bit like episodes of reality TV!
@@dumbbeerholder I know the RR Conway’s have some radioactivity inside them
I've actually walked through one of the Windsor hill tunnels a few years (6+) years ago so they have been accessable in the past. I'm a big fan of the S&D part of the group at Midsomer Norton. I'd wish the line was rebuilt rather than for a cycle path, but I don't think that will ever happen. Thank you for another enjoyable video.
The "Junction Cafe" on the site of Evercreech junction is a great place for a traditional english breakfast. I've been there many times. Great film about the Windsor Tunnels. Interesting how they realised that the new tunnel could be shorter. Also interesting how much these places get taken over by nature in a relatively short period of time. Good stuff Paul & Rebecca. I always look forward to your next film.
I go there on the way to the bath and west showground
Hello from PEI Canada. I have just found your videos. I wish that the videos were longer
I love these videos.
Rolls Royce/Bristol Aircraft occasionally used low level radioactive compounds as a tracer element in engine lubrication system trials. I surveyed the viaduct on behalf of the NRPB about 20 years ago, oh and if you need a radiation survey meter you woill probably be able to borrow/rent one from your nearest Non-destructive Testing company.
Wish time machines were invented so you could travel back in time to see the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway in it's glory with the steam locomotives passing through the areas, Brilliant Video and inside of Windsor Hill Tunnels do look lovely.
Thanks Simon
The Somerset & Dorset in todays terms would have been viewed as "creative art." I am a long time member of the S&D & Mid Hants Railway Society, which are now conjoined. I have an extensive archive of the line feel free to contact me, only to pleased to help.
Shell research used to fit radioactive piston rings and bearings to engines and run them flat out. Any radioactivity in the oil was a measure of the wear taking place.
Adding radioactive chemicals to liquids is quite common when testing equipment, similar to adding thorium to blood for testing. The amount is so small and the high life so short it doesn't pose any risk now. The company probably posted the warning to cover their butts in case of lawsuits. Going through that "haunted" wood lot and coming upon that viaduct was amazing! So strange to watch you walking around with out any snow on the ground! I have two feet and more where I live making hiking about almost impossible!
Was 13 deg here in England yesterday (1st Feb 2022).
OK, at 11:11 my jaw literally dropped and I paused the video to write this comment. PLEASE let this go on to explain these wild yellowy stones!!! Love this video!
Great to see that at least one of the tunnels is now ope again. Having walked both tunnels in the early 80s, I don't think I have ever glowed in the dark!
Absolutely brilliant video. I love the abandoned railway line videos. This was a great explore Paul and Rebecca! I love the viaduct and the tunnels. Another great video! Thanks for sharing and look forward to next week’s video! Thanks guys 👍🏼👍🏼
From Chilcompton to Binegar/The Evercreech train rolled/Plume of smoke at its funnel/Wisp of steam at its wheels/In the tender, chips and vinegar/Fireman, resting, warms his toes/Dreams of Templecombe and home/After Evercreech....
From the US - visited the tunnels on our vacation two weeks ago and both were open.....
Absolutely enthralled by your vlogs. Brilliant content. Thank you Rebecca and Paul. 👍👍👍🙏
Wow that’s amazing. Andy & I have been exploring the summer set & Dorset railway. For the past few years. And got as far as Shillingstone. Where their re-doing the station & the former track bed. Have u also both visited Midsummer Norton? Where u can ride on part of it? We often visit there. And we have visited Windsor Hill & the Tunnels 3 times. And saw it b4 they re-created the pathway through. And the new Gravel path that leads from the road that winds past. We were there with the dog yesterday & interestingly I did several bits of footage 4 my channel. I filmed the upwards Tunnel whilst walking through & I managed to capture part of the red arrows sound as they flew over us. Me & 4 others. In there. The sound in there was amazing. We headed across to see the Other Tunnel. & like your footage. It was locked off. But interestingly when I
took a video through the tunnel! It looked like the gates through the other side. Had this really weird haze…. &
colour dancing across the gates at the end? Do u think that could of been radiation? Or ghost???? I’m interested in ghosts. What do u both think? Please
like 👍 & subscribe to my channel. Bright box & let me know. 🚂
Thanks again as usual, you two.
Still loving your videos. They get better all the time.
Love your walks. Thanks!
Extraordinary structure just slowly decaying, it reminds me of a ruined Medieval Cathedral, the stained glass missing from gigantic windows, moss & plants gradually reclaiming everything.
A nice view of Glastonbury Tor as well, great video, not far from me in Wiltshire :)
Ahhh was it the Tor we saw!?
Definitely, and I wonder if the railway you're looking at is the one that ran through the Glastonbury Festival site? Hmm :)
Edit: No :D Probably the same railway company mind you
Very enjoyable video, Paul and Rebecca, love the moment where you suddenly emerged under the viaduct to reveal it in all its towering glory, really effective and slightly scary especially with the appropriate atmospheric music. Great stuff.
Church music would have worked there too.
Fantastic to see it open now had to fight my way through it a few years back great video as ever.
Great vid again. I'd like to explore that stretch myself soon. The Somerset and Dorset railway stretched from Evercreech down to Poole. They've opened up a few sections as walks/cycleways and the trailway from Sturminster Newton to Blandford Forum which passes the Shillingstone station project is worth a look as I believe they hope to reinstate a stretch of track as a heritage line.
Great video as usual Paul and Rebecca. I was waiting for one of you to pull out a Geiger counter to check the old tunnel out!
Another wonderful adventure with you guys ! Thank you for taking me along !
Love your work..presentation and narration interesting. Your new blonde companion pretty good too.
Great vid. Thanks. Beautiful view of the Tor.
Another excellent video! Very well directed and produced. Love all your "railway work", and find your others interesting as well.
Another marvellous video - you never disappoint
It always amaze's how much work and man hours went into building these magnificent structures . All to be forgotten about and left for nature to claim back.
Paul and Rebecca ! I just love these posts, really well put together. Thank you.
Thanks, both, for the time taken to explore and record this piece of West Country history. Great to see the tunnels coming back to life - delivering somewhere else that is safe to both walk and cycle. Bravo Zulu, bith!
Those tunnels and old quarry were my play area in the 90s. It's wonderful that they've opened one of the tunnels again, they just need to open the other one..... fingers crossed 🤞
I can see why. What a great playground that must have been.
Always great to see new material from that part of the world :) Thanks
Fantastic as usual. The via duct and tunnel were just awesome such gorgeous stonework. Thanks so much for taking me along. Please stay safe and take care
Interesting video as always, good to see access is being provided to this section of S&D trackbed.
Thanks guys another enjoyable vlog
" Yes You Are Correct Sir " I did enjoy the Video Paul . I loved Rebecca's Ed McMahon routine that she starts at 2:30 mins and keeps it up . She does the yes Mam thing so perfect . I am going to watch Her Channel now .
I still have my VHS release of All Change at Evercreech Junction. Released nearly 40 years ago here in Australia! Got me hooked on the S&D.
Brilliant explore. Great to hear you get through the tunnel now. What a fabulous walk. Thank you for taking us with you.
Thanks Shirley
Another wonderful video, and not far from me in Radstock ! I used to service the security alarms on explosive stores in the area and seem to remember being told they had to store the "detonators" and the "explosive sticks" separately so both items were never kept together in the same room for safety reasons. Keep up the great work and brilliant video's, always a treat to watch.
I live about a 10 min walk from here. The valley you mention at the start is the Vale of Avalon.
Great video. Thank you for making Sunday afternoons a trip out to places I would not normally explore. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Pauline
I venture the tunnel is safe now or else they would completely seal the tunnel full stop. ...nice video ...have a good un .
One of your best! Really neat that the line is being opened up to hikers/bikers. Sadly, we don't have much of that outside state and national parks in the US.
I think the fear of falling rocks from a mainly unlined bore is the reason... not being regularly inspected as it was in railways days.
@@johnjephcote7636 Good thinking. Jet engine testing probably shook it up. ...but Danger Radiation gets your attention.
Fascinating and already some convincing likely sounding explanations for the ‘radioactive oil’ in the comments 😊. I was nodding my head vigorously at your ‘open the routes up for walking (etc)’ mini-rant!
I always find it interesting to see how the S&DJR looks these days. I know parts of it so well from the photographs of Ivo Peters that modern views are sometimes very recognisable, depending on what's happened to a section. Thanks for another great video!
Couldn't agree more!
11:08 Ooo, definitely a green glow at the end of the tunnel. Must be something radioactive. ;-)
Great location, it's going on my list!
Bit late to this one but great video as usual! This is also one of my favourite sites, I'm off there later today to show my sister! The tunnels were shut last time I went so I'm looking forward to walking the whole section.
Spent many a rain storm sheltered under that viaduct.
Pretty sure the red brick buildings are actually a generator room and a transformer/sub station, not an explosive store. Most of the quarries in the area have these buildings because they commonly used diesel fuel oil to power the crusher and conveyors. In a couple of the more remote quarries the generators and oil tanks are still in position.
Love your photographs!
Thank you for another interesting video 🙂
hello again paul and rebecca , thank you for another cool video , either of you start glowing panic lmao , well done and thank you guys 😊
Great quality and informative video. Rebecca definitely on form from point 6.20 .. it had me in stitches 🤣
Lovely to see the Slow and Delightful in its faded glory. Only manged to ride on it from Radstock to Withlington when the line still had coal traffic. Great to see parts of it and I hope one day to ride from Midsummer Norton. Keep up your marvellous vlogs.
I did enjoy that! Paul and Rebecca!
Really enjoyed this👍
Thank you, an interesting and enjoyable video.
Love the video so interesting to watch.
Thank you both for sharing these majestic disused railways. I tip me hat to ya both.
A brilliant video as always. :)
Glad to see one of the tunnels now open.
I've walked through both tunnels many times. The gates had not yet appeared when I left Shepton 8 years ago. It's good to see that one tunnel is now open. An incentive to have a return visit, probably in May when I can take footpath from viaduct to Maesbury Castle to see it covered with bluebells.
I love your still photos of that rock shot tunnel! The railroad I worked for abandoned a Tunnel during WW2 as Naval Landing Crafts on flatcars were too wide. So they shoo flied around it. Then an old timer told me they build a section of track inside as the military wanted to see if they could destroy track with explosives. So they did their thing with C4 and the track was unaffected. So then the railroad asked one of their Powder Gang Foreman if he could destroy track using sticks of dynamite. So the old boy goes in there, carefully places sticks around and under the rail and blew the track up! The railroad I worked for had powder gangs on their mountainous districts to safely remove boulders before they could fall and derail trains. It was a great gig, but like everything else, those gangs are long gone and now they don't do preventative work like that anymore. They wait for the boulders to end up on the track.....stupid and unsafe! Oh, love your videos and you two crack me up (and that's good!). lol
Judging by the goat, I am guessing you were a Great Northern employee. I have certainly seen many videos of trains hitting boulders and ending up in the river below. Slide fences are supposed to protect from that, but they just can't get catch 'em all. Also don't protect those rocks or mudslides that come down on the train once the head end has passed.
@@johnleer5263 You understand how it all works. And while slide fences are great, they absolutely can't catch everything. I was a mountain railroader for a Class 1 carrier but to be honest, I wasn't a GN employee. I just have a ton of respect for J J Hill and the line he built without any government assistance. The only transcontinental railroad built with private money, through some really tough territory. Not that Donner Pass was a piece of cake as it definitely was a hell of a place to build a railroad. That's where I spent about half of my career. Old SP.
Damn, this is on our doorstep and we never knew! Thanks so much for the video
@Paul and Rebecca Whitewick love this video and really loving the choice of music in this video its rather mezmorising. keep up the great work.
Thanks so much!
What a place !
Great stuff I’ll now be heading down for a walk soon
Loved the video. I might pop down there soon
Dear Paul and Rebecca, great video and very interesting, as I was there last year and the tunnels were not open at all, will go back soon and have another walk there. Ps, very strange quary area, lots of metallic bags etc there and no one around...strange. keep the good work up, you've both been brilliant during covid. Regards Tim F.
I’ve walked both these tunnels 8+ years back. There was no fencing up back then but the equestrian place close by had dumped a load of stuff on the track bed that you needed to climb over. Great video btw
Thank you. Yup we came back in 2018 when they were closed and everyone seemed really suprised to hear it!
I like you 2 ! It's nice to see happy decent people doing grass roots interesting g stuff on you tube thanks
very interesting information
It'd be interesting to use a Geiger counter to measure any lingering radiation. They could do that via a drone or wheeled remote control vehicle.
As kids we used to spend alot of time up there. Both tunnels were open at one point, the larger one that's now closed is curved so you had to have your wheatabix for that one and no way after a load of mushrooms you'd just picked out the fields 🙂
Oh indeed.. I saw my friend fall in a hole once... that wasn't there the next day.
Another epic vid
Great video. Must explore this, it's not far from me.
one of the best english lines great vid paul and rebecca
Interesting
Geiger counters are cheap and readily available and if I were the sort to be poking about below grade I would certainly have one. Love your channel. Cheers from the left edge of Canada. ~ulrich
Absolutely didn't consider that!
Hello P&R,thanks for the video.I recall walking through both tunnels about 18 years ago and they were much more overgrown.By the way Mrs E is not as bold as Rebecca on explores,she sat in the car reading a book.
I'm replacing my No trespassing signs with Danger: Radioactive Dust Area
That line goes through the Glastonbury festival site
Seeing that viaduct you can almost hear the mournful shrieking of a long forgotten steam locomotive, hear the rattling and grinding of the rolling stock, see the billows of smoke and steam mingling with the clammy Somerset fog... Yes, it was dirty and inefficient technology. But there was a kind of _magic_ to the age of steam, wasn't there?