High Speed 2: A Visit to the Colne Valley Viaduct
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- Опубликовано: 8 июн 2023
- I recently got an invitation to one of the construction sites for High Speed 2, and I managed not to knock anything over or make a mess.
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“Apparently the architects were inspired by the path of a stone skipping across water, so… it’s the same shape as a normal viaduct”
😂😂😂 made my morning
It's okay, you filmed it before uploading. Therefore it is historical!
There's also no doubt that the construction of this rail line is itself historic, given how long it has been since the a mainline midlands route has been built in the UK.
Hellishly expensive, but necessary.
@@cv990a4 Not necessary at all. They could have easily reopened old lines instead of destroying our forests, wetlands and villages just so a few businessmen can commute 30 minutes faster.
don't worry, it will be historic one day...
@@JP_TaVeryMuch come to France and see how the TGV has replaced a lot of local flights and is proving to be a benefit for the passengers. Yes, SNCF is losing money but, as "Jago" says _That's another story_
@@JP_TaVeryMuch I don't care about the reasons. Destroying forests and other sections of the natural environment just so people can have faster rail journeys is bloody selfish and anyone who uses it should be ashamed of themselves.
"Apparently the architects were inspired by the path of a stone skipping across water, so... i-it's the same shape as a normal viaduct." I think Bob Newhart himself would be proud of that well-executed hesitation-with-slight-stammer. :)
Those lines inspired by a stone skimming water are a delight. Modern does not have to mean ugly.
Absolutely - it often feels that high-earning professionals such as architects get paid as much for convincing us uneducated heathens that there is an inspired back-story to their creations as they get for their actual creativity!
@@52Royston Agreed. short of actually building it out of stone I doubt they could make it look better.
2:59 Standing ovation for this! 👏🏽
I am from Hong Kong, and you did pronounce the 'East Tsing Yi Viaduct' as close as it gets. 👏👏👏
Tsing is pronounce as "Sing" with " T " being silent, right?
The 'Ts' is actually pronounced like the 'ts' in 'cats', or to better match the theme, the 'Ts' sounded like a train releasing its breaks
Not all history happens in the past. This is history and in the present! I'm sad the branch to Leeds are [no politics here, absolutely not.] Still, this is a wonderful development and happy HS2 are taking great care in a lot of places to preserve the green space it runs through.
Well it was filmed prior to upload so it is technically the past. Just not really that long ago
That's a costly project as it is. The UK's finances are badly stretched by COVID, the War in Ukraine, and 13 years of extremely low interest rates.
I'd really like to hear your opinion on how might the Leeds branch become feasible, considering the current situation.
The branch to Leeds is especially unfortunate given that it's a relatively minor additional section once you've already built a new path into London, new station in Birmingham and rebuilt Euston.
@@SuperLisona tax the rich?
@@eldrago19 then the rich will go away, and your country will become even poorer (look at the 70s in Britain)
Besides, they have already increased corporation tax rate to 25% and lowered the income tax 45% bracket from 150 grand to 125.
The Colne Valley consists of a complex of lakes and the channel of the River Colne itself. The lakes are the remains of old gravel pits which were worked until relatively recently. It is hardly a natural landscape, but its colonisation by plants and animals is a welcome 'green lung' adjacent to the urban sprall of westernmost London and especially Heathrow Airport.
"The wilds of Buckinghamshire..." C'mon its not so bad now that the Chalfont werewolf problem is under control. Still the odd vampire in Denham though.
And technically, most of the viaduct will be in Middlesex?
Just the Beast of Buckingham to go then.
Middlesex was abolished 1st April 1965
@@phil2544 That is true, although it's still a valid part of addresses. A lot of people in the area formerly known as Middlesex do their utmost to keep the name alive.
@@phil2544 If I have an excuse to write Middlesex on anything I take it.
@@ianthomson9363 Too bad about Wessex though
I will say that someone at HS2 PR had their heads screwed on - your RUclips site is a fantastic delve into the world of transport and it’s great they recognise what you are creating!
Thanks!
Both HS2 and network Rail PR are using RUclips very well - there's lots of videos showing construction projects they're doing, which is nice as otherwise we'd never see how it was done! Great to see that Jago has got himself onto the 'invited guests' list as well!
@@stepheneyles2198 He clearly has fans in high places.
@@JagoHazzard Mr Hazzard, is HS2’s astronomical cost of £100b (US $129b) _really_ worth it? For just a measly 230km of track?
High speed rail is anathema to Australian politicians and economists, as the cost to cover the eastern seaboard capital cities has been projected to cost up to a staggering £157b (US $202b), with the white elephant project not becoming carbon negative until at least 40 years after the contract has been signed. 🦘 🇦🇺
Love it or loathe it, you can't deny it's an incredible engineering feat.
I love it but I hate how it's been treated by the government, since it won't go to Leeds, it won't go to London (initially it will terminate at Old Oak Common instead of Euston) and even the Manchester part is in doubt, so Birmingham to not-quite-London. Unless it's built in full the money would have been better spent on the rest of the existing network. But it's at the point where it would be a real waste to stop building now. I think it should be completed as planned, along with the Northern Powerhouse Rail project, as quickly as possible.
@@johnm2012 I agree, since it's underway at this point the most important thing now is that it's completed *in full* rather than being scaled down and cut back to the point of being virtually useless, the only thing worse than an over-budget megaproject is an over-budget megaproject that doesn't even fulfil its intended purpose.
@@johnm2012@ johnm2012 The government's priority is to get something open asap. The problem is that phase 1 doesn't have any connections to existing lines until after Birmingham, so they must build all 130 miles from Old Oak Common - Birmingham Curzon Street before any money can be made.
The Euston branch involves boring 18 miles of tunnels + a very challenging station to build. The Euston branch would've also taken 25% of the phase 1 budget. It's better to use that manpower on finishing the main branch first.
It should have been joined onto HS1 and Euston and St Pancras both been international. Trains direct from Birmingham/Leeds/Manchester through to Paris etc - that's the green alternative to air travel. (I know, embedded carbon in construction etc but, speculate to accumulate.) They've scaled it back so much it'll be a white elephant.
@@cameroncook2048 Euston is only 4.5 miles from Old Oak Common so the majority of that 18 miles of tunnel will have to be bored before even the truncated line can open. The government has been forced to admit that slowing construction down to spread the cost over a longer period will increase the overall cost still further, like people who are forced to take breaks in their mortgage payments to pay for energy or food. A high speed shuttle service with no connections and no intermediate stations will have little use and little revenue. The biggest errors though were cancelling the Leeds section and not connecting to HS1.
A completely different aspect to the HS2. There will be on the ,21st June a memorial service at Brookwood cemetery to all the souls removed from St James Garden Euston for the build. Now resting at Brookwood
A bloody disgrace to remove the deceased from their graves for a bloody railway that almost no one wants.
@@martinputt6421 A railway that nobody wants...for now. Japan went through the same thing in the '60s, and look at the fruits of their labour that they're enjoying.
I was able to do a similar tour of the site a few months ago when Dominique had only just crossed the A412. The most interesting surprise I had was back at the Chiltern Tunnels portal where there was a rattling sound coming from the slurry pipes caused by the layers of flint that the TBMs are digging through. Apparently some days it is noisier than others.
A cross between Lego & Meccano - functional, fascinating, practical & efficient. Concrete may be the best choice for the project but it can't match the splendour of the Ribble-head viaduct or the beauty of Brunel's brick bridge across the Thames.
Re nature reserves, back in the 1980s I remember seeing a report done about the West Highland Line from Glasgow to Fort William. The fencing of the line keeps out sheep and deer who have a tendancy to eat young shoots of anything so species of plant survive. On top of that, the passage of trains north westwards creates a breeze which blows seeds along the line. The result was species of plants along side the tracks which simply were not there in the surrounding landscape. My late Dad, a botanist, was really interested.
He was always keen to point out the Lake District landscape we see today is not at all natural but the result of intensive sheep grazing resulting in barren and clear mountain tops. The whole national park should be covered in woods. So if we want to preserve the Lakes, surely the sheep ought to go, unless we are simply preserving a 1900s version of reality. It would be interesting to know what the existing and previous railway lines have protected from the sheep.
And in that vein, almost every river in the country has been straightened and had its banks increased to greater or lesser degree.
You grow up thinking (or perhaps being told) that river banks and their handy buffer zone being a thing that just happens due to rainfall and seasonal height variance; then one day you learn it was all manual work done a few centuries ago to make boat travel more reliable!
And also central reservations and berms on motorways.
@@kaitlyn__L If you are ever in Cambridgeshire, go and see Wicken Fen. This is still as nature made it and is several meters higher than the surrounding draining and dried out farmland. They do a good scone too!
The train draft effect spread ragwort aka 'Stinking Willie' out of its heathland habitats along railway lines in the 19th century. It could then get to overgrazed pasture and run riot, an early case of an disastrous invasive species caused by industrial transport.
Someone in the rail industry clearly recognises the talent that is Jago.
I grew up in Croxley Green after being born in Chesham and having a few years in Northolt, so I can assert that there is nothing natural in the area except on a small scale. I remember the M25 being built - it carved quite a swathe through the same area (well close anyway).
Pity that HS1 and HS2 weren't designed to sweep round London, North and South, following the line of the M25. London would have then had a "Peripherique" railway which could have taken a lot of the "one-up" commuting car use and associated pollution off the M25 enabling that road to revert to its original design use. . . . A London By-pass.
@@nicholasroberts6954 I also think this is a great idea though a line speed of 125mph would be fine. As the line goes round the loop, there could be interchange stations where it crosses the main railway lines.
Somehow, everyone has been convinced to make this project as complex as possible. I keep on looking at those sections in construction and wonder how they will cope with minor subsidence or a slight torsion caused by weight imbalance from the track alignment. Also, it's not progress when you consider how we're still building pway that deliberately avoids where people live and connectivity. The Victorian's had so much right; for instance calculating that spoil from tunnels and cuttings would provide the material for embankments in equal measure. They knew that feeder lines were necessary to have a successful main line.
Why didn't they put in capacity for NG power lines?
For the money, they could have reopened Grand Central and Wentworth Tunnels - all rejected on cost!!!
Dominique is basically a beam crane that can walk .... but it does mean that it uses the viaduct it builds to build the next bit ... so at least you know they have a good reason to build it well
well you don't want a jelly foundation to break your house of cards right?
Very nice. Not joining HS2 to HS1 was a severely missed opportunity. Not only would have provided Stratford International in the east - complementing Old Oak Common in the west - with extra footfall, it could've served as a great DOMESTIC corridor to Ashford, or given OHLE electrification a link to Dover Priory.
I agree with you on not linking the two lines, it’s a missed opportunity 😢.
Wouldn't have worked. There's no way to expand HS1 from St Pancras except by taking over the Thameslink lines
Even if it wasn't immediately introduced into service it would be good to have the link in place so trains could start to run at anytime
Why do you say that?
Is there really any big demand for trains between the continent and… …Birmingham?! And besides, the Euston terminus and St Pancras terminus are less than a kilometre from each other. A very short taxi or bus ride, and an opportunity to stretch your legs and have a break. Most people could even leg it in less than 10 minutes, even with luggage. The cost of linking the two line would’ve been horrifically expensive as it would’ve almost certainly required expensive tunnelling with a complex join. Nowhere near worth it.
If there was a link with HS1, all of HS2's stations would either need border and customs facilities or all international passengers would have to get off at St Pancras to go through the facilities there.
i want a dominique so i can run my errands in style. can you imagine that as your daily driver. getting the mail/post would never be the same
I want my transport to move a lot quicker than 30 metres a day !
Have they already sold the space under the viaduct to car repairers and mobile phone discount warehouses?
Ha ha! Car repairers? No. Boat repairers? Maybe... 😉
I was thinking of a line of microbreweries like Bermondsey and Windsor arches. 'Rickmansworth Row'
Better still - when the London to Greenwich railway was built (on a viaduct for its entire length), they were hoping to sell the space underneath for housing! Apparently, they thought people would rush to get a high status house built into the arch of the new wonder of technology...
@@paulhaynes8045 Ironically that sort of housing might actually be quite desirable in certain parts of London.
@@kevinjones4559 Appropriate for Buckinghamshire!
That cd have been double the length and still interesting. Thank you for the brief glimpse of a fascinating thing. Let's hope they invite you for the first train!
I think the whole UK train community will be invited... of course with the big MSM getting the priority, as usual...
tho I think the usual suspects (Geoff Marshall, etc) will be getting that invite, as long HS2 doesn't devolves in the chaos that's CAHSR...
I think that project's original proposers already will be grandparents by then...
I rather like the noise of the trains going over the Union Canal. That's the Edinburgh to Falkirk one. And the trains are not exactly high speed, but still impressive if you've been pottering on for a few miles.
The wild life doesn't seem to give a toss.
Though we do need to pay attention to the seemages, I think. Yesterday I noticed, for the first time in my life, that flies aren't entirely stupid-when the sun started going down one that had slipped into the house during the day was trying to get out through the mosquito netting, so I thought I would help it find the door instead by waving a piece of paper at it. Each time I dislodged it, it flew back to the point it had left and continued with its original plan-which it transpired was to scan the middle of the netting, then go to the bottom right corner, walk up the right edge of the netting, then switch and go the length of the left side, then check all along the top. Which, when I think about it, is roughly what I'd do if I were looking for damage in mosquito netting…. Anyway, wildlife is complicated, and I'm not sure, as an alien, if I could tell whether the humans gave a toss about my new spaceport.
That said, I do like trains :).
@@stephenspackman5573 Turn off any lights on the inside, turn on any lights outside, then open the mosquito netting etc - works every time for me, their programming is lower than you credit them with...
@@modeltrainsandtracks The mosquito netting is not openable, nanny state blah blah blah. But the point is that the fly was doing something systematic and returned to the task when interrupted. Still a simple program to write, but-this was my point-much more sophisticated than blundering around statelessly, which would be easy enough to assume if you weren't watching
My favourite video is on the plessey factory in the Hainault loop. Thanks for making videos so often!
Although your channel is generally historic, this topic fits in neatly, especially as the infrastructure will be around for generations to come.
Thanks for this. I fear a lot of people on RUclips, or media more widely are steering clear of HS2 owing to how controversial it is.
It's only controversial to people who have no plan for the future of our railways and forget the only other alternative is yet another motorway.
You often find these type of people have a certain airy fairy view on life. If they were running things for the last 200 years or they were taken seriously, most of the world would still be stuck at a preindustrialed stage.
Don't get me wrong I'm not against environmentalism, but there needs to be a balance between environmental issues and progress. This video is a fine example.
@@BGWeehope they live long enough to realise their stupidity lol to be fair I've seen the Green Party and Lib Dems and left and right leaning media all parroting discredited "research" and anti propaganda. I'm sure if you followed the money it would all converge on wealthy individuals integrated with the car, oil and airline industries
Fantastic thanks.
Really thought your outro was about to say "for another tale from the HS2 (be)"!
As you say, far good an opportunity to miss. Great to see the careful planning that minimises environmental disruption. The arches look so long and flat that I wonder if they will finally beat Brunel's Maidenhead record for the longest flattest arch (in brick, though). As with other high speed railways, steep gradients can now be tolerated to get over hills or into valleys, as long as there are no sharp curves.
When TGV Midi was opened, my wife and I had a trip to Marseilles. I remember, vividly, looking out the windows and watching as the trees leaned forward as we climbed the hills and leaned backward as we went down the other side. Amazing, but but only really works at 200+ mph.
Great new content opportunity for you Mr Hazzard, thank you!
@@modeltrainsandtracks I believe it was said that that section of the TGV route was the only one with a speed restriction and it wasn't due to curves, it was to stop the train losing contact with the rails as it went from 1 in 28 up to 1 in 28 down. Which would fit with your sloping trees observation!
@@iankemp1131 aka "vertical curve" - it has to have transition curves, and be subject to speed restrictions (or large radii) just like horizontal curves.
In both cases, vertical and horizontal, limits implied by comfort tend to be way stricter than those required for safety. The train wouldn't have lost contact with the rails, but passengers may have lost internal contact with their lunch.
"It's the same shape as a normal viaduct" - this is what I love about my favourite YTs - can see past artistic and PR spin.
As a Dominic/Dominique, I am cutting the section at 4:36 "Dominique is the only machine of its kind in the UK" and using it as my ringtone.
A Supersized Lego,concrete and modular! How far engineering has come,and yet,how traditional! Brunel,and Stephenson would be proud of their successors! Thank you,Jago,for showing the past and the future in one video!! Thank you 😇 😊!
Both would have absolutely loved to have seen this happening. A proud moment indeed!
I for one am happy how far we have come compared to Victorian times. In terms of workers safety and environmental protection. And the fact that the employees can do more with their paychecks than barely survive.
I wonder what Brunel would have made of the fact that main line from Paddington to Bristol still hasn't been electrified
Very cool. I was a somewhat amused that the HS2-provided animation showed that the train is powered by magic and not catenary ... 🙂
Perhaps they are coal burning steamers in disguise!
@@bobfountain2959 THEY CONSUME THEIR OWN SMOKE! Just like on the Metropolitan!
The modelling budget didn't quite stretch to catenary gantries.
@@TalesOfWar Let's hope the actual build will 🤣🤣
At 3:50 you can clearly see the detail of electrification.
On the completion of HS2 (well, at least a short section of it), Mr and Mrs Birmingham decide to take the wonderful new train to Paris. But Mr Birmingham is concerned about the weather in London on their chosen day. Mrs Birmingham laughs and asks why on earth he's worrying about that, they'll only see it for a few minutes as they speed through. No, no, he says, I'm worried we'll get wet. What, on the train?! laughs Mrs Birmingham. No, replies her long suffering hubby, during the walk from Euston to St Pancras. Don't be a mumpty, says Mrs Birmingham, we won't be changing in London, we'll get a through train.
There follows a brief conversation where Mr B explains to Mrs B that there is no rail connection between HS2 and HS1 - and the logic for that lack of a connection.
Mrs B decides to spend the night at her sister's. As she leaves, she is heard muttering, must have been designed by bloody men!
That is a great question, why isn't there at least an interchange between HS1 and HS2?
@@googlesucks6029 money. They had to trim the budget in every way they could to save the project. No doubt they will build a connection later - at several times the original cost.
Of course, there is another answer - in the minds of politicians, the point of HS2 is to connect the regions to London. It is not for the benefit of the regions, and certainly not to allow northerners to go abroad by completely bypassing London.
For all the talk of the advantages HS2 will bring to the north, it's principal function to is connect the north to London. It's an entirely London-centric view of the world. If you can effectively commute from Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester, why would you want to travel between them?
And you can forget Scotland - although the longer the route the more you gain in time saved, there just aren't enough Scots to make it worth spending money just so they can travel to London more easily.
But of course, only a complete cynic would entertain a view like that....
There's always the possibility of taking the Tube between these stations. TfL could even make it a free transfer. Like going between terminals at Heathrow.
There is a connection though, it's the tube.
If Crossrail 2 is ever built that will create a mega station called Euston St. Pancras which will link the 2 anyway.
Absolutely ridiculous that there is no through train service.
It was speculated that the decision not to join the two was the product of old school UK political and economic vested interest i.e. traditionally the centre of political power and decision making for the whole UK has been London and those interests that have.benefited from that fact wanted to keep things that way. Their fear was that a through connection to the continent would enable UK regions to by-pass London Authority and prosper from a degree of independence in their decision making and economy. London wanted to maintain the situation where the rest of the rest of the UK has to come with a begging bowl to London if it wants to undertake any economic development . . quick access to Euopean sources, by-passing London, might have led to London becoming an economic irrelevance and so lead to a situation where the class of people that has historically benefited from London being the political and economic hub of the country would end and spell their decline.
Great video jago,it's an incredible project 👍😀👌
Excellent presentation and explanation! Well done.
I was wondering what strange construction was going on between Willesden Junction and North Acton in the last couple of years.. thanks Jago for the explanation.
You hadn't heard of HS2?
Thank you for an interesting look into modern railway construction.
Well done Jago. So now it isn't only Geoff Marshall who gets invited to these things
Get invited to more please!
This is interesting to see as I live in Aylesbury and have been following developments of HS2 around my area. There are three viaducts being built nearby so it's keeping me busy with drone videos.
Don't feel bad that you are slower than France and Japan. Here in America our passenger trains share track with slow freight, and freight has priority. In March it took me three days to cross the continent.
In Europe feight trains often move at 3 km/h effective sped, because they spend most of their time waiting for the track to be clear of passenger trains.
@@klausolekristiansen2960 Amtrak moves at no more than the speed of a car. But can be held up for hours waiting for the freight to pass.
Ok, at the risk of being labelled a pedant (please note I didn't start with 'well, actually'), this simply isn't true.
To quote directly from Amtrak's website: "For over 50 years, freight railroads have been required by law to provide Amtrak with “preference” to run passenger trains ahead of freight trains. However, many freight railroads ignore the law because it is extremely difficult for Amtrak to enforce it, and as a result, people and the American economy suffer."
I'm just back from a 6 week railtour of the USA and it was fantastic - we even made history by being 30 minutes early into Albuquerque! On the California Zephyr eastbound the only thing that delayed us (apart from a rockfall at Glenwood Springs) was the westbound Zephyr which was running late. The Coast Starlight managed to self sabotage by leaving LA an hour late but otherwise we were very lucky with timings.
@@klausolekristiansen2960 so an estimate of speed can be arrived at through my experience, 3000 miles in three days or 72 hours and train are expected to be late.
@@TheFrogfather1 but that's not what I heard from passengers and crew on my 6 days on the rails. As well as by the many freights we had to wait for. We moved at the average speed of about 60 miles an hour. I went because it was scenic, and it got me there the day I expected.
Those launching girders are amazing. I have seen videos on RUclips of one a guy made from LEGO Technic, that could perform all the functions of the prototype, remotely.
If I had been asked to name a massive "launching girder" I'm pretty sure the name "Dominique" wouldn't even have been on my radar...
Looks more like an "Apollo" or a "Magnus" to me...
(And yeah...I kinda want one, too.) Think how cool it would look commuting to work on it...
You'd arrive just in time to turn round and go home. I'm not sure your bosses would approve.
@@hb1338 I think you overestimate it's speed there.
I'm sure we can make one out of Lego or something similar!
@@stepheneyles2198 A Lego one wouldbe very cool, though now I'm almost wishing I'd picked up the box of imitation Mechano which caught my eye on Saturday. I didn't because it was a Concorde model which I assumed wouldn't have too many of the bits you can make working models out of. Perhaps I should have looked closer.
Excellent video as usual. I loved how you summarised the approach to railway building in the Victorian era with little concern about deaths and the environment compared with today. The other thing to say is HS2 is funded with public money whereas the original railways were funded with private capital invisible to all apart from the railway company.
It's been dragging on so long that HS2 is now historical
We get HS2 tunnel portals being driven past northampton occasionally
Excellent video. "It's the same shape as a normal viaduct" had me creased up with laughter. 🤣🤣🤣 2:20
Launching girders really are great. They had one here in Auckland a few years ago to build a road viaduct, and I was always pleased to drive by it on the old viaduct. Perhaps a small one for DIY? I'm sure we could find a use, or invent one.
As an engineer, this type of project gives me the chills. Thanks for the upload!
You should probably look up the meaning of 'gives me the chills'.
This viaduct is going to be absolutely magnificent when it's complete.
This is history in the making and you make the job of future historian's easier
Fascinating stuff. Well done, Jago
Very exciting stuff! Thanks for sharing. :]
So, when will Jago go time travelling and go describe the Rainhill line as "low speed 1"?
Interesting that they salvaged it from previous builds. The one used to build the Gautrain 5km Viaduct here in South Africa was dumped and then scrapped as it was deemed too expensive to move it again.
seems to be quite similar the longest railway viaduct in germany (and the longest highspeed rail viaduct in europe) that was built near where i lived. they bult it from the top down because it runs over a nature reserve and they also had to take a break every year to allow a rare bird species to breed.
How are the posts driven into the muck? It’s called pile-driving at least in my local English, and involves both pounding and vibration that can be felt at distance. A screw can be used sometimes.
@@kitchin2 they rammed them in, was quite annoying
Looks like work is progressing nicely!
Great video Jago
That's what I call progress👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
A new and splendid departure from your always informative and interesting postings.
Absolutely banging video. Please feed us more HS2
Great that businesses like HS2 provide communication materials to journalists such as yourself to use as you please.
@4:48 "I kind of want one!" -it'd be really cool to see a fully functional LEGO Technic version fo assembling builds!
People have made them
@@webchimp That sounds clank-thunderingly grabtutiously awesome! I need to have a look for a video of 'em!
The same tech is being used on the elevated sections of Link Light Rail.. I live about 1.5 miles west of the current construction phase. When completed the northern in 2030 the southern end (Seattle to Tacoma) Northern end( Seattle to Everett) in 2037 we will havea new version of the old interurban. The northern leg closed in 1937, the southern line (they were different companies) closed in 1928 after starting in 1902. The construction of a N/S highway (then US 99) not only undercut the two rail lines but greatly reduced the need to use steamers to get from place to place along the western shores of Puget Sound. The old alignment in the south was designed mainly to serve farm land and was further east than the new which is alined with I-5 and thus SeaTac airport. The northern line was further west for the same reason and the new line east to again link population areas that sprung up as the freeway came through and farms shrank.. My house would have been a one minute walk to northern line trackage, but about four minute walk to the closest station at Ronald. So rail geeks come now and you can ride light rail from Seatac to Northgate, or Northgate to Angle Lake. In two more years you add a trip on the East Link across Lake WA on a floating bridge for you engineering geeks, The extension beyond Northgate (which was conceived to serve a college, major mall area and housing, no longer has the mall, rather a large urban village AND the HQ and practice facilities of the Seattle Kraken hockey team. They play at the Seattle Center which means rail geeks who like hockey can add the 1962 monorail to the I did that list.
Sadly, that would require going to Washington State and Seattle. That has become a no-go, although it was very nice when were there 50 years ago.
@@SteamCrane Yes I get that visits with oceans are not a cheap weekend get away. I mean until last year my only overseas travel had been the US army sending me to Germany 1978-1980. My travel between then and last year had been family camping trips to OR WA and BC Canada and the odd union conventions or training sessions that let me several cities around the country. Last year through the joys of defined benefit pension, our Social Security retirement and my wife's disability checks we managed a month long vacation most of which was UK with a week in France and lots of rail travel I mean arrived in London the day before the queen passed and dodged strike actions (being booked into Liverpool the day prior and leaving the day after and dodging the knock effects.
@@MrDportjoe Nothing about cost, about dysfunction.
@@SteamCrane Well I can also understand issues with just being able to do things. My body is breaking down with great haste. Just do not fall for any hype about the state being all messed up.
@@MrDportjoe SHB-1240 et al.
I can't see people of the future looking up at it and saying "Wow! How beautiful!".
I can
"it's the same shape as a normal viaduct" LOL Douglas Adams ...😊
Jago: “I mean, it’s a lovely day. Why ruin things with politics?”
Me, an Intellectual: (Jim Halperts to the camera)
I work for the company that does all the media content for that section of HS2 so super cool to see you've visited, we put together the visitor/induction centre and of course the drone footage came from us, as an existing fan it's super cool to see my footage in your video and to see you covering something so personal to me, and of course a fascinating and informative video as always!
Ngl when I saw ‘High Speed 2’, I thought: “When did Jago post about High Speed? Was there a prequel?”
Fascinating, thanks for that insight Jago
Really enjoyed the video what a cool visit!
2:20 that looks a lot like the Dutch high speed viaduct over Hollands Diep
Reminds me of Brunel's Maidenhead bridge over the Thames.
The viaduct really looks like the Dutch HSL viaduct: Hollandsch Diep. Built from 2000 to 2004.
Have a good weekend Jago!
👍🥇🫡
Beat me by 6 seconds 👍🏆🥇
Woah!
You got an invite BEFORE Geoff Marshall???
Jago is now Big Time, baby!!
I think Mr M has been a few times actually, although maybe not for a while. Good on both of them anyway - and good on all their many counterparts, come to that.
Viewer from Hong Kong here. I can confirm that your pronunciation of “Tsing Yi” is correct :D
A few years ago I picked up a couple hard rubber tie plates at a flea market. They are/were used on on some Metro lines to cut down on sound. I wonder if HS2 is planning something like that, since high speed on steel rail has a piercing high frequency sound.
Reminds me. When St Pancras was being refurbished and enlarged, I took photographs of the works from local streets. I also took photos from Dagenham Dock Station footbridge and Rainham Station footbridge of HS 1 being constructed. I real should get round to scaning the photos and puting them on line.
I can confirm you pronounced Hong Kong correctly….
UK's HS2 Phase 1:
- Length: 230km (140 miles)
- Speed: Max 360km/h (225mph), avg at 330km/h (205mph).
- 4 stations.
- COST: £40-44.6 billion
India's 1st High Speed line:
- Length: 508km
- Speed: 320km/h (200mph) - Japanese Shinkansen train set.
- 12 Stations.
- COST: £10 billion
This was the first time seeing this and boy i`m in awe what a machine the way that modern architects can achieve is astonishing. although i don`t live in that area i would love to see this once it`s completed. I love the way that all the land once it`s been completed will be given back to nature. I can`t wait. Also a very good video
So the old boy wants a launching girder, no doubt he'll be beavering away in his shed with his Meccano set.
The local wildlife has been seriously affected by this and many have been displaced into much smaller places towards more urbanised areas. There’s been quite a few examples of this. I’m very pro new constructions and infrastructure but this project is a fantastic example of how not to do it with excessive and unnecessary disruption.
Absolutely fascinating, thank you good Mr Jago
It's pronounced 'Ching Yee'. but you entertain me so much - It's fine! Your sense of humour is the scratch to my viaduct.
Loved this, I’d love more
So well done and put.
Thanks!
I'm quite familiar with launching girders. I watched one of them in operation at the stretch of the Montreal REM--an automated light metro currently under construction--visible across the expressway from where I work. Right now, they are putting up the poles to support the caternary.
Fascinating stuff, i am reading a book all about the Navvies at the moment, way back when it all started.
There's an artificial lake near my home that is popular with bird life and one regularly sees birders out with their long lenses. And many dogs are walked around the shore. However, what it most definitely isn't is a pleasant place for humans - a trunk road runs right past and the noise pollution is constant. This new viaduct sounds like that same sort of place and will never be to my liking.
Nice looking bridge. I'm a preservationist, but the HS2 designers appear to have taken serious effort to minimize the impact of this project. Railroads always have a much narrower footprint than a freeway/thruway/interstate/dual carriageway/autobahn with their wide grass runoff areas, and as Jago stated, a railroad turns into a linear wildlife preserve. If it ever gets finished to the point of actually connecting places that matter, it might be possible to follow the French lead by eliminating short haul airline travel, which is an environmental and livability disaster.
We watched the construction of the Toledo Ohio I-280 "Veterans' Glass City Skyway" cable stayed bridge in the early 2000's. Same interlocking Lego block construction, blocks having the same hollow cross section, cast in an on-site factory. Similar traveler crane, except the Toledo crane collapsed in 2004 (incompetence), killing 4 workers and causing a 16 month delay. Eliminated one of the last drawbridges on the entire US Interstate highway system.
Thanks Jago great info for someone like me rarely visits places once again thank you
The nerdy engineer who inhabits my brain part time enjoyed this.
Building a viaduct like this seems quite nice to be fair.
It has the inherent advantage of providing underpasses for animals, such that the rail corridor doesn't cut apart ecosystems, and that animals in turn poses a smaller issue to rail operations as well.
Also hope they have ensured suitable separation of the tracks, such that a train can derail on one without major risk of entering the loading gauge of the other track. After all, a lot of train derailments stays "on" the track, or rather one wheel gets trapped between the rails, more or less stopping the train from further derailment. Sadly, a fair few head on collisions on double tracked rail has been due to this type of derailment, since double tracked rail rarely keeps suitable clearances between the loading gauges of the tracks to form the needed buffer zone to safely handle this type of derailment.
Dominique is an impressive piece of kit. That looks like it will be quite an elegant structure when finished.
Without getting too political etc, I think for HS2 to work, it needs to have the phases that our cancelled brought back to life somehow..
I agree. I’m actually thinking of making a second video talking about that.
Thank you for this fact based commentary, which makes a refreshing change from the routinely hysterical reporting of anything related to HS2. It would be fascinating to revisit this site about 12 months after the line has opened to see if the planned rehabilitation of the local environment has been successfully actioned?
Definitely.
On a side note, that Shinkansen "0 series" is such a design icon. Not just for trains, but in general. How do you take something that is considered crude, old, outdated, dirty (many parts in Western Europe and also Japan were still running regular steam trains) and slow, and change it into something sleek, modern, clean and fast?
Glad that your fame got you invited (it's probably a bit more complicated, but it works well for dramatic effect). Regarding politics: ah well, everything get politicised these days. In the end, we've seen elsewhere what an impact a high-speed railway can bring to a country, and it's not like Britain is unfamiliar with the many dramatic changes that the railways can bring.
Yes it is tragic how ignorant of railways much of the general public in the UK have become. Especially given how it is the same nation that was such a pioneer in the 19th century and how knowledgeable the UK’s general public were of railways in the first half of the 20th century.
This threw me for a bit. I knew about the victorian era Colne Valley viaduct in Chappel, north Essex, nowhere near the HS2 route.
Then I realised rivers can be quite long and have different parts in different places 🤦d'oh!
I was hoping you were going to say we were the Launching Girder to Your Concrete Support, I'm happy to be!
Well done Jago
Very impressive!