The Great Central Railway Extension: Northern
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THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS. SESSION 1899-1900.-PART IV. SECT.1.-MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS. 20 March, 1900. CHARLES HAWESLEY, Vice-President, in theChair. (Paper No. 3227.) “ The Great Central Railway Extension : Northern Division.” By FREDERICKWILLIAM BIDDER, M. Inst. C.E. IN this Paper the Author proposes to describe generally the works 7 upon the line, indicating particularly points where variations from J ordinary practice mayhave occurred indetails, railway con- struction being nowso well understood in this country. For many years theManchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Rail- way Company had desired independent access to the Metropolis, and as long ago as 1873 they promoted, in conjunction with the Midland Railway Company, a Bill for the construction of a series of joint lines, with the object of securing access to St. Pancras Station. This Bill was strongly opposed by the Great Northern Railway Company, and so much of the scheme was rejected as to render it inadvisable to proceed with the remainder. In 1888 the Company made their first attempt to acquire inde- pendent powers forthe extension of theirline in a southerly direction from Beighton, near Sheffield, to Chesterfield. This Bill was thrown out, however, owing to the opposition of the Bfidland Railway Company. In the following session a Bill was deposited for a more comprehensive scheme, viz., a line from Beighton to Annesley, passing through Staveley, with a branch to Chesterfield, the intention being toform a junction atAnnesley with the Great Northern Leen Valley line aboutI) miles to the north of Notting- ham. After considerable opposition the Bill was passed, the work of construction wasproceeded with, and this portion of the extension southwards, which passes through the heart of the Derbyshire coalfields, was opened for traffic in 1892. [THE INST. C.E. VOL. CXLII.] P 2 BIDDER ON THE GREAT CEXTRAL RAILWAY EXTENSION. [Minutes of In themeantime the late Mr. Charles Liddell, whowas the Engineer for this portion of the railway, had, in conjunction with Mr. EdwardRichards and Mr. EdwardParry, M. Inst. C.E., prepared the Parliamentary plans and estimates for an extension to London, comprising (1) a line from Annesley to Quainton Rod, a distance of about 92 miles, at which latter point it was proposed to form a junction with the Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway, now a part of the Metropolitan Railway; (2) a widening of the Metropolitan Company’s line from Willesden Green to Finchley Road ; and (3) a short line from the West Hampstead Station of that company tothe proposed terminus at Boscobel Gardens, Marylebone. A Bill for the complete scheme was brought before Parliament in the session of 1891, but after asevere contest it was rejected. In the following session an amended scheme was deposited,various alterationsand improvements, includingthe extension of the London portion to Marylebone Road, being made to avoid opposition, which, however, was again so strong that the Bill was passed only after a prolonged struggle. Owing to the dissolution of Parliament the Royal assent was not obtained until the end of March, 1893. After the passing of the Act some time was occupied in preparing the contract plans and sections for the new line, but owing to arrangementsfor raising the capital being incomplete this work was suspended for several months, in con- seqnence of which the contracts werenot let untilSeptember, 1894. The first sod was cut on the 13th November of the same year, from whichdate the work of construction proceeded without intermission, the line being sufficiently completed by July, 1898, to allow of the running of coal trains. It was formally opened for passenger traffic on the9th March, 1899, the company in the meantime having changed its name from the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire to that of the Great Central Railway, as a more suitable title to their extended system. For engineering purposes the line wasdivided, Mr. Edward Parry being appointed Engineer for the northern division, and Sir Douglas and Mr. Francis Fox for the southern and metropolitandivisions. The northern division commences at a junction with theDerby- shire line of the Company near Annesley, and runs in a southerly directionthrough Nottingham, Loughborough, and Leicester to the Oxford Canal near Rugby, the total distance being 51 miles 69 chains (Figs. 1, Plate 1). There are in all sixteen passenger stations upon this division, the most important being the Central Station at Nottingham and the stations at Leicester and Loughborough. Of the others, eleven are of the ordinary country station typeadopted for the line, with Proceedings.] BIDDER ON THE GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY EXTEKSION. 3 island platforms, which had been settled by Mr. Alexander Ross, M. Inst. C.E., formerly Chief Engineer of the Company, with the necessary variationsto suit local requirements. Theremaining two, at Carringtonand Arkwright Street, Nottingham, have, owing to their positions, the usual double platforms, but, unlike the others, arewithout accommodation for goods traffic. Large goods yards have been laid out at Nottingham, Loughborough, and Leicester, and extensive sorting sidings have been provided at Annesley. For the locomotive and carriage and wagon depart- ments accommodation has been provided at Anneeley, New Basford, Nottingham, and Leicester. The gradients are good, the steepest being 1 in 130 north of Nottingham and, with the exception of two short lengths, 1 in 176 south of Nottingham. The line has been laid out with very easy curves, theusual minimum radius of 1 milebeing only departed from in two cases, on theNottingham and Leicester viaducts in approaching the stations, where curves of 20 chains and 40 chains radiuscould not well be avoided. Between Anneslep and Nottingham the cuttings are in themagnesian limestone and bunter sandstone. South of Nottingham they arefor some distance in the keuper marl, rhaetic shale beingmet with near East Leake. Beyond this point many of the cuttings are in the boulder clay, and south of Leicester they are chiefly in the red marl, boulder clay, and the blueclays of the lower lias. The total quantityof excavation amountsto over 6,000,000 cubic yards, but no great difficulty was experienced in dealing with the earth-works, every precaution beingtaken tosecure sufficient drainage. Severalslips of minorimportance have occurred on the embankments, due chiefly to the heavy rains following the remarkably dry weather during which the banks hadbeen tipped. Where necessary, a heading drain was specified to be laid on the h;gh side of the line, with which all intercepted land drainswere to be connected before the excavation was commenced in cuttings. The general form of drainage adopted in the slopes of cuttings and embankments is very similar in appearance to the piers and arches of a viaduct, the vertical drains formed of hand-packed stonebeing connected at the top by a series of arched drains formed of the same material. The lower ends of these drains are connected withthe formation drains,which consist of 6-inch earthenwarepipes laid in trenches filled with broken stone. Brick catchpits with York stone covers are constructed upon the formation drains, at distances of 5 chains apart. The formation width adopted for cuttings is 28 feet, and'for B2 4 BIDDER ON THE UREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY EXTENSION. [Minutes of embankments 31 feet. North of Leicester the slopes of embank- ments and cuttings are generally 18 to 1, except in rock where thebatter is 3 to 1: South of Leicester the slopes are chiefly 2 to 1, except in the case of high embankments where the lower portion is formed 3 to 1. Thelongest embankment is thatat Whetstone, which extends for a distance of 3 miles, and contains 818,000 cubic yards of material. One of the largest cuttings, from which 330,000 cubic yards of earth were taken, is through the Normanton Hills, near Loughborough, and is # mile in length and 62 feet deep. Broken stone, hand-pitched 9 inches in depth, forms the bottom ballast, upon which, after beingcovered with 3 inches of fine gravel or granite chippings, the permanent wayis laid, the top ballast being of gravel or granite chippings. The permanent wayconsists of 86-lb. rails, in lengthsof 30 feet, with eleven sleepers, 10 inches by 5 inches, to each length, the cast-iron chairs, weighing 52 lbs., being secured to the sleepers by two iron spikes and two trenails to each. In certain portions of the sidings, where the wear and tear of the traffic is not so great, a lighter section of rail has been used, weighing 75 lbs. per yard, with chairs weighing 38 lbs. each. Upon all the more important bridges andviaducts, rail-guards havebeen provided on both sides of each line, a special cast-ironchair having been designed for this purpose, which not only holds the running rail in the usual way, but supports a second rail laid on its side and bolted to the top of a projecting bracket carried up a little above the level of the run- ning rail (Figs. 12, Plate 2). These chairs weigh 93 lbs. each, and are secured to 12-inch by 6-inch timbers, in the same manner as the ordinary chairs; and as both the rails and guard-rails arefixed to the same chairs, any lifting or sleming of the road does not affect their relative positions. Old rails, weighing about 65 lbs. per yard, are used for the guard-rails, the joints beingfished with one plate only, on the lower side ; and the rails arefastened to the chairs by two %-inch bolts to each chair. In each length of guard-rail two holes are drilled through the webfor drainage. There are in allfive tunnels, havinga total lengthof 2,430 yards, and eleven viaducts, covering altogether about 3,400 yards. The bridges are varied in character, and number no less than 224, of which l55 havesteel superstructures.