26 February (Part 1) - Crossrail buffers installed. Lesnes Abbey regeneration hits them
I’m not sure
why I started taking pictures of the Crossrail works that disrupt so many lives
around Abbey Wood except for a general interest in engineering. There have been
five generations of engineers in my family which is as far as I can trace back
on the paternal side because the line comes to a full stop in India more than 150 years ago.
Railway, Marine, Aeronautical, Telecoms and Road vehicle engineering and having
accumulated a daily library of Crossrail photos from the first swing of the wrecking ball to the
piling for overhead line gantries
going on today it would be a shame to stop despite Network Rail’s determination to block every available view.
The latest set is of the long drawn out
project east of Abbey Wood which depicts the new track and its recently
installed connection to the North Kent line and a set
of buffers. It doesn’t connect through the station yet which it will in a week’s time if
Network Rail hasn’t revised its plan since I last spoke to them, but once that
is done it will be possible to bring engineering trains from Hoo Junction to
the tunnel portal at Plumstead instead of circumnavigating half of south London to get to Abbey Wood.
A few people have complained about the inclusion of Crossrail photos but that is tough. The
associated image (grabbed a few days ago) shows that the Crossrail Index is the
second most popular BiB page that readers have bookmarked. That’s not the same
as saying it is the second most visited page but it is the page a large number of people come to first
and it helps spread the word about Bexley Council’s dishonesty. Some comment on it.
The traditional comparison with the progress being made by Bexley Council in
Lesnes Abbey Park is a bit of a non-event. It’s picturesque to be sure, but it
appears to be no closer to being completely finished. I asked my Councillor if
there was going to be an official opening but he said that if past performance
is anything to go by he will be told nothing.