132KV Goodness - A Loch Tummel Fieldtrip

[lesc]

Having spent Thursday on a Superfast at Rosyth and a night at the King Malcolm I decided to go off and get some pylons on Friday.

This is a large fieldtrip and the pics have been kept large to preserve detail - wait and you shall be rewarded

Starting with this one of Knockhill, near Dunfermline, not pylons but a nice shot of my old stomping ground with the old West Lethans coillery line and the Black Devon valley in shot.

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From here I made my way up the A823 to Gleneagles and across to Braco where this Blaw Knox PL16DT ED51149 was at a small substation.

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Route Indicator.
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Was getting its power from this JLEve PL16D2 ED51107 132kv double circuit this example could have been lifted straight off the Tower Bible.

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JLEve PL16 marching off to the Perthshire Cairngorm foothills.

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BUCHANTY REVISITED

Approaching Buchanty hamlet, Perthshire.

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Not in the bible is this "Buchanty Type" PL1S-something series D60 132kv double circuit in the snow.

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A modified ''Buchanty Type' Milliken PL1D2/S2 series D60 with lightning conductor.

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Marching N to Loch Tummel.

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Approaching Amulree in the 'Sma Glen you can see these PL1's and JLEve PL16's marching southward. For all you Marching Pylon Lovers out there.

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Amulree.

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Heading into Glen Quach finds this frozen landscape.

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That BBC gate, in full ;D

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Couldn't resist this one!

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Wriggling out of the snowy wastelands gets me heading past Aberfeldy and towards Loch Tummel.

Apparently this place does teambuilding exercises, corporate days out, weddings, children's parties etc. I was laughing so much I just about went into a ditch ;D
No wonder they say Aberfeldy on the website. Get your Dull Highland Safaris here: www.highlandsafaris.net/

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Nearby the JLEve PL16's continued their march nortward.

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Bow to the Emperor Ming! This striking 1920's or '30s PL1JT creature is part of the PL1 D60 string.

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A rare 132kv single circuit Blaw Knox PL16D2 or S2 (Scottish) ED51106 or CEGB 17/5789 also appears here.

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Approaching the substation this Blaw Knox PL16DD30 ED51126 appeared.

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...soon to be followed by tons more.

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Errochty Switching Station.

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had boatloads of cateared mostly Blaw Knox PL16DD2 & DS2 ED51110, DD10 ED51118, DD30 ED51126 as well as the not - in - the - bible JLEve PL16DD2 marching spectacularly across the mountains!

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Not described as a DDT90 in the Tower Bible but as a PL16DDT+aux crossarms is this Blaw Knox PL16DDT90 ED51150 as well as a more ordinary PL16DDT ED51150.

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Errochty Switching Station switches mainly this lot. PL16DDT heaven

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A little further along there's the Loch Tummel hydro plant. This was built by the Grampian Power Co. before being taken over by NSHEB later on.

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More 1920's or '30's Emperor Mingness this time in the shape of this unknown PL1-ish DT/DJT 132kv double circuit.

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Next in the line was this not - in - the - tower - bible JLEve PL16DD2 this area must be a lightning hotspot.

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MINDBOGGLING PYLONS

Long ago, when the Grid was going up the Grampian Hydro Power Co tried dual voltage pylons - this really is a unknown very American looking PL1-ish pylon running 132kv double circuit and 66kv single circuit. This effort runs from Loch Tummel and had me scooping my jaw off the ground. A looker and a nice catch

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They look just as bizarre marching cross country.

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- S10.

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Detail on the 66kv set.

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Route Indicator.

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Also here there was the doomed Pirelli PL1a 132kv double set to be replaced by L6 / L12.

S60:
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Off they go up toward the A9.

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Heading back - on the A9 near Pitlochry there is a 66kv double set that just disappears - didn't get that bit but here's the culprits.

An ancient JLEve D3 66kv double circuit showing that trademark JLEve arm hanger extension.

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A real "DANGER" plate

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Heading home. L8CD CEGB ref 17/5990 near Longannet.

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... and L6MD CEGB ref 17/5993 / Longannet Power Station .

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Enjoy!

Les

[blueshift]

A magnificent set of photos - excellent.
In 1999 I stayed for 10 days in Pitlochry with my girlfriend. On the very day we arrived, after checking in we drove out to look at Tummel Power Station as I couldn't wait to see it!! The area around there is Power Station and pylon heaven. Errochty, Rannoch, Clunie, Pitlochry, Gaur, Cashlie etc and that was just the Tummel Valley. It was an excellent, if somewhat cold holiday. We caught some trout a couple of days before we came home and so we drove up Ben Lawers to above the snowline and filled the coolbox with snow and the trout and this was still frozen when we got home.

[rillington]

Indeed, fantastic pictures.

As you say Blueshift, lots of interest pylon-wise in the area where the photos were taken. One set of towers goes west from Tummell and journeys alongside Loch Rannoch, and contuning westbound until Rannoch railway station. At that point, they head south alongside the railway, coming to a sudden halt at Bridge of Orchy.

Out of interest, how much further are the 'winged' towers from Loch Tummell? usually, we have just a few winged towers at the start of a route but you can see the winged towers heading off over the hillside in the pictures.

[lesc]

Mar 6, 2010 14:50:23 GMT -5 rillington said:

Indeed, fantastic pictures.



Out of interest, how much further are the 'winged' towers from Loch Tummell? usually, we have just a few winged towers at the start of a route but you can see the winged towers heading off over the hillside in the pictures.

I'd say they change back to regular PL1 / 16 after a couple of miles. I'd have sworn I could see PL1DD2 with binoculars as there were some strange cateared efforts which were difficult to get to due to the several feet of snow on the tracks. Certainly the 3 circuits seen between Dull and Loch Tummel were not cateared when I took 4967 when there were 3 different pylon types going up the valley.

The PL1 set had occasional lightning conductors down the length of the string, the PL16's didn't.

Les

[albell1970]

I always found this economical use of towers in post war Britain quite interesting.

Just to the south of Loch Tummel, the incoming PL1 line diverts to PL16 and runs parallel with the single circuit PL16 line to the sub-station.

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However, the remaining PL1 towers were not dismantled and remain in use for the single circuit PL16 line.

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The PL16 lines were added in 1950/51 upgrading the original 1931 Hydro station at Tummel. PL16 towers built after 1956 no longer required the dual earth from terminal tower to at least one mile from the sub-station.

[albell1970]

Some old photos of the Tummel to Boat of Garten PL1A before upgrading to 132Kv double circuit;

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This is how it looks today;

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South of Etteridge from the 1970's;

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More to follow!