Mostly L66

[lesc]

Yet another one of these trips gets me to Bathgate this time, a place steeped in industrial heritage and, much later on, Susan Boyle and not much else

Industrial railway enthusiasts will recognise this as the Whitburn System's 'Five Sisters', long dead now but the spoil heaps still survive. The pylons are L2.

llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/whitburnsystem.JPG

Not that David Gilmour and not that on topic either This cairn was in a layby between Bathgate & Forth.

llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/daviegilmour.jpg

... and nearby was this dual voltage L2, presumably the same string seen at the Edinburgh bypass.

llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/PAS_L2_275400KV.JPG

Getting near Crosby in Cumbria gets me these rare babies. The L66 / 275KV running twin 0.4" Zebra ACSR string from Harker - Stella - Teeside (?)

llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/PAS_L66D2.jpg
llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/PAS_L66D2_2.JPG
llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/PAS_L66D2_3.JPG

Excellent light & threatening skies offset the L66 perfectly.
llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/PAS_L66D2_4.jpg
llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/PAS_L66D2_5.jpg
llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/PAS_L66D2_7.JPG

Looking the other way (camera shake)
llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/PAS_L66D2_6.jpg

Also this L66D10 (camera shake). Totally different from the L2D10.
llandru.servehttp.com/pas_mostly_l66/PAS_L66D10.jpg

Les

[caldridge]

So those are L66 pylons, they almost look like the L2 ones, where can I find these pylons, I'd like to photograph some of them.

[lesc]

Welcome to the forum Caldridge.

This L66 set runs between Carlisle & Newcastle (and on to Teeside I suspect as they cross the A1M near Darlington ) running roughly parallel between the B6318 and A69.

These pics were taken near Carlisle Airport on the A689. There's loads more L66 goodness from both myself & Dr. Fortran scattered throughout these forums.

Cheers -

Les

[gcarty]

Mar 22, 2010 14:35:05 GMT -5 caldridge said:

So those are L66 pylons, they almost look like the L2 ones, where can I find these pylons, I'd like to photograph some of them.

I used to take an interest in pylons when I was a child, and even then I could distinguish L66 from L2 pylons (although I didn't know the technical terms at the time). I didn't realize then though that L66 and L3 were two separate series -- I thought L3 were just a taller version of L66!

L2 suspension pylons have "up, down, down" shapes from top to bottom at the intersections of the main tower and the horizontal sections holding the insulators. L66 (and L3, and L6) suspension pylons have "cross, cross, up".

Also, I noted that some L2 deviation towers (the L2 D30s) had pointed tops while others (L2 D60s) had wedge-shaped tops. L3 and L66 lines by contrast have pointed tops on all of their deviation towers.

[gcarty]

Another thing that may have blurred the distinction between L66 and L3 now is that the western end of the late lamented L66 XC route from Spennymoor to Norton featured a few guest L3 towers. AIUI the Spennymoor substation didn't exist when the line was first built, and the line went all the way to Stella West. Presumably the bit northwest of Spennymoor was replaced with the L6 towers of the 4TQ route, and the existing XC line diverted to end at Spennymoor (presumably this diversion used L3 towers as L66s were no longer in production).

I wonder why the 4TQ route was built at all. Since (until 2011) it was a 275 kV twin-conductor line, there's no obvious need for the bigger L6 towers -- why didn't they save money by sticking to the original L66 towers except where necessary to incorporate the new Spennymoor substation? Or was 4TQ originally a quad-conductor line that was later converted to a twin-conductor line, perhaps with the closure of the Stella power stations?

[lesc]

The death of XC is documented on these fora by the OP along with comments on the L3DS (which appears to be the L66 replacement) and the replacement ZXC line.

Les

[gcarty]

Actually, the XC line isn't totally dead, as the section from Moor Monkton to Monk Fryston still exists.

[rillington]

Indeed, although less than 1/5 of the route now remains.

[caldridge]

So I take it the XB route from Stella to Carlisle and the XC route from Moor Monkton to Monk Fryston are the last remaining L66 routes.

Christopher

[yv47r]

So perhaps XA line was the Anglo-Scottish link from Strathaven to Harker maybe? Now replaced by the ZV L8 line along a similar alignment.

Cheers Paul

[zulumike]

My post from the day I joined the BOARD which was in answer to the above posts on the XC thread, got removed to the Whats your Favourite Pylon, page. So my info on this topic can be seen there. zulumike.