Crossrail is the new railway service serving Greater London and surrounding counties.
Due for completion in 2018, this 73-mile railway will provide a high-frequency service that will link central London with parts of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Essex.
Crossrail will have 26 miles of new tunnels. The main tunnels will run from near Paddington Station to Stratford via central London and Liverpool Street Station.
Services will run from Reading to Shenfield, and from Abbey Wood. The new service will share some lines with existing services.
There will up to 24 9-car trains per hour running in each direction.
Crossrail will be operated by MTR Corporation Ltd in a similar manner to the London Overground.
Services should begin in May 2015 between Liverpool Street and Shenfield and will be extended to other parts of the route by 2018.
It is hoped that this new line will relieve some of the pressure on certain Underground lines and also the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line.
This project is the largest infrastructure project in Europe, and also has the unusual claim of being the largest archaeological site in Britain. The route inadvertently travels through a plague pit, a Roman road, a madhouse cemetery, a Mesolithic “tool-making factory”.
In a city that is projected to have a population of 10 million by 2030, a modern, efficient transport system is vital.
Find out more about Crossrail
When you think of careers in the rail industry, the first one is obviously a train driver. The stuff of children’s fantasies – chugging along in charge of Thomas or one of his mates.
Not too many start with the idea of becoming a Track Maintenance Operative but it can be a challenging, rewarding and well-paid career.
It is the perfect career for people who like working outdoors. Network Rail have over 20 000 miles of track in the UK that needs to be in perfect working order to ensure the safe journeys of millions of commuters every day. The track maintenance teams need to maintain our signals, tracks, power and telecoms equipment. Some of this is highly sophisticated equipment that requires specialist skills.
If you’re considering a career as a track maintenance operative then this video might give you a better idea of what they actually do.
There are a number of Track Maintenance Operative apprenticeships available to those interested in starting out in the rail industry.
Some of these are:
Network Rail Apprenticeship Scheme
Transport for London Apprenticeships
UK Rail Services Apprenticeships
White Knight are proud to supply trackside lighting to the rail industry. Call us on 023 9266 8624 for all your signalling and bardic lamp requirements.
White Knight have been manufacturing rechargeable handlamps since1976 with the launch of the ‘White Knight’ range of handlamps and later the White Knight Halo Plus Personal Signalling Lamps, professional halogen torches.
White Knight is a subsidiary of Furneaux Riddall, accompany founded in 1910 to design and install electricity plants in large country houses prior to the establishment of the National Grid. Furneaux Riddall changed its emphasis from electrical engineering to the distribution of electrical products in the marine and automotive industries and is now one of the most well-respected companies in the UK specialising in electrical products for these industries.
White manufactures the HP-11 range of signalling lamps for the line-side industry, with the new HP-11R3RT LED capable of over 30 hours. “Railway Bardic lamp” is now a generic term used to describe any portable signalling lamp that uses different colours. Although designed as signalling lamps, LED bardic lamps can be used as temporary headlights or tail lights on trains in an emergency, and most trains have a bracket for holding these lamps.
The Halo Plus 2 lamp has been in production since 1990. It is used by the British, German and Swiss rail networks, as well as the Eurostar service and infrastructure companies.
Apart from the Network Rail approved signalling lamp used for train movement -shunting etc – White Knight also manufacture a sturdy range of lamps for other areas of the rail infrastructure including banksmans lamps, and other portable spotlights for long and short distance inspection work.
The National Railway Museum in York, and its sister site in Durham are both well worth a visit – even for non train lovers.
In 1862 the Science started its collection of railway artefacts by acquiring Rocket. Individual railway companies began preserving their collections since the 1900s. The
London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) opened a public railway museum in York in 1927. By the late 1930s Great Western Railway (GWR), London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Southern Railway (SR) had all acquired significant railway collections. In 1948 these collections were united, and in 1951 a curator was appointed. British Railways then opened the Museum of British Transport in Clapham and another in Swindon, was opened in conjunction with Swindon Council.
The National Railway Museum
In 1975 the National Railway Museum was opened at the former steam locomotive depot in Leeman Road in York. Only 700m from York Minster the museum was an instant success. The museum was first extended in 1975, and has undergone a number of extensions since then. In 1990 the Station Hall opened nearly doubling the size of the museum, and winning that year’s Museum of the Year Award in the process. More extensions were added and the museum won the European Museum of the Year award in 2001.
The NRM has also gained credibility as an academic and learning facility, and together with the University of York launched the Institute of Railway Studies in 1994. In June 2004 a purpose-built rail training centre – th Yorkshire Rail Academy was opened.
The new museum, Locomotion was opened in 2004 at Shildon in Durham. A joint venture with the local authority, and funded by grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund.
Some of the interesting items housed in the NRM include:
- The Chinese Locomotive which is 1 foot too wide and 2 foot too high to operate on the British mainline. A lock of hair from Robert ,only son of George Stephenson, and builder of the steam locomotive Rocket
- The only Japanese Bullet Train outside Japan
- A photographic collection that includes an average of 29 photos for every day since 1850
- 300 locomotives and rolling stock
- 628 coins and medals
- 4899 pieces of railway uniform and costume, railway equipment, documents, records, artwork and railway related photographs
- A collection of Royal trains and carriages including the carriage that Queen Victoria regarded as her palace on wheels
- An art collection containing a number of works painted by important British artists including Spencer Frederick Gore, Abraham Solomon, William Powell Frith and John Piper
- The largest collection of model railway vehicles built by one man, James Peel Richards – over 610 model railway
The National Railway Museum is the most popular railway museum in the world with the largest collection of railway objects in the world it attracts over 700,000 visitors per year. It has won more than 20 prestigious awards since 1975
If you haven’t been yet then you really should visit the NRM in York or Sheldon
White Knight has been manufacturing rechargeable handlamps since1976.
They started with the ‘White Knight’ range of handlamps and later the White Knight Halo Plus Personal Signalling Lamps, professional halogen torches.
The HP-11 range of signalling lamps has been in production ever since, with the HP-11R3RT LED capable of over 30 hours. “Railway Bardic lamp” is now a generic term used to describe any portable signalling lamp that uses different colours. Although designed as signalling lamps, LED bardic lamps can be used as temporary headlights or tail lights on trains in an emergency, and most trains have a bracket for holding these lamps.
The Halo Plus 2 lamp has been in production since 1990. It is used by the British, German and Swiss rail networks, as well as the Eurostar service and infrastructure companies.
Apart from the Network Rail approved signalling lamp used for train movement -shunting etc – White Knight also manufacture a sturdy range of lamps for other areas of the rail infrastructure including banksmans lamps, and other portable spotlights for long and short distance inspection work.
Halo Plus 2 Halogen Torch
Halo Plus 2 Halogen Torch by White Knight – halogen torches designed and built to service the needs of both the professional services and industry:
Compact for hand held daily use. Tough, highly flexible belt clip for hands-free operation
Ruggedly moulded in high impact plastic to withstand the toughest of conditions
High and low beam function with a unique interchangeable battery cassette for use with standard alkaline ‘C’ cells, or rechargeable Ni-Cd and Ni-MH batteries
Comprehensive range of personal signalling lamps using LED technology.
Halo HP-11 Signalling Lamps
Halo HP-11 Signalling Lamps by White Knight provide guaranteed performance in non-hazardous situations, the HP-11 provides a reliable way forward for the security services and transport industries.
Delivers a constant 10,000 candlepower
Features a high/low beam option for use in low light applications
Interchangeable battery cassette provides 3 hours continuous light on one set of rechargeable 2.2 Ah batteries or 5 hours using standard alkaline batteries
Halo Plus 2 Personal Signalling Lamps
The Halo Plus HP-2 Range of Personal Signalling Lamps features the latest advances in LED Technology. Each lamp features a high performance super bright LED Array in up to three colour combinations – red, green, blue, yellow and white. All colours conform to BS 1376 signal colours. Specialist colour requirements can be met.
Network Rail Approved Cert. No. PA/05/965
±7.5° viewing angleCan be viewed in sunlight
Long operational life – typically 60,000 hours
Each colour has 7 LED x 360° array
Coloured changeover switches
Long life fully protected Halogen Bulb
Robust weatherproof mouldings giving high mechanical strength
High resistance to shock and vibration
Developed in conjunction with major Police Forces the ‘SL-50’ and ‘SL-501’ combination provides a powerful Handheld White Halogen Floodlight Kit for personal use.
Ideal for:
- SOC
- Photography
- Search
- Accident Investigation
It includes:
- ‘SL-501’Lightweight Battery Pack.
- ‘SL-50’100 Watt Hand Held Flood Lamp.
- 100 Watt Halogen Long Life Bulb.
- Military Style Connectors.
- Full range of Charging Accessories.
The’SL-50’contains a powerful 12 volt 100 watt halogen bulb housed in a diffused reflector handheld unit that is lightweight and capable of floodlighting a large room for investigation, photography, emergency rescue situations or other sites where larger floodlighting equipment would be difficult to locate.
A Deep Cycle 12 volt 7.2 Ah Gel Lead Acid Battery is the power source for the’SL-50′. Housed in a tough canvas case,the Battery Pack is carried via a shoulder strap. The connection between the ‘SL-50’and ‘SL-501’is made via screw locking military style connectors.
Additional Battery Packs are available and a ‘SL-503’ Mains Charger is available for use with the Kit.
Traffic cones have been with us since 1940, and have come a long way since the original wooden pyramid shapes. Modern traffic cones are made of plastic or rubber with reflective strips for night time visibility.
Also called traffic pylons, road cones, highway cones, safety cones, witch’s hat, or construction cones they are used for temporary traffic management in the event of road works, traffic accidents or major public gatherings.
Cones can also be used to temporarily alert us to other dangers, such as slippery paths or other hazards, and can often be found indoors to mark off areas that have been temporarily closed.
Traffic cones are notoriously linked to student capers, and the most famous example is The Duke of Wellington statue in Edinburgh, which has the Duke regularly wearing a traffic cone as a hat. This statue is featured in “Lonely Planet” as a “most bizarre monument” because of the regular cone wearing and in honour of Scotland’s success at the 2012 Olympics the Duke was even given a gold traffic cone.
Cone Lights
Like the actual traffic cone, cone lighting has come a long way from the gas lanterns that were used originally.
White Knight Conelight
White Knight have introduced a cone light that is perfect for Emergency Services. The CONELIGHT uses the latest technology to achieve a brilliant flash – visible even in daylight.
The conelight uses its battery pack to create an extremely low centre of gravity, offering improved stability against wind and passing traffic.
The Conelight is compact and lightweight, making it quick and easy to set up at emergency scenes and incidents. It uses standard alkaline batteries and fits most standard traffic cones. Tough and durable, the conelight will last for 72 hours and out performs most other road lamps. It is available with blue, red, yellow or green lights.
For more informationcall White Knight on +44 (0)23 9266 8624
White Knight professional halogen rechargeable handlamps are powerful, rugged and versatile, giving years of reliable and trouble free service, making them more than capable of withstanding the demands of the real world.
EXPERT TRIO
Available in 6, 10, 20, 30 and 50 watt halogen outputs providing between 55 minutes and 14 hours of continuous illumination.
Standard features on all models include:
- High/Low and Flashing Beam Setting
- Low Battery Indicator
- Charge State Indicator
- Vehicle Battery Monitor
- Usage Monitor
- Auto Maintenance Charging
- Electronic Bulb Protection
Mains Failure and Restore Monitor allows Expert WK-5 Trio to be used as an Emergency Portable Light Source.
Special versions using High Output LED Arrays are available for signalling purposes.
A full range of plug-in accessories is available including floodlighting, fingerprint, ultra-violet and other lamps for forensic and close inspection use.
All Expert Trio lamps have environmentally friendly, fully protected Ni-MH Battery Pack, and are supplied complete with Mains Charger, Vehicle Charging Cord and Shoulder Strap.
Expert Trio is approved for use by the MOD and NATO forces.
RIVAL
Rival provides a reliable, lightweight, highly competitive handlamp, ideally suited to the security and ambulance services and for use in other situations such as railways, boats and caravans.
Powered by a halogen bulb it offers a choice of batteries providing 3 or 7.5 hours constant illumination.
The 7.5 hour models come with a 12-24V DC charging lead, 230V mains 3 hour model is mains charging only and excludes shoulder strap
LA Range
The LA combines the 10W halogen power with the economy of a sealed gel lead acid battery giving 2½ hours continuous illumination (or giving 4 hours with 6W bulb).
The model WK-4DC includes an inbuilt 12/24V vehicle charger while the AC/DC version adds a mains 230V charger to provide full charging flexibility.
The WK-4 S comes with a mains charger and storage tray providing 4 hours standby lighting on mains failure.
ULTIMO
The brilliant Ultimo is the ultimate in long range illumination, supplying a blinding white light that could be an effective tool for use during civil disturbances and for ambush lighting.
This 100 watt handlamp provides 35 minutes of continuous light, which can be extended with the use of external battery packs SL-501 (12V 7.2Ah); in addition it can be powered from any 12 volt supply.
EXPERT WK ‘SCENES OF CRIME LAMP’ ATTACHMENTS FINGERPRINT ILLUMINATION LAMP WKA-13
The WKA-13 fingerprint illumination lamp emits a very bright even light designed specifically for Scenes of Crime Officers and Fire Investigators.
Using the Expert WK-5 as a power source, this lamp can be held freely or used attached directly to the handlamp via a mounting adapter, giving hands free operation with the ability to rotate and adjust the angle of illumination.
ULTRA-VIOLET LAMP WKA-16
The WKA-16 can be supplied with either long wave or short wave ultra-violet fluorescent tubes, used to read security marking, forgery detection, forensic work, to identify ‘Smart Water’ Indsol tracer and Index Solutions.
SPECIALIST LAMPS EXPLORER SL-41
Popular with surveyors and engineers this lightweight compact lamp with its battery pack gives 7½ hours continuous light. The lamp is stored in a pouch attached to a black canvas battery case, which is worn around the waist with a canvas belt.
100W FLOOD SL-50
The SL-50 contains a powerful 12 volt 100 watt halogen bulb, which is lightweight and capable of floodlighting a large room for investigation, photography, and emergency rescue situations in tunnels or any difficult access sites. Illustrated with a SL-501 (12V 7.2Ah) battery pack, which gives 25 minutes continuous light. Also powered from any 12 volt supply.
30W FLOOD WKA-24 WITH MONOPOD
The WKA-25 bracket & monopod kit is clipped simply and easily to an Expert handlamp and the WKA-24 30-Watt Flood/Work Lamp Flood/Work lamp plugged into the accessory socket. The fully adjustable
monopod may be extended to a working height of up to 1.5 metres.
White Knight Lamps and Torches are manufactured in the UK
For further information or to discuss the design of bespoke hand held lighting products, please call us on +44 (0) 23 9266 8624 or email info@furneauxriddall.com
A Polish climber who wanted to be airlifted off the top of Mont Blanc because he was “scared” had his request flatly turned down. He was also refused permission to hire a private helicopter to airlift him, and was forced to make his down the same way he came up – by foot.
This is due to the local Mountain Rescue Service and the mayor of Saint-Gervais, the closest village becoming annoyed with climbers who are ill-prepared. The story is entertaining and one’s sympathy is certainly not with the climber.
However the story does highlight how Rescue Services are constantly putting themselves at risk to rescue people who are, at best naïve, and at worst downright irresponsible!
The article states that there between 350 and 400 climbing parties attempting to climb Mont Blanc every day in summer.
As the article points out mountains are not like amusement parks, and people should ensure that are fully competent, experienced and equipped before undertaking any adventure that has the potential to put someone else’s life at risk
Mountain Rescue Services throughout the world provide an invaluable service and the brave men and women who volunteer for these services are all heroes!
Read the article in the Telegraph – and make sure you’re not the one making the next headline.
Viewranger – The App for Adventurers.
We’ve only just discovered the Viewranger App, and we just had to share it with you.
Viewranger is a gps app that is used by over 85% of Mountain Rescue teams in England and Wales.
It provides complete Outdoors GPS by using your phone’s internal GPS the viewranger tracking, navigation and location sharing tools can be used even without a mobile signal.
Here is what it can do:
- View maps – view maps from around the world. Free global maps such as like OpenStreetMap & OpenCycleMap are included as standard.
- Record Routes – ViewRanger can create a mapped trace of all your adventures. It allows you to record your route, view trip summaries, share your adventures, and even include Flickr photos and Twitter messages to share.
- Sports Performance Stats – a range of features to track performance stats for training, competition, or just for fun.
- Search and Locate -View real-time on-screen map coordinates, find locations using map coordinates and mark important locations. Search for places on the map by place name or postcode.
- Share real time location – a free location tracker service called BuddyBeacon allows you to share your location with others and to view the location of others on your smartphone.
- Active Navigation – the app can guide you to a map coordinate or along a route with on-screen guidance and alerts if you veer off-course.
- Route Planning – plan trips, calculate distances and create your own routes.
So if you haven’t downloaded it yet, then do it now at www.viewranger.com.
Remember White Knight are suppliers of:
- Rechargeable Flashlights
- Torches, Handlamps and Lanterns
- Worklamps and Signalling Lamps.
Call us on +44 (0) 23 9266 8624
