On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 19:35:19 +0100, Dave Arquati
wrote:

Chiltern are extending platforms at Princes Risborough, High Wycombe,
Beaconsfield, Gerrard Cross and Wembley Stadium starting this week at
Princes Risborough.

At Gerrards Cross that will be the Up platform. When the station was
remodelled in the 1980s a new Up platform was built on the formation
of the old Up through line. The old Up platform was 8 car's length
and more, and was often used by 2 x 4-car 115 sets. Then BR moved
some Driving Trailer Composites from the Lake District area (105s?)
and made up 2-car sets with a 115 Driving Motor Standard, and that was
the end of 8 car trains, even in rush hour. So the new platform, with
the usual short-sighted vision of BR was made just long enough for the
6 car sets.
Another poster has referred to the Tesco development which has been
on-going for several months now. For those who have not spotted this
development, and I have seen not a mention of it in MR, a tunnel is
being created in the deep cutting at GX so that a Tesco (totally
unwanted by GX residents) can be built on top. There were many delays
in starting the project, some caused by a re-design to make the tunnel
4 track width, just in case Central Railway comes this way! If it
does, all the remodelling of the station in the 1980s will have to
undone including the new platform extension.
The tunnel development is an interesting piece of civil engineering on
quite a considerable scale, including the creation of a new siding for
stone trains (extension of a turn-back siding used by Chiltern) and a
conveyor belt to shift the scantlings.
I have a lot of photos of the work and might put them up on a web
site, but I am no expert in that technology, so it won't be an all
singing and dancing affair..

Guy Gorton