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Doublepost because I finally did something I said I would, all about Western Electrification. Now, this is an essay from my university (and I probably rushed it because I'm lazy and did it last minute) and I am terrible at writing in academic English, so excuse me that. Here we go: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9VcZMsqA9NdUGhXYXpyaWp4UTQ/edit?usp=sharing
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Feb 12, 2013 09:29
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Bozza posted:I just verified a plan which closes all the Victorian boxes on that line. Modular signalling is going to be the death knell of that style box sadly  I like the old signal boxes. In mainland europe you see them everywhere just falling apart and looking miserable since they centralised all the signalling.  That, and I like the idea of infrastructure grinding to a halt while I take a poo poo.
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Feb 12, 2013 14:03
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'embark' is old marine terminology, though I wonder if it was also needless jargon back then. "deplane" is an abomination and saying it should be grounds for a one-way trip to the gulag 
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Feb 12, 2013 14:03
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Cerv posted:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-21410006 Haha that is simply amazing. The railway infrastructure in the country grinding to a halt because one man got stuck in a toilet. Britain!
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Feb 12, 2013 15:25
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Zephro posted:'embark' is old marine terminology, though I wonder if it was also needless jargon back then. John Humphrys has a massive problem with trains terminating at platforms, fearing that they will cease to exist. Personally, I dislike being called a customer when I'm actually a passenger. One of these days, doctors and hospitals are going to have customers too. Gorbless the English language, may she rest in peace  For content, some of those old mechanical signal boxes still communicate with the adjacent box using coded bell rings. 2 rings for "train in section", 4 rings for "help I'm being attacked" etc.
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Feb 12, 2013 20:01
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6-6 is call the Old Bill  loving love bell codes, they do them on trains too which is why you here a 1-2 code on trains occasionally to indicate 'Right Away'The customer vs pasenger thing is directly aligned to the introduction of the national conditions of carriage aka post privatisation.
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Feb 12, 2013 20:25
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Bozza posted:The customer vs pasenger thing is directly aligned to the introduction of the national conditions of carriage aka post privatisation. They do call passengers customers on London Underground too and they're still government run. It's infuriating.
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Feb 12, 2013 20:31
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I work at a university and we call the students customers sometimes. Kill me.
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Feb 12, 2013 21:34
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thehustler posted:I work at a university and we call the students customers sometimes. If you don't run the Union shop it may have to be a murder-suicide.
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Feb 12, 2013 22:33
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As long as we're not using 'consumer' yet, there is still hope.
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Feb 12, 2013 22:35
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Just call everyone Citizen. Or Comrade!
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Feb 13, 2013 08:23
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Jeoh posted:Just call everyone Citizen. Or Comrade! So doing this. I work as a multimedia developer, I make videos for the uni, including filming lectures etc. But, you know, since we're charging everyone 9 grand and everyone is all "whatever the students want, the students get" it changes the way the top brass think. Anyway, trains. Yes.
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Feb 13, 2013 10:28
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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad posted:They do call passengers customers on London Underground too and they're still government run. It's infuriating.
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Feb 13, 2013 12:52
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Bozza posted:6-6 is call the Old Bill 1-2 is "close the doors" on trains where the guard doesn't have local door controls. It's 2 that is right away. God.
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Feb 13, 2013 13:18
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I've always heard the little buzzer noise on the trains just before you set off and wondered what they were
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Feb 13, 2013 14:46
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thehustler posted:I've always heard the little buzzer noise on the trains just before you set off and wondered what they were All of them are here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_code 3-3 means you're probably going over a defective crossing or a red light or something and the driver wants the guard in the front, and 9 means call the rozzers. Now you can get stressed about things you didn't even know were happening before! Incidentally, if you mysteriously stop, hear the horn sound and then proceed slowly, it probably means you're going past a signal at danger too.
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Feb 13, 2013 16:23
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Jonnty posted:Now you can get stressed about things you didn't even know were happening before! If (authorised) SPADs freak you out then given the state of signalling in this country you're going to be freaked out a lot 
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Feb 13, 2013 17:30
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SybilVimes posted:If (authorised) SPADs freak you out then given the state of signalling in this country you're going to be freaked out a lot I was more meaning the police one but yeah, authorised SPADs are pretty safe.
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Feb 13, 2013 17:55
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My god you'd make the worst action hero ever. "You can't ring 1! That signal's at danger!" "I'm ringing 9...for danger!"
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Feb 13, 2013 18:05
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Wootcannon posted:My god you'd make the worst action hero ever. "You can't ring 1! That signal's at danger!" "I'm ringing 9...for danger!" I do wonder if "9" is code for "just press it repeatedly until the crowbar-wielding man catches up with you."
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Feb 13, 2013 18:16
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Jonnty posted:1-2 is "close the doors" on trains where the guard doesn't have local door controls. It's 2 that is right away. God. Look Sonny Jim, in your Scotch trains the guards might not be able to do that, but there is no such nonsense on the Western. We run a proper railway down here. Good stuff as always from Jonnty, a cool dude who knows his trains
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Feb 13, 2013 20:49
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So in the more remote signal boxes, on little used lines, things can get quite boring. One signaller I know was gluing the periscope onto an airfix submarine when the regional head of signalling popped in for a surprise visit. There's another story of a signaller who used to take visits from prostitutes...
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Feb 13, 2013 21:35
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Endjinneer posted:So in the more remote signal boxes, on little used lines, things can get quite boring. A/T thread please.
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Feb 13, 2013 22:12
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Endjinneer posted:So in the more remote signal boxes, on little used lines, things can get quite boring. Guy I work with claims he got Form 1'd for having 'relations' with a lady over the lever frame. May be the same guy haha.
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Feb 13, 2013 22:21
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I've heard all kinds of weird and wonderful stories from signallers. Like the game where they have to knock one out before a train travels between two points
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Feb 14, 2013 12:39
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I assume Form 1 is effectively getting your P45? I was on a train once when the staff at the cafe were talking to each other about how the train just "passed at danger" and it scared the willies out of me as I assumed this was a terribly dangerous thing. I assume now that this was passing with permission. Edit: What's a PMB? Noreaus fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 18:08
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Noreaus posted:I assume Form 1 is effectively getting your P45? PNB I'm guessing, personal needs break (a polite way of saying you want a piss and a cup of tea) British Rail Form 1 is a legendary form of near mythical status, it simply says at the top "Please Explain". It was the first stage of a formal disciplinary proceeding. Signal Passed at Danger or SPAD is when a train goes past a red signal when it's not supposed too. Danger is the technical term for a signal at red
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Feb 14, 2013 19:22
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Noreaus posted:I assume Form 1 is effectively getting your P45? If it wasn't with permission, there'd be a big delay while the driver was relieved - drivers who have SPADed are considered unfit to drive.
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Feb 14, 2013 19:26
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Bozza posted:Danger is the technical term for a signal at red When I read this, Ringo Starr's voice popped up in my head and said 'but the signal was at DANGER!' 
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Feb 14, 2013 22:58
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The Independent are kicking off about salaries and privatisation being horseshit http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/anger-over-1m-pay-deals-for-rail-bosses-as-fares-keep-going-up-8498776.htmlThe Independent posted:Anger over £1m pay deals for rail bosses as fares keep going up
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Feb 18, 2013 02:10
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Anyone else watch The Railway tonight? I thought it was much better than last week's episode. That manager in King's Cross with the cheap suit seemed so fake whereas this week everyone was genuine and had interesting stories. I didn't realise flooding got that bad in Yorkshire though :o
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Feb 20, 2013 00:18
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Yep, the train driver was hilarious, although through work I do a lot driving in rural areas and I have had similar conversations about pheasants with a colleague. I did feel sorry for the poor staff on the ale train runs though, I didn't think it got that bad...
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Feb 20, 2013 07:40
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Lady Gaza posted:Anyone else watch The Railway tonight? I thought it was much better than last week's episode. That manager in King's Cross with the cheap suit seemed so fake whereas this week everyone was genuine and had interesting stories. I didn't realise flooding got that bad in Yorkshire though :o I assume this is a British show of some kind? Any information on it? Googling brings up a painting and some Thomas the Tank Engine stuff.
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Feb 20, 2013 15:59
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FISHMANPET posted:I assume this is a British show of some kind? Any information on it? Googling brings up a painting and some Thomas the Tank Engine stuff. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01qqzb6/The_Railway_Keeping_Britain_on_Track_Kings_Cross/ Won't be available outside the UK but this is it. It's really rather good.
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Feb 20, 2013 17:04
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Today I think is an apt time to tell some things I know about overhead line electrification. Overhead line electrification began in earnest in the late 1950's with the West Coast Main Line. The wires run at 25,000 volts and are suspended from a mast at the side of the track, or a portal which bridges across the railway and usually carries the wires for several tracks. Typically, two wires run: the contact which the train pantograph brushes against, and the catenary, which keeps the contact wire nice and flat. Droppers hang the contact wire off the catenary at intervals between each mast. Contact wires are copper and about as thick as your finger. The contact wire actually zigzags left to right as you go along the track so it doesn't wear a groove into the train pantograph, though obviously both parts wear out occasionally and need replacing. Wires are run in sections are about 1.5km long, at each end they overlap with the next section and then head diagonally off the track to an anchor structure. As well as the catenary keeping the contact wire nice and level, the wires are pulled tight. On a typical contact/catenary pair, the load is about 2.5 tonnes. This can be applied when the wires are put up (fixed tension equipment) or by hanging weights from the wire at each anchor structure (auto tension equipment). Fixed tension can be problematic because the copper changes length with temperature; the tension in fixed tension equipment is not fixed. All the bits you need to build an overhead line system in the UK, from a threaded bar to an eight track portal with five anchorages and a side cantilever are described in a massive catalogue of parts. There are about 10,000 entries, all of which can be described by their reference number, like argos. The first generation of equipment developed is the venerable Mk 1 series. This was developed in the early days of electrification and is used on the West Coast Main Line and typically has masts about every 30-50m. What is important in this picture is that each track's contact and catenary are separately supported from the portals. This is called independent registration.  Fastforward now to the eighties. The East Coast Main Line is to be electrified, but the Department for Transport wants it done cheaply. The Mk 3 series of equipment is developed which increases mast spacing to about 60m. Fewer structures means less cost. Another cost saving measure is to replace the portals with headspans wherever possible. Instead of bridging the track with a steel beam, an arrangement of wires is used as the picture shows.  While this setup does satisfy the requirement of being a lot cheaper, it introduces a few problems. First, the stiffness of the whole arrangement is much lower. In high winds the trains have to run slower because the wires bounce about too much. Second, you can't push the pantograph against the wire as hard, which limits train top speed. Practically though, plenty of other things stop you from going fast enough that this is a problem and so really it is of minor importance. Third, when something does go wrong, like in this video, the pantograph tends to rip down not just the contact and catenary directly above it but the headspans and all the wires they support too. Say this happens just South of St Neots on a Tuesday evening. The high speed train in question takes a kilometre to stop (which is actually not very far at all), ripping out headspans and four tracks' overhead wires in a glorious sparky tangle. That disruption is only expected for 36 hours is quite amazing. Had there been money to spend on portals with independent registration, back in the 80's, perhaps only one track would have been closed by the accident, tl;dr pay more taxes, don't vote tory
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Feb 21, 2013 00:14
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^^^ a good post Underground railway = best railway; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWg2AZgsV90
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Feb 22, 2013 15:31
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What I don't understand is why so many Glasgow suburban commuter lines aren't electrified, but then I remembered: Tories.
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Mar 14, 2013 01:00
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Iohannes posted:What I don't understand is why so many Glasgow suburban commuter lines aren't electrified, but then I remembered: Tories. In fairness the really high-traffic ones are, subway, the east-west ones and the Cathcart Circle (with Newton and Neilston extensions).
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Mar 14, 2013 03:13
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Speaking of electrification, the first headspans are up in Reading EMU depot and the cantilever/portal structures elsewhere are starting to appear locally. Great Western electrification starts here! In other news, I have been promoted!
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Mar 14, 2013 09:31
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Bozza posted:Speaking of electrification, the first headspans are up in Reading EMU depot and the cantilever/portal structures elsewhere are starting to appear locally. Great Western electrification starts here! Has there been a round of promotions or are you the only one? Just because a friend of mine who works for network rail also just got promoted ARE YOU HIM?
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Mar 14, 2013 11:42
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