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Post by version3point1 on Jan 15, 2012 15:31:41 GMT
Sometimes a train can go into coast, but then if the VOBCs (the computers on either end of the train that pick up the signals from the track) lose information, the train will automatically apply the emergency brakes and the train cannot move until the VOBCs are working again. This used to happen a lot at Stratford, as the trains would sometimes lose motors going over the multitude of rail gaps there. The automatic application of the emergency brakes is a failsafe. And just an aside: I don't know how it is possible to open the peds. I am sure they will be locked and can only open when the driver opens the doors? There is a locking mechanism inside the frame of a PED. The use of a J door key can unlock this so the door can be manually opened by staff on the platform when the need arises. It still takes some force to get the PEDs to open, but then once you get them open part way the doors will then release to open freely. On the rare* occasion, forcible opening of of the PEDs, whereby a J door hasn't being used to unlock the PED, can damage the locking mechanism. If the door is forced open whilst the lock is in the closed position, the door will freely open, but the doors closed visual (the blue light at the ends of the platforms that illuminates to say the PED suit is closed) can sometimes remain illuminated and the platform indicator light (the orange light that illuminates when a PED is open) will not – essentially – you can have a door wide open with no train on the platform. It's quite rare – we had this problem at North Greenwich on the eastbound platform, whereby a driver was a accused by a passenger that he had departed the platform with one PED still wide open. *The technician attending said that in all the time he has dealt with PED faults since their installation, this was the third one he'd ever dealt with.
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Post by version3point1 on Nov 6, 2011 21:09:31 GMT
That's pretty much the reason. At Acton Town, trains are being double-ended into 26 sidings to ensure there's a quick turnaround back into London to maintain the 3-4 minute service between trains.
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Post by version3point1 on Oct 20, 2011 14:37:12 GMT
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Post by version3point1 on Oct 11, 2011 17:09:18 GMT
There was more consistency in design standards 30 years ago, where reproducing consistent results would've been a lot more difficult given the lack of automated technology there is today. You will find extensive discussion/argument about LT colour names on Wikipedia as well unfortunately... the amount of times you see the name of a colour changed on there is ridiculous... IIRC, many of the current Corporate Identity documents were published in mid-2005. I think I might have the originals on a hard drive somewhere – I'll have to look – but I'm not sure whether names of colours were changed since then. Relatedly, you will often find that TfL themselves do not adhere to their own colour, let alone design standards. When there was a mass haul of refurbs with regards to signage here on the Uxbridge branch of the Met (where there was absolutely no problem with the existing roundels and signage already on the stations), I made a complaint about how the colour was not compliant to the design standards and went as far as comparing the Pantone settings they'd set down as "standard" to what was put up on the stations. The feedback I got was basically that 1) it was out of TfL's hands because they had contracted somebody to do the work and 2) things vary under different light/lux conditions. My answer to that was that if they couldn't be bothered to check the quality of the work done to ensure it was consistent with the Corporate Standards, then they shouldn't have bothered having the work done at all. Some signage also failed to fall in line with the "standards" with type set incorrectly or the incorrect type being used (especially in the way of temporary signage – it seems that because it's "temporary", it need not follow a standard, even though it is in public view), including removable/changeable vinyl signage that tends to be updated regularly or on order (ironically, I've just noticed on TfL's website that they have an Issue 1 publication on something with regards to this).
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Post by version3point1 on Oct 10, 2011 0:46:57 GMT
Forgot I had an imagevenue account so hopefully these will be re-sized and clickable, I've only uploaded a few on there. The rest can still be enjoyed on the Photobucket album.... Oh. My. Darwin. Only time I've had the luxury of being in this salubrious location has been in the middle of the night when it's much to scary to have a peek on my own. But now that I know there were freaking WASPS in there, that's a big no-no attempt at a visit for me! What did it smell like? Did you have to speak to the man in the hut first or did you just dive right in?
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Post by version3point1 on Oct 10, 2011 0:43:16 GMT
Canning Town also had a particular problem with the rats of the flying variety – the odd shaped alcoves, shelves and concrete surfaces meant that they've roosted pretty much everywhere. The worst part of the station has to be the fixed staircase up to the Jubilee line at the very South end of the station – the pigeons roost on the signage that hangs above it and have pelted all below with all manner of debris and guano. I refused to go up/down that staircase as I deemed it a health hazard – I don't even remember hearing or seeing it getting hosed down with some sort of pressure washer to clean it. Nasty.
Unfortunately, the concrete / slab / flat stone look is cropping up everywhere, not just with railway infrastructure. Like anything, it's probably down to cost more than anything else.
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Post by version3point1 on Sept 14, 2011 20:59:00 GMT
They moved it a few weeks ago into the sheds and it was on the same road as the Cravens heritage train for a while. It'll be weird not seeing it around – I've been in and out of Northfields like a yo-yo the last couple of months, had all that time to get a decent picture of it, but in the end I could only get a rubbish one in passing... www.flickr.com/photos/version-3-point-1/6009392614/
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Post by version3point1 on Aug 25, 2011 20:22:09 GMT
I suspect the South Harrow train is so badly vandalised / deteriorated that to move it now will be quite a complex operation, and unlike some of the other locations, I don't think a crane operation is feasible! IIRC, from the last time I stabled a train at South Harrow, there is one train on 31rd and another on 35rd (which is the second closest siding to the running line). The times I've been given a Route 6 into 36rd and had to pull up alongside one of the trains, on a hot day, the smell is incredible. Not that I'd really want to go in there, as a trainee, we've all been told that "If you're thinking of going in there – don't." It is probably health hazard – at some point, the trains were used "recreationally", with parts of the trains being used for the consumption of undesirable substances, along with other parts of the train being used as a lavatory and other parts for sleeping in. I'm not sure how long ago this was, but from what I've seen, the interiors are well beyond repair – portions of the floor are missing, various integral parts like seats and such like have been ripped out and I honestly dread to think what else is in there.
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Post by version3point1 on Aug 21, 2011 3:31:12 GMT
There isn't any other way to get there except via the gateline, as accessing the bus stop from the street requires a pass to get through a restricted area. Just explain what you've just mentioned to staff on the entry side of the gateline and you should be let through. Something should've done the rounds by email by now, so you shouldn't have a problem. If you've got a letter or any sort of printed confirmation of your visit, make sure you've got it on you just in case, as you will most likely not be signing in with the Station Supervisor (given the numbers turning up, you will probably be signed in with the people in charge of the exercise). Any problems, let me know, and I'll sort out the rabble there.
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Post by version3point1 on Jul 17, 2011 12:50:52 GMT
Unfortunately, they didn't do any like this for other stocks. Alec Gorton was the artist. He got promoted away from training and they stopped. I think he went to the District & Picc. I see that he passed away in 1969 at also designed posters for LT. Such talent. Mr. Auxsetreq – You wouldn't happen to have a copy of the Compressor Fault Percy by any chance?
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Post by version3point1 on Jul 16, 2011 18:57:52 GMT
Whilst studying for my Principles of Train Equipment module this week and asking whether we had any crib sheets to the effect of "Toprate" Percy, one of my trainers was kind enough to loan me something he thought would be of interest to myself (and somewhat beneficial towards my learning, as it has been a rather difficult week). I've scanned the guide in and thought I would share it with you all. Side 1: Side 2: For anybody who isn't on Flickr or a contact and would like some hi-res scans for reference, just drop us a line. Thought it looks like paper, the diagrams are printed onto a lightweight plastic, just a little thicker than normal copy paper. This pocket guide was issued to my trainer when he was a motorman on the Northern line. Does anybody know whether similar guides were issued for other stocks?
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Post by version3point1 on Jun 25, 2011 0:19:01 GMT
My old manager had stated that should they not get themselves into gear by July, big fines will be had. When the took the hoarding down at Stratford Regional Station, we were told it was to give the impression that they were 'getting there'. We were all told it was going to open in March... :-P
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Post by version3point1 on Jun 25, 2011 0:13:24 GMT
Firstly, there's more pictures of WCTC from 1985 here: www.flickr.com/photos/41949024@N04/sets/72157622398500341/Speaking as someone who spent a lot of time at the WCTC in his early career I would say the "military" atmosphere made the place "feel" like somewhere you should be learning in. Instructors were addressed as "Sir" or "Guv" and discipline was fairly rigid. Ashfield House by comparison is a soleless coroprate "office block" that most real railwaymen hate going to. I for one would like to see things return to the WCTC style of training as we might have a chance of turning out people who can actually do the job properly and have some pride in the job. Qualities sadly lacking in most Ashfield House trained drones! I take pride in my job – I always have done. What I don't like is some bloke, who obviously went through WCTC and did a good decade on the trains and has now become senior manager on the training side of things, coming into my classroom and giving the most demoralising and condescending introductory welcome to the train operating role ever. No wonder you end up with drones – if you end up sitting in on the soul-destroying, self-righteous BS speech we had, you'd be the same. On Tuesday, we were expected to sit through three-and-a-half hours of EDI. Three-and-a-half hours. This did not bode well with any of us, and I ran out of biscuits (that I'd been stashing underneath my name plate thing on the desk) halfway through. I don't blame the trainer – he is frightfully enthusiastic, though for a teacher, I do honestly pity the material that he has to deliver to us. The man didn't even expect to be teaching us – he usually does stock training and drew the short straw this time around, much to his annoyance, but thankfully, he doesn't take that out on us. Training is 12 weeks now. You are EXPECTED to cram rules, regs, train equipment, stock, road training and what have you in that 12 weeks. The unions came in during their session to harp on about how you ask for more training if you need it, the senior manager stands there and shakes his head (he believes that it can be done in 12 weeks, and has thus tailored the course to reflect that). Today was our day out with an I/O, but the annoying thing is that the I/Os we were assigned will not be the ones for our road training – something that has annoyed me profusely because I actually like this guy's methodical way of teaching. How can you expect any consistency in a trainee's performance if you're sending them here, there and everywhere with different instructors who all have different ways of doing things? And why, for the love of Darwin, are they teaching us about the S stock, harping on about how great it is and how better it is than everything else, even though NONE of us are being assigned to a line that has or will have the S stock in the next 18 months? We only have 12 weeks training; why waste it on information that is of no use to the lines that we are being assigned to? ARGGH. Some people might not like us newbies any more than I don't like walking into Acton Town messroom and having some old bloke slag us trainees off whilst we're still in the room (which happened to me yesterday), but for the love of Darwin, cut us some slack and moan at the people worth moaning at, rather than moaning at colleagues who aren't going to be able to do naff all about how we're being trained. Since I've never attended Ashfield House for a promotional course I don't have any particular negative vibes about the place. Certainly the lifts and isolated staircases are too inadequate for the number of people in the building, and I shall never use the top floor canteen again following its recent downgrading from a 'restaurant' to 'bistro' menu-status. Was it true that there was once a licensed bar for p-way staff on site? In any case despite all the money spent on the mock station - platform/train/supervisor's office/model railway etc etc, I hear the whole place is being closed down and sold off. I wonder if there's any spare room above Lambeth North station, methinks? Though it's more likely training will be moved to Pier Walk or somewhere equally inaccessible. Don't get me started on the 8th floor. I walked in there on Monday thinking I'd be able able to get a fry-up, and all that was in there was a shed-load of disused space and a small coffee shop thing. I'd hardly called that a 'bistro'. At least the nice lady behind the counter makes nice leaves and hearts using the milk froth when you buy a hot drink. It's chicken burgers all-week round up there as well for lunch. Or a jacket potato. Which is plain. Because you have to buy the filling separately. I don't see how they'd be able to get anything into Pier Walk unless it was going to be solely classroom based or they refurbish part of one floor. I know Crossrail bods have been in the process of moving out – there are certainly less of them up there now the last time I was there.
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Post by version3point1 on Jun 3, 2011 17:07:11 GMT
A – North Greenwich. Main Concourse. Can't argue for that.. wonder why not ;D I should recognise it, it's my nearest (though not necessarily most used) - looks like somewhere around the bus station or the ticket hall level to me. It's the lightbox for Platforms 1 & 2 on the main concourse. I'm that sure. Probably the one hanging over Lift No. 7 (going down to platform level). Sad, I know. I'll shut up now.
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Post by version3point1 on Jun 3, 2011 15:16:35 GMT
It's not always deliberate. We still get problems with 3 and 3A where one side of doors may either delay or fail to open. Even with the PAs, people still whinge when they end up alighting on the wrong side, giving the usual "We weren't told where to get off," story. Nine times out of ten, you still get people who require step-free access on/off the platform on the wrong side. Nothings changed since 3a opened. We are meant to make a PA at Leyton to explain that the doors will open on both sides, left for the Jubilee, DLR, right for mainline etc (no mention of LO, don’t know why), at Stratford we open up both platforms together, let SONIA do her stuff, do a “Mind the doors”, close 3a, close 3 and off we go. If anyone is doing differently then it’s unofficial. The only reason I can think of as to why LO is not mentioned is because there is no direct access to it from either platform – it still requires a long walk down a set of stairs, down the subway (or if exiting onto 3A, down the stairs, through the concourse and down another set of stairs to access the subway) and then up a flight of stairs.
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Post by version3point1 on Jun 3, 2011 15:11:08 GMT
A – North Greenwich. Main Concourse.
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Post by version3point1 on Jun 2, 2011 12:33:51 GMT
Saturday is a normal service. It's only suspended on Sunday until 0815, after which the suspension is between West Hampstead and Stanmore until 2130, and then extended Waterloo to Stanmore after 2130 until the close of traffic.
The original West Hampstead to Stanmore closure for this Sunday was supposed to be for trial ops, so one can only assume they want to run trial ops in ATO on the whole of the line a short period of time.
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Post by version3point1 on Jun 2, 2011 0:55:06 GMT
The subway is supposed to be open all day, 7 days a week. However, NXEA staff are responsible for it, so whether they choose to restrict access at certain points of the day is up to them.
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Post by version3point1 on Jun 2, 2011 0:35:35 GMT
There have been so many incidents on the Jubilee line lately that where a Duty Reliability Manager is supposed to be present, half the time they're stuck at one end of the line, and then when they do turn up, depending on who it is, some of them actually make the problem worse through lack of experience or lack of actual rolling stock knowledge. Most of the more knowledgeable Duty Manager Trains staff I can think of who know all their stock and how the line operates ended up getting stuck with desk jobs on other lines during the restructuring of the DMT role. Surely, during a period where the Jubilee line is going through much change and transition, you'd want to keep your most experienced hands? I think LU shot themselves in the foot on that one, and it shows. Actually, it probably has a negative impact on the service in the long run - for these staff probably have other tasks that they also need to be getting on with. And whilst they're standing around on a platform doing nothing they can't get on with any useful work. I wouldn't go that far. In fact, their impact is diddly-squat, because half of the time they're trying to get out of this duty to go hide in their offices during peak times. Their rosters now usually have a slot during the morning or evening peak that says one of them has to man the platforms. I'm all for duty managers being out and available during busy periods; there are already far too many DSMs attached to some station groups, and half of them are unavailable to the staff when it is needed anyway either through x amount suddenly having the same designated rest day, despite their being four or even five DSMs per station group. They're also an extra visible member of staff that can make more use of themselves during service disruption by actually helping the team and the passengers instead of, again, holing themselves up in their dens. How it can be justified that a member of station staff can walk into an office and find four duty managers sitting there in the office doing naff all is beyond me. There's already an admin grade to sort out our duties and general day to day stuff, so that's one less thing for them to worry about. Even now I struggle to think of what these "middle" managers do half the time, because they certainly don't do anything useful, and in most cases are quite obstructive when you're going out of your way to be productive. (I've asked for them to order a new vinyl sign that goes above the ticket machines – because one set of machines has an incorrect sign saying the machines take bank notes when they don't, causing some confusion with some customers. I have to keep mentioning it to at least one manager a week, because it has been 3 months since I originally requested, in writing, that an order be put through. They must be so pressed for work right now that they haven't had the time to order this one vinyl decal.) As Stig already mentioned, most of the people who have been given this role, who aren't already Duty Reliability Managers, are Duty Station Managers. So it's not costing the Underground any more money than what they spend already keeping these people on the payroll (oh – and the cost of the pink hi-vis, which most of them are refusing to wear anyway).
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Post by version3point1 on May 21, 2011 16:57:08 GMT
What fool decided that the first four sets of doors should be cut out should there be a door irregularity? I can understand maybe two sets, considering where the train draws up sometimes, but a whole four sets? Please – and then you're not given enough time to get down the train past everybody else to get off, as I have experienced on two separate occasions now.
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Post by version3point1 on May 6, 2011 21:27:24 GMT
In a bulletin I read today, we're allegedly in the 'final push' stages. (Not counting the push-outs for the stalled trains we've been getting over the last few weeks...)
Apparently, week ending 30 April saw tidal flow average of 101.3%, meaning we delivered more trains than timetabled. Our customers are experiencing quicker journey times with the average journey being 26 seconds faster than with the old system. Big wow. A whole 26 seconds. Then they've said that on average, passengers are waiting 3 seconds longer for a train.
Anyway, some upcoming closures, which could change:
15 May - West Hampstead to Stanmore: System testing
21 - 22 May - Waterloo to Stanmore: LU Trial Ops at low frequency (4tph) between Willesden Green (possibly Finchley Road on one day) and Stanmore, focusing on ensuring new software build for Neasden depot entry and exit has been successful.
29 May - Waterloo to Stanmore: LU Trial Operations between Charing Cross and Stanmore to prove a higher frequency operation (15tph) and continue to demonstrate reliable entry and exit at Neasden.
5 June - West Hampstead to Stanmore: LU Trial Ops
11 June - West Hampstead to Stanmore: LU Trial Ops
25 - 26 June - West Hampstead to Stanmore: LU Trial Ops
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Post by version3point1 on Apr 21, 2011 20:11:44 GMT
A bit falling off a train? Maybe it was bad maintenance. Probably. Last time I was down Stratford Market Depot we were getting a train out of one of the shed roads and the I/Op basically said something along the lines of hoping for the best when he was starting the train up. That's all very well – the TMS will only ever make so many alarms about so many problems. If it is something like a cover about to fall off, the TMS probably wont say anything until the last possible moment! One of the worst things about TBTC I think is the fact that trains are allowed to draw up so close, even when there are such serious problems. I thought the whole point of TBTC and splitting the line up into 5 areas was so that if one section is affected, a shuttle service could run in the remaining sections. At least that's what they sold to me in training. When you're supposed to book off at 2225 and you're still on the front of that train 4-5 hours later, I'd certainly be asking questions. Detrainments shouldn't be taking 2 hours either – if there is a problem, recognise it and deal with it. I don't understand why LU feels the need to pretend they're not there and reprimand those who decided to take action for the sake of the passengers. As for Boris; part of the problem with him is that he believes what his people/advisors tell him, regardless of whether or not those things are true. A few colleagues and myself happened to have a word with him when he was passing through the station and he seemed genuinely concerned about the issues we were raising and fired an email to the line manager asking him to sort it out. Next thing I know, the duty managers are down on us, telling us that we should be keeping schtum about our issues! It makes me angry how we're not allowed to be transparent, let alone honest, about real issues in this company without being reprimanded..
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Post by version3point1 on Apr 21, 2011 19:49:33 GMT
By the time the emergency timetable was implemented it was so tits up that everyone that has two of anything crossed them and hoped for the best. Fingers, eyes, legs, arms, toes, ears, nostrils, cheeks upper and lower, nips moobs n bollox...........which it all was...............................mint? Hoping for the best when you see a train running 205 late and they're trying their hardest to implement a shuttle service between North Acton and the west branches. Ha!
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Post by version3point1 on Apr 1, 2011 2:02:02 GMT
The decal signage above the AFMs are of the incorrect type (as they show that notes can be used in the machines) and already we've had to deal with the fair few of people throwing their toys out of the pram over it. DLR have finally paid for the installation of a Departures board, yet it hasn't been wired in. Could be an ongoing thing, seeing as there are orange cables all over the shop on the rest of the station that belong to them for that particular venture. We have a problem with pigeons flying in, getting trapped, distressed, you name it. Just after the eventual opening of 'The Mezz' (as we call it), we actually had one die in flight, following a rather ungraceful impact with a pane of glass. It's more of a problem around 1100-1400, when the mezz is absolutely dead, even more so on a sunny or bright day. Not sure what the solution will be with that one. We've got no leaflet racks, so we've had to hoard a whole load of leaflets in a box in the GLAP. As far as the GLAP goes: what seemed like a good idea at the start now turns out to be yet another poorly-thought-out waste of money. They've given us a heater, yet, the roof is not sealed and has a vent that blows cold air IN, so no matter if you keep the door closed with the heater on full blast for three hours, when you walk into the GLAP, it's still as cold as it was before. The Bostwick gates had to have a job put out on them only the other day, even though they're brand new; they were jamming on one side, preventing us from being able to pull them across to close off access to the ticket hall. As the gates are re-used (originally from the now non-existant Jubilee line gateline), the PODs have seen their fair share of weathering from direct sunlight. As such, during the day, nobody can tell what's the entry and exit, so we had to get a poster drawn up and place a board in the middle of the ticket hall to direct people to one side. The step-free aspect of it all is a joke: The lifts from the mezz to street level are provided by Westfield, but this is located just to the side of the ticket hall entrance, behind the hoarding, and they are currently not commissioned (as they go up an extra level to the new footbridge). There are quite a few people who require the use of lifts who have exited through the mezz gateline in order to avoid the chaos that is the main gateline, only to find they've got to go back. On the plus side: It's shiny. A staff member told me today that the stairs were now a resting place for winos, homeless, etc. Time will tell. Doubt the Westfield company will be happy with this in time. Don't get me started. I was there the other day (before we decided to put up a whole load of notices on the hoardings): Westfield contractors by day, undesirables by night. Though the stairs are not the responsibility of London Underground (Westfield own them and it falls under Met Police jurisdiction), we still have to do our best to keep it clear. A manager has already emailed Westfield to ask them what they're going to do about it, as they're supposed to have security on site. Until Westfield formally opens, I doubt much will be done. The Northern Ticket Hall is currently being built on the Northern side of the Station as part of the Westfield Development. It will be situated at Street Level on the Northern Side of the new Footbridge. It will be accessible by the Western & Central Subways. I admit I may be responsible for some of the confusion. I will be posting pictures of the new Northern Ticket Hall when I'm permitted to do so, but it was finally furnished and finished at the beginning of the year; we now await for Westfield to hurry up and open and for the necessary bods to give us the keys to the place to hang up in our key cabinet following the formal 'handover'. In all honesty, I feel that the new ticket halls should have been opened together, following the opening of Westfield, for the sake of efficiency, instead of opening it bit by bit, only for people to find it's not actually much use to them yet, but what do I know?
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Post by version3point1 on Mar 28, 2011 16:11:57 GMT
I've just returned home from the Six Bells in Ruislip (where a drink or two may still be happening up there in Dave's honour!) and the service was such a beautiful tribute to Dave. It was really lovely to see so many people who had turned up in uniform as well – there were so many members of staff in attendance that we were all stood up and crammed into the chapel, people still trying to get through the door! But we all shared a hymn book or two, and to second Hutch, it was all for an absolutely wonderful rendition of 'Jerusalem'! A proud moment! Some cadets from the local RAF establishment did a wonderful job of leading the hearse up the driveway in front of the chapel with a slow march. So dignified and with a sense of pride and honour, and it's always so nice to see young people doing something so positive. Dave's son, Chris, was in his full dress of forces uniform, having recently passed out, the ceremony of which Dave was able to attend, and after the service, did his father proud and went around meeting and greeting all those who had attended. Such a wonderful and bright young man, and you can see so much of Dave in him also. Went Chris came to speak to us after the service outside, he said himself that he and his mother weren't fully aware of the work his father had done for the 'District Dave' name and that they weren't expecting so many people to be involved and that they didn't realise the extent of Dave's abilities to reach out to so many people. The huge smile on his face said it all though – he must be so proud of his dad. Such a cheerful service – I will be in contact with Dave's sister shortly to post her tribute from the service, which was so very heartwarming. The family have been so strong – though there were some tears, there were were many smiles too as people spoke fondly of Dave, and it was nice to speak to the family too and hear of how he was a child and growing up. Later on in the pub, Dave's wife brought along her wedding album and a collection of photographs of Dave throughout the years – there was one in particular that stuck out, of Dave enjoying himself to the full extent that life can provide (and having had perhaps a little too much to drink at a family gathering, his hand over his head!), to which everybody passed comment, "That's the Dave we know!"
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Post by version3point1 on Mar 17, 2011 22:21:19 GMT
Legend. I met him for the first time back in March 2007, and he was a true gent. Bought me a round to say 'Congrats' (as I pretty much got the job on LUL back around that time) and I'm so glad I was able to buy him one to say 'Thanks' for all the help and advice. I'll never forget when he told me he could play guitar though (we were talking about music, as I have been a musician myself) and his eyes would really light up talking about it and him telling me he used to play in band. I refused to believe him – until of course he should me a photograph of him on stage rocking out on his guitar at a later date at work! Knowledgeable as well as totally cool. ;D He was a very considerate and empathetic individual, and somebody who had time for everybody, regardless of whether or not he knew them personally – he was always willing to help others and impart knowledge and wisdom. My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones, but I think it is a comfort to know that whilst it is a loss of loved one and somebody highly valued and respected by many, his spirit will be around for quite some time yet, through his site and this forum, as well as all the memories he has shared with others.
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Post by version3point1 on Mar 17, 2011 16:22:13 GMT
A large majority of drivers put the train into PM before departing West Ham on the eastbound, to accommodate for stopping at Stratford Staff Hall if there are staff waiting there (following past complications). Apart from that, depot and siding moves, and Dollis Hill-Stanmore, can't say I've heard anybody else driving in PM elsewhere.
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Post by version3point1 on Feb 20, 2011 17:15:21 GMT
Was the station built with quick crowd-dispersal after events at the Dome deemed more important than easy northbound transfers for through passengers? This has probably been answered in various ways, but as much as many people would like to believe it, the station was not built with this in mind. No matter how much you beg Service Control, and no matter how willing the driver(s), we don't just get given trains into Platform 2 as and when to help with crowd-dispersal! Egress usually lasts between 50 minutes, to just over an hour for more difficult crowds, though with the ATO (when it does work) we are slowly starting to see these times reducing. When the Dome was originally opened, passenger flow was a constant stream, much how it is if you visit the station during midday. It is also worth stating that 10 years ago, we did not have a mass number of high-density residential areas within a 5-mile radius of the station. The Dome did not have a mass egress back then like what now happens with functions in the O2 Arena, thus since the re-opening of the Dome in June 2007, we had to change our congestion and evacuation plans, because we found we were having to deal with 17,000 all in one hit (plus an additional 2,000 - 4,000 if there is a show in the Indigo, not to mention the additional numbers within the various other establishments and the cinema). The station layout now as it stands is poorly designed for this; we find that as a train terminates in the middle platform when an egress is in process, passengers who need to make the transfer for the Stratford service are often left fighting to get off the platform at either end (as the fixed staircase then becomes unusable to anybody who isn't going down to the westbound platform). There is no work-around. Even if the secondary ticket hall was built, it wouldn't have made any difference to how the station operates today. The station is located within a 358 metre-long box sunk into waterlogged (and partly contaminated) soil. Early original ideas proposed that the station would be a two-level cut-and-cover box (like South Ken) and it was seen to be cheaper if the box did not have a 'lid', with all the daylight and quick access from ground level quite appealing. Although the original idea was strongly backed by London Underground to some degree, the difficulty of having to deal with the contaminated ground (and recommendations from British Gas at the time) meant the station box was then given a lid, with plans to perhaps make developments on top at ground level. If you can call a dinky WHSmith a 'development'. I don't know whether the additional cost of having to deal with more contaminated ground, more waterlogged clay soil and the cost of the initial coffer-dam in order to excavate the original box had anything to do with whether or not London Underground saw the potential extension towards the Royal Docks as 'worth it', but it probably would've swayed the decision.
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Post by version3point1 on Feb 11, 2011 22:11:25 GMT
Yes - funny that – bar one or two points, responses from the Operational side were significantly worse compared to last year's survey. I'm appalled that Mike Brown has seen this and shrugged it off with a 'we see there's a problem, and hope to do something about it' response on his 'blog' when the results came out. Any firm that hoped to take some sort of responsibility during a time of change would do well to pay attention to these results, but I doubt it will go much further. It's not even that well publicised on the Intranet – I had to do a bit of searching before I could come across the results myself.
Can somebody answer me this? Why were displaced members of staff on stations that changed groups not given the opportunity to choose which group out of the two they went to as a reserve? (As opposed to some reserve staff who got a choice.)
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Post by version3point1 on Feb 11, 2011 10:13:37 GMT
Thanks for these pictures. Looks interesting up there, especially the curved gateline. There's a few acronyms I don't know though. ESUB, WAG, GLAP Please could someone enlighten me? (Edit: sorry remembered one WAG = Wise Aisle Gate) Oh – sorry about that. LU and their glorified acronyms (that unfortunately seem to stick). ESUB = Electronic Service Update Board GLAP = Gate Line Assistance Post/Point
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