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Post by londonstuff on Jul 10, 2010 15:18:54 GMT
I got to go on Thursday as part of a one-off tour with photos and videos here[/u]. What an interesting afternoon it was, looking at the mock-platform area, the S Stock simulator and the model trains with signalling frames, designed for training purposes to simulate various failures, etc.
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Post by londonstuff on Jul 9, 2010 21:20:10 GMT
I'd appreciate that...it's quite a technical, but interesting, topic.
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Post by londonstuff on Jul 6, 2010 17:31:49 GMT
It's a short spur and sand drag on which a train from the middle platform will end up if it passes the signal controlling the route round to HSK at danger and the associated points have not been set, thus avoiding a potential collision with an eastbound train from Earl's Court. DStock7080 beat me to it!Given that the overlap system in LU signalling is used, should any signal not be far enough back to stop any potential overrun as it's designed for maximum line speed + 10%?
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Post by londonstuff on Jul 4, 2010 20:43:55 GMT
I took this photo today from by Sainsbury's on Cromwell Road. Something I've often wondered when passing on the train is the stopping board barrier thing - not sure of its correct name - towards the right of the photograph and why it's there. Certainly I can't see any evidence of a siding/shunt neck, etc. in Quail 5 or the London Railway Atlas. What is/was it here for?
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Post by londonstuff on Jul 2, 2010 13:20:49 GMT
I've just read this thread that was mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago. It dates back from 2007 when plans were a lot more fluid than they are now. Maybe prjb will be able to elaborate, what are the current planned arrangements for S Stock, with the exception of Lillie Bridge? I'm aware this may pull together info off several threads. Will Triangle siding still go? If so, what will happen to them? Did South Ken sidings never happen? Is there currently going to be enough stabling space or will there have to be more adaption of track and assets?
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 30, 2010 19:20:45 GMT
OTT: is the crossover used at all these days except by a rusty rail job? I have only been over it once, in D Stock. Undergroundgal mentioned on her blog [/u]a few months ago that she used it during a signal failure at Heathrow for the first time: I also finally got to reverse at Hounslow Central a while back; there had been a recurring signal failure earlier in the day and the service never quite recovered, and I ended up being short-tripped there to try to get me back on time - much to the annoyance of all the passengers, although I thankfully heard very little about it, having made it perfectly clear in my PA that I had tried to find out when the next Heathrow was but my radio calls had gone unanswered, and that the best thing for them to do was to get off the train promptly and allow me to change ends and get the train out of the way so that if there was one behind, I wouldn’t be holding it up!
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 29, 2010 18:08:26 GMT
I don't particularly mind it but I feel quite strongly that each line has its own identity and should keep its own moquette, just like they always have done. Whether the corporates see it as an identity or a cost issue I don't know but its barmy to fly in the face of so much tradition. I can feel a protest coming on!
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 29, 2010 8:01:55 GMT
Sorry to say that link to pic.set appears to be broken at the mo...... Thanks Phil, now works in my original post and here[/u]
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 29, 2010 0:16:17 GMT
I went to Aldwych today to have a mooch around. Don't expect anything unofficial as it's all company speak, so to say. Much of the tiling has also been covered up by display panels and as expected the door down to platform level is firmly bolted shut. However, it's still definitely worth a mooch. Photos (and a few videos) mostly taken on my iPhone 4 are below (only mentioned because even I was surprised by their quality) Click here (now works, thanks Phil) There are various displays which include exhibits such as models, sample running rails (my god they're heavy) and you can also see things like the toilets, the ticket booth, lifts and some of the tiling in the ticket area itself. That said, I did learn a few things. I didn't realise that the new stock for Bakerloo trains is as advanced (into the planning stage) as it is, with quite a radical shape inside and out, which is more visible with a bigger view on Flickr, but: I also didn't realise that this moquette had won the competition mentioned a year or two ago and that the plan is still to roll it out to all lines baaaaad idea : While the display was interesting (can we have more like this please?) it wasn't well advertised - although there was a canvas advert on the Surrey Street entrance, this catches relatively little passing traffic - one placed on the Strand entrance would have enticed more people down.
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 21, 2010 21:05:44 GMT
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 21, 2010 14:11:14 GMT
Doing a track walk to Holborn would be amazing. I've been at Holborn a couple of times at the very start of traffic as a CSA was doing checks of all the doors and stuff. Didn't quite manage to get him to open the door to the Aldwych branch so I could take a pic from the doorway I've never really posted the photos I took of platform level at Aldwych when I went down, if I get a chance I will do.
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 17, 2010 9:38:16 GMT
What are the main barriers to getting to 36tph or whatever it was originally meant to do? Realistically, what is the maximum, without spending gazillions of pounds?
I suppose that's a question better suited to 'general Q&A' as it could be applicable to any tube line.
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 17, 2010 6:43:06 GMT
A common trait of people living in the UK is to be rather introspective - I'm surprised that no one, politicians included, have ever asked 'What do people do in other countries?'
I know there were rumblings of making trains driverless in Paris because of the constant strikes, but I'm unsure of how far they got with that and certainly all the Metro trains that I went on definitely had drivers. Madrid has a fairly new Metro in parts and I know Singapore was at least extending its MRT system when I was there 5 years or so. Do any cities in the world actually have driverless trains (with or without a train captain) and if so, how do they cope with any major incidents?
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 13, 2010 21:07:35 GMT
Nope, I was on foot, except for the aforementioned pallets that made a fantastic ladder ;D
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 13, 2010 17:14:10 GMT
Sorry for the bump...by hanging (almost but not quite) over the wall that you can see in the distance in the first photograph at the top (made all the more easy by someone conveniently leaving a load of pallets nearby that I could use as a ladder, I managed to take a couple of photos of the reverse view of this showing the heavily boarded-up bay platform. Only one photo here, the others, including full sizes, are in this set {clicky}
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 12, 2010 11:09:00 GMT
Sorry for the negative thread title, but I've just tried to plan a journey and don't think I've ever seen this many closures at a weekend before. At least if you want to get from Victoria to Epping, via Oxford Circus, you should be okay ;D While I know that essential work has to be carried out and it's not realistic to expect everything to be open all of the time, surely this is a bit much? Would it not be better, for example, to close longer stretches of just one or two lines and get more work done there, rather than fragment it across the whole system?
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 10, 2010 6:24:29 GMT
Regularly 3 out in each peak now. Will be increased to 4 sometime over the next few weeks. Think there may have been 4 on the line at once when an 09 had to take the place of a 67 Stock path. How many trains are normally out during the peak? Having experienced the hell that is the Victoria line at 8.45am once or twice, I was *really* impressed at how many tph there were, it seemed there was literally only about 40 seconds' gap between one train departing and the next arriving - the only way to shift the crowds I suppose. Given how well the 67's have performed for so long - they really are workhorses - it'll be interesting to see journey times and gaps between trains diminish still further. I'm sure it was mentioned somewhere that the new signalling had simply been overlaid on top of the existing signalling. When the whole fleet is 2009 stock will it lead to further major closures to take all the old stuff out, or is it (comparatively) a fairly simple process that could be done during engineering hours?
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 8, 2010 21:15:47 GMT
and as for the bakerloo line at picc circus these points are now back in use after getting replaced over a 4 day long weekend closure Which is why I used the imperfect tense: Piccadilly Circus on the Bakerloo that was out of commission for about 2 years I think
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 7, 2010 15:30:16 GMT
Slightly off topic, but why are Edgware Road sidings now out of use? As I'd hinted at in a thread a few months back, the removal of points and sidings seem to be increasingly common, but even when not needed on a daily basis, surely closures like this show that there is use in retaining them...
Ones that come to mind: Edgware Road Farringdon (extended temporary) Liverpool Street bay road Some sort of point removal at Baker Street? King's Cross third platform/bay road after 1987 2 sidings by Ealing Common eastbound platform (dunno anything about these, but look completely rusty) Piccadilly Circus on the Bakerloo that was out of commission for about 2 years I think
The above may not be entirely accurate or, indeed, there may well be more that I can't think of off the top of my head, but there certainly seem to be numerous examples of sidings/crossovers disappearing where they might actually be of use. I'm willing to be shot down about any of the above as I don't know too much detail of reasons why they disappeared, it's just more of a casual observation.
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 7, 2010 13:55:21 GMT
Wouldn't Edgware Road also have been an option if they were still in use? (Are they?)
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 6, 2010 18:57:56 GMT
I agree that longer, several week closures are probably the way forward and should have been tried much earlier - apart from anything else, I'd have thought it'd actually been cheaper to do it this way.
Does anyone know if places such as platform work at, e.g. Goldhawk Road, which has been cordoned off/boarded for as long as I've lived in London (>4 years)?
Given that there aren't really any points apart from (what looks like) a fairly simple set at Royal Oak to necessitate such a long closure, will it also be the track being replaced?
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 2, 2010 8:46:59 GMT
Tom - is the 'prefab' nature of points that I've only heard about in the last year becoming more common?
I'd have thought that it made much more sense from a time point of view but suppose that it would require a lot of forward planning, measuring, etc. Places such as the Brixton crossover where there is limited time and space would seem ideal.
From your point of view, what are the pros/cons?
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 1, 2010 12:36:45 GMT
That's really clear - thanks. I wasn't having a go (especially after you obviously just finishing doing a nightshift like that), just curious.
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 1, 2010 12:00:02 GMT
Obviously not as simple as it sounds, but given the costs of equipment, huge amounts of labour as seen above, costs associated with planning it all and inconvenience to the travelling public of a 3 day shutdown to two lines, would it not just have been simpler to leave it as it was? Surely, by the time the (no longer needed) maintenance costs to points is recouped, someone somewhere will want them reinstated
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Post by londonstuff on Jun 1, 2010 11:55:08 GMT
Yup, it goes up and over the river before going to the Gare d'Aisterlitz - it was on my way to pick up my marathon equipment last month. I pretended to have just got on right at the front so I could peer through the driver's window just by accident (I'm sure no one was convinced ) It's just like your very own Driver's Eye DVD
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Post by londonstuff on May 30, 2010 12:59:17 GMT
I noticed what appears to be a triple aspect signal (OD2) at Liverpool Street yesterday, although it appeared that the bottom aspect was not in use. Why would this be here rather than a conventional 2-aspect signal? I presume nothing to do with the co-actor near it, but could it be legacy signalling of the old bay road just out of sight in the left background, or related to the crossover?
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Post by londonstuff on May 27, 2010 6:27:14 GMT
How are repeaters going to be handled so that station staff when giving an assisted dispatch know when the train is ready to depart?
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Post by londonstuff on May 23, 2010 20:37:27 GMT
I saw this weekend that the line is suspended from Wood Green to Cockfosters - presumably for some sort of track maintenance there: This though is the first time I've ever heard of trains terminating at Wood Green - presumably because in disruptions, Arnos and Cockfosters are far more flexible: according to Quail 5, Wood Green has a centre reversal siding similar to Tooting Bec on the Northern Line. My question, given that I've never heard of this being used much, is how often in terms of turning back/engineering/service problems is the siding used? Do the train describers have this as a destination? What was going on between Wood Green and Cockfosters? Ta
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Post by londonstuff on May 6, 2010 15:57:27 GMT
The Bombardier model of overlaying the signalling sounds good, but surely that's what's also been done on the Jubilee - the legacy signalling is still there until the new stuff is completely ready before it gets taken out? Same with the Victoria Line, surely?
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Post by londonstuff on May 2, 2010 19:41:14 GMT
According to an LURS talk I wrote up for them, any signage connected with the Jubilee upgrade is hexagonal, so if it was, it's to do with the upgrade.
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