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Post by countryman on Apr 11, 2019 8:02:50 GMT
*This is the train to (destination) is not proper railway English. Nothing wrong with it as English though, except that "the" should be "a" as there's more than one such train a day. On-train announcements should be in English, not "Railway English" (ie jargon), since they are for the benefit of passengers, not staff. Better than 'this train is for xxxxx'.
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Post by countryman on Mar 18, 2019 16:39:48 GMT
Appreciate that this may be a little early but does anybody know what the planned or speculated timetable for the metropolitan line is once the line is fully automated? Knowledge of proposed Peak or off peak frequencies would be interesting to know London Reconnections did some detective work and added some fairly well educated guesses on the end state of the SSR after resignalling a few years ago: www.londonreconnections.com/2015/subsurface-railway-resignalling-saga-continues/They suggest the peak will be uplifted from 22.5tph to 28tph. This would presumably be Uxbridge 12tph, Watford 10tph, Amersham 4tph and Chesham 2tph. 12tph would terminate at Baker Street and 16tph would continue to Aldgate. Off peak, LR speculates the service would be 15.5tph in to Baker Street with 7.5tph continuing to Aldgate, and the Circle becoming a Spiral during these periods. That is not an official plan, however, just their thinking. What do you mean by the Circle becoming a spiral?
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Post by countryman on Mar 13, 2019 9:30:00 GMT
Tank engines spend half their lives going bunker-first - why did it matter which way round they were? There speaks a man who grew up far from the GE! Whether an old wives tale or through scientific exploration, the N7s were always oriented "chimney towards Chingford", because it was held they pulled better up the 1 in 70 from LV that way round. Wood Street shed was fanatical about it. If a loco was received from lackadaisical 30A wrong way round, it would promptly be despatched to Hall Farm Jc and run round one of the triangles... I would image 'chimney first' is better when the line is predominantly uphill to maintain a better water level in the boiler.
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Post by countryman on Mar 12, 2019 12:23:57 GMT
As this film was taken long before sound recording, I wonder who applied the soundtrack.
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Post by countryman on Mar 11, 2019 20:42:58 GMT
CO2 extinguishers are best for electrical fires but you must always try to isolate the supply first Halon was great for most fires but it took away all the oxygen so good for fires but not good for anything that requires oxygen including us humans. Dry powder is good, but is messy. But fires make a mess as well!
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Post by countryman on Mar 5, 2019 8:35:57 GMT
London Bridge was a loss of detection on points 5b caused by a known network wide issue of the indicating rod KLM Clip? Royal Dutch Airlines??
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TT1
Feb 17, 2019 9:35:37 GMT
Post by countryman on Feb 17, 2019 9:35:37 GMT
Is it just me who hates the title of “train doctor”? Not as bad as Train Captain on the DLR. Also used on Eurotunnel.
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Post by countryman on Feb 17, 2019 9:23:38 GMT
Thank you all for your replies. At last I have the definitive fare! The people who are coming are from a small village in Austria, and are certainly not used to big cities. If I were doing this journey it would be no issue, and I would just do the trip by any means I felt like and pay with contactless. I don't have an Oyster card, and the visitors are asking how much to load on their cards. The reason I was trying to sort out the cheapest and easiest way to do this was because I know many people locally who have no idea how public transport works in London, and are terrified of using the Underground, and are particularly frightened of using buses.
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Post by countryman on Feb 16, 2019 14:42:45 GMT
There’s no need for them to pay more than double for Gatwick Express. The Southern branded trains are less than five min slower and at certain times actually quicker than the Gatwick express branded trains. Thameslink branded trains to London Bridge are the fastest trains from Gatwick to central London. The people who are coming are staying in a Hotel in Waterloo. As such, the two route I suggested were Southern to Victoria, then 2 underground trains to Waterloo, or the possibly worrying change at Clapham. I was aware of the trains to London Bridge, and a change to Waterloo East, and I may yet have to suggest that route if Southern are on strike in April. The main issue I have is trying to knit the fog of ticket costs. Trainline are suggesting a Southern fare of £16.70 each way, which I know is too much, but I cannot tie down an Oyster fare (~11.30 on a Tuesday in April. I have given them an estimate of ~£10 per person!
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Post by countryman on Feb 16, 2019 13:25:16 GMT
Great, thanks for the quick reply!
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Post by countryman on Feb 16, 2019 13:06:53 GMT
Some people we know are flying into Gatwick and need to get to Waterloo. They have asked about the use of a visitors' oyster card for the journey. I am usually ok on transport in London, but I can't figure out how Oyster works with Gatwick Express. On an ordinary Southern service i guess you just tap in and out, so how does the Oyster system know whether you have used Gatwick Express? Are there separate readers?
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Post by countryman on Jan 30, 2019 14:11:27 GMT
Already to that level?! I recall somebody saying the 62ts had problems a few years after it was introduced, but that was down to the use of green timber. Surely materials science is a bit more advanced and reliable by now... It could have been worse. When LT bought the 'MD' type bus they found rust during the PDI! All had gone before they were 7 years old; in fact several only lasted 5 years.
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Post by countryman on Jan 3, 2019 11:26:10 GMT
Is it 15 floors? And is it really? Domextic steps are ~13-15 steps. So it is like walking downstairs 6 to 7 times.
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Post by countryman on Dec 31, 2018 9:15:16 GMT
1956/59/62 788mm 1960 788mm 1983 788mm 2009 740mm S 770mm In old money on 56/59/62TS new wheels were 32ins dia,scrap wheels were 27ins dia. So effectively you could remove 2.5 inches of tread? Seems an awful lot!
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Post by countryman on Nov 15, 2018 19:31:27 GMT
If they are/were terminating at South Harrow, how do TFL propose passengers get from, say, Sudbury to Ruislip?
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Post by countryman on Nov 2, 2018 9:17:05 GMT
Interesting that in the track diagram, a train reversing at Victoria has a 3% load!
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Post by countryman on Oct 27, 2018 7:29:30 GMT
It actually said 'Fainting or feeling faint" So it could have been 2 people fainting and 798 'feeling faint' (and how many people make a report to LU that they 'felt faint' on a train)? Also, the period is ambiguous. If it is from that start of 2106, that's nearly three years. If it is from the end, nearly two. So between 300 and 450 people per year fainted or 'felt faint'. It's distressing to see daily mail standard reporting on the BBC. 2106?
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Post by countryman on Oct 26, 2018 7:25:15 GMT
Just seen this article. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44953440As can be predicted, some are calling for better air-con (I know we have discussed the physics of aircon in tunnels) or more carriages, which won't happen due to the system being at full capacity.
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Post by countryman on Oct 25, 2018 20:38:59 GMT
RTs were built in the late 40s and early 50s, bodies were built by Weymann, . RTLs built at the same time were bodied by Metro Cammell. So at this time Metro Cammell and Weymann were separate companies, which later were somehow combined to give the MCW company referred to. Metro Cammell and Weymann were part of the same company from 1932, but had separate factories in Birmingham and Addlestone respectively until the latter closed in 1966. Bus bodies were badged according to which factory built them. This was not uncommon in the motor industry - Morris, Austin, Jaguar, Rover, Land Rover and Triumph were all part of British Leyland in the 1980s but each had its own factory and produced its own models. The company started branding its products as MCW some time in the 1970s. nteresting that , although the Metro Cammell and Weymann bodies were built by the same company and look almost identical (although the trained eye can distinguish) under the surface they were completely different!
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Post by countryman on Oct 17, 2018 17:36:17 GMT
The official Companies House register shows former names for company No 00293588 as Alstom Transport (1998-2017), GEC Alsthom Metro-Cammell Ltd (with a hyphen, 1993-1998), and Metropolitan Cammell Ltd (no hyphen, 1934-1993) So from that I would suggest "Metro-" with a hyphen or "Metropolitan" without. Metro-Cammell was in common, but unofficial, usage long before it became the official name in 1993 - see for instance the doorplates in the 1973 stock. It was also used in the name of the bus-building joint venture Metro-Cammell-Weymann. I don't think we ever got clarification on which of Metro-Cammell's many and varied designs a questioner meant by " the" Metro-Cammell design? To some, the name may conjure up images of 1972 stock, to others the name will be synonymous with the class 101 dmu, the Blue Pullmans or the Brighton Belle. I know buses are off topic, but I believe the above in inaccurate. When RTs were built in the late 40s and early 50s, bodies were built by Park Royal Vehicles, Weymann, Cravens and Saunders. RTLs built at the same time were bodied by Park Royal Vehicles and by Metro Cammell. So at this time Metro Cammell and Weymann were separate companies, which later were somehow combined to give the MCW company referred to.
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Post by countryman on Sept 8, 2018 8:33:50 GMT
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Post by countryman on Sept 4, 2018 19:41:22 GMT
I don't know what is more astonishing the passenger filming that did not bother to alert the driver, or the people sat in the carriage that haven't even noticed it. The next station is West Hampstead change for National rail services. Doors are open on the left hand side. Aren't all the alarms by the doors? wouldn't the passenger be putting themselves in considerable danger by trying to do that? <iframe width="34.940000000000055" height="6.099999999999994" style="position: absolute; width: 34.940000000000055px; height: 6.099999999999994px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none;left: 15px; top: -5px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_65878369" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="34.940000000000055" height="6.099999999999994" style="position: absolute; width: 34.94px; height: 6.1px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 1676px; top: -5px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_23212846" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="34.940000000000055" height="6.099999999999994" style="position: absolute; width: 34.94px; height: 6.1px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 15px; top: 242px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_6343096" scrolling="no"></iframe> <iframe width="34.940000000000055" height="6.099999999999994" style="position: absolute; width: 34.94px; height: 6.1px; z-index: -9999; border-style: none; left: 1676px; top: 242px;" id="MoatPxIOPT0_62514723" scrolling="no"></iframe> Unless the doors were open on both sides, surely there would be alarms on the side of the car with the closed doors!
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Post by countryman on Sept 2, 2018 8:29:01 GMT
It's a shame but no surprise that it is late. Let's hope that it doesn't turn out to be such a farce and national embarrassment that Berlin's Brandenburg airport has become for Germany!!
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Post by countryman on Aug 8, 2018 15:00:58 GMT
I found this article about disused tunnels under Lord's. www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43993471Can anyone shed any light on this? I now the Met tunnels run in ths area, but they are hardly disused!
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Post by countryman on Jul 2, 2018 5:03:25 GMT
There was a question on QI about whether you could cool a room by opening an operating fridge door. The answer was that it would not as the energy input is required to supply the chilling. By the laws of thermodynamics, a 100% efficient fridge would make no difference as the cooling effect of the open compartment would be in equilibrium with the heat output of the coils on the back. As the fridge could never be 100% efficient the heat output would always exceed the cooing effect, The only way for it to work is to take heat from one place and to emit it elsewhere. This is what happens in an air conditioning unit, whether it be in a building, a car or a train. So, yes, aircon in a tube train will heat the tunnels and make things worse. It will be OK in open sections, but there will be a miniscule contribution to global warming!
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Post by countryman on Jun 27, 2018 9:02:28 GMT
Here is a video of a train comprising a 4 car 62 stock set and a 4 car 92 car set. Apologies if it has been seen before! The grey ends of the 62 stock cars are interesting!
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Post by countryman on Jun 26, 2018 19:58:09 GMT
I was on the Northern Line the other day, and I was surprised that there was a wiper on the left side front window of one of the centre cars. There was also a wiper on the adjacent car in a similar position. I assume these are at the inner end of the 3 and 4 car units and are used for shunting. Were these fitted from new, or a retro fit, and do they exist on other line's stock?
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Post by countryman on May 12, 2018 7:45:58 GMT
Something similar occurs with Austrian signalling. When the train stops at the station, when the green light is given and the guard is satisfied that the train is ready to depart, he/she goes to a button and presses it, and a smaller green light flashes by the main green light to act as a starter. A bit off topic but that sounds rather unsafe! How does the driver know the guard is back on the train? Or is it platform staff that press the button for the miniature green signal (similar to the mainline CD/RA indicators?) It takes a few seconds for the flashing light to start. It is certainly a member of train staff, not platform staff that presses the button.
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Post by countryman on May 11, 2018 19:00:58 GMT
Something similar occurs with Austrian signalling. When the train stops at the station, when the green light is given and the guard is satisfied that the train is ready to depart, he/she goes to a button and presses it, and a smaller green light flashes by the main green light to act as a starter.
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Post by countryman on May 11, 2018 18:51:03 GMT
Interesting that it is number of entries/exits divided by the number of accidents. No allowance seems to have been made where there are interchanges, which I would have thought that changing trains would increase the number of accidents.
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