|
Post by norbitonflyer on Sept 8, 2021 20:43:43 GMT
Has the time on the 20th been confirmed for the first revenue train on the NLE yet? unless a soft-launch on Sunday doesn't happen, the first scheduled trains are: northbound 05.28 Battersea pfm.1 05.32½ Kennington pfm.1 to loop. southbound 05.42 Kennington pfm.2 05.46 Battersea pfm.1 The press release linked to above says "TfL will confirm the time of the first train to serve Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station on Monday 20 September in due course". Which suggests an official opening ceremony at an hour more amenable to the bigwigs. (After all, how would they get there for 0528?) Railway press offices have learned the lesson of the APT's (Advanced Passenger Train) inaugural run in 1981, which required journalists to be at Glasgow Central on a cold December morning an hour and a half before dawn. This was not calculated to endear the project to the reporters. (It's also possible that the motion sickness reported by several of the hacks was exacerbated by the lack of sleep, hurried (or no) breakfast after too much Scotch "hospitality" the night before, and the inability to see the horizon until well into the journey). Acronym explained.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Sept 4, 2021 17:40:17 GMT
To the best of my recollection there aren't any level crossings on the Piccadilly or Waterloo & City Lines so i don't think that's going to be an issue Quite so. Even the risk of another M7 0-4-4T being dropped in front of an approaching W&C train has been eliminated by removing the lift shaft
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Sept 4, 2021 15:59:18 GMT
Ufton Nervett shows what a worse case scenario looks like. Hixon was even worse, although the relative weights of the rail and road vehicles would have been a factor, as would the lesser strength of the Mark 1 rolling stock.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Sept 2, 2021 8:21:33 GMT
So why are (some) politicians getting their panties in a bunch trying to get TFL to do this? Politics, in particular those who think Trade Unions are a Bad Thing (and haven't thought it through).
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Sept 2, 2021 8:18:49 GMT
The difficult stations are ones where latecomers constantly appear and insist on using the same doorway to board, . Well, if the train's ready to depart they would go for the door nearest the point they arrive on the platform, wouldn't they? (Same reason the rear carriage of trains leaving London termini are always the most crowded)
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Sept 2, 2021 8:15:01 GMT
Am I the only one unnerved by the idea that there might NOT be someone on every physical platform? I'm not sure what you mean; there are vast numbers of unmanned platforms on the system. At present, there is always a member of staff present whenever a train is in the platform - the driver of the train.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Aug 28, 2021 9:45:29 GMT
There are also some trains early/late that run to/from West end of Lillie Bridge from Ealing Broadway, although westbound they enter service at Barons Court and eastbound detrain at Hammersmith, I still think there's less empty running if the trains are at Chiswick Park. How would trains from the new Turnham Green/Chiswick Park sidings get access to the Ealing branch? . Why would they need to? Rosters would be arranged so that trains entering/leaving service at Ealing use Ealing Common depot.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Aug 28, 2021 9:39:50 GMT
I believe it was considered, but the number of slip-rings required for the control circuits ruled it out! It is only the former restaurant level which goes round and round!
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Aug 27, 2021 16:45:09 GMT
Why do they seem to use the even-numbered cars for trials? They don't - the numbers quoted are for the units, and both DMs would have been adapted. LU units are usually identified by the lowest-numbered car in the unit - usually (if not always) a Driving Motor. The first 1960 stock unit was formed 3900-trailers-3901, with the others following on, so they were each known by the (lower) even-numbered DM, 3900,3902,3904 etc. They were originally numbered in the 30xx range, but renumbered in the 39xx range to make way for the 1967 stock (which used a different convention, with the two DMs in each unit numbered 30xx and 31xx, so that all the cars in each unit had the same last two digits instead of an odd/even pair) The original (standard stock) trailers used in the 1960 stock were each numbered 4xxx, corresponding to the adjacent 3xxx DM. The later 1938 stock trailers were given numbers in the 492x range.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Aug 25, 2021 10:30:09 GMT
". Don't write off the trolley bus. They are still alive and well liked in many countries - but OK I am not aware of any remaining TFL systems. Battery technology has come on in leaps and bounds recently. It is unlikely that new trolleybus systems will be developed in the near future, given the e capital cost and inflexibility. There are, however, proposals for heavy trucks to use external as batteries are not (yet) an option there. If the infrastructure exists, perhaps buses or coaches could make use of it too?
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Aug 17, 2021 12:06:32 GMT
The keys for ST Mary's ......... in my day the entrance was a doorway at a petrol station on the Whitechapel Road. I knew what the hooks were for in the ceiling. . I once visited what was left of the surface buildings at St Marys, which was at the time a car showroom, without realising its history. What the programme did not mention was that when St Marys opened, the present Whitechapel station did not exist. The line was originally a connection between the East London Line and the existing District and Metropolitan (at Mansion House and Liverpool Street respectively). Only later was the "Whitechapel & Bow" extension built through a new Whitechapel station, branching off what became the "St Marys curve". Which is why what is now the main line does a "jink" just after St Marys.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Aug 5, 2021 19:33:10 GMT
Then you run no service. That is the point of equality. You do not inconvenience the vulnerable through no fault of their own. Until there is a significant in attitudes to this problem people will continue to be barred from using the railway. As we have seen on the mainline, hard deadlines, fines and swift action is the only way that operators will even start to take things seriously. Accessibility is not optional. Are you seriously advocating "equality of misery"? You shouldn't inconvenience anyone unnecessarily through no fault of their own. Absolutely there should be sanctions if a service provider fails to make adequate provision. But the law requires "reasonable adjustment" - no less - but no more. When things go wrong, is it reasonable to deny a service to everyone else because just one person is unable to use it? Example - the accessible toilet on an otherwise serviceable train has broken down. Do you 1. Give people a choice between travelling on that train if they can make use of it, and waiting for the next one. 2. Take the train out of service and make everyone cram on the next one. Who benefits from option 2?
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Aug 5, 2021 13:57:50 GMT
No CIS, no service. Those with accessibility requirements should not be having barriers placed in their way. Not ideal, but if there is no alternative rolling stock, running without CIS may be the least worst option. (Cancelling the service altogether would also have consequences for some passengers with accessibility requirements (as well as some without). If the choice is between running a service that 99% of the people can use, and running no service at all, which would you do?
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jul 30, 2021 13:03:17 GMT
It was Kings College whose property adjoined Aldwych station, not University College
Indeed, I did not intend to denigrate Tim Dunn. The programme is interesting and his enthusiasm is obviously genuine. His rapport with co-presenter Siddy Holloway also comes over well. And I am learning new stuff - I didn't know that "Bull & Bush" now has the surface entrance it never got when it was originally built. Whether Lady Octavia Barnet's influence was beneficial I suppose depends on whether you wanted another Tube station (and lots of houses), or Hampstead Heath to be kept as it was.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jul 29, 2021 20:42:02 GMT
Does anyone else find the male presenter annoying? He seems to find everything wildly exciting. Tim Dunn. Believe it or not, he has mellowed since the execrable " Trainspotting Live" in 2016, along with the equally excitable Peter Snow, the "it's all about me" Lt Col Dick Strawbridge, and a rather more laid-back Hannah Fry, although even the learned Dr Fry erred in a piece using Pythagoras to calculate how fast a train can be going to allow you to spot its number, which she "demonstrated" by identifying "King Edward II" as "6203"(!). Dunn has since also done a series on railway architecture, and also did a piece with Geoff and Vicki during "All the Stations" on a new app The Trainline* was plugging. (*other ticket selling websites are available, which don't charge a booking fee)
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jul 28, 2021 14:30:32 GMT
Currently aligned with the birthday of > 180,000 people in the UK alone. Also 25th March (New Year's Day) in the Julian calendar, and the beginning of the financial year.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jul 28, 2021 12:08:23 GMT
The extension was tagged as Follenfant's Folly. HG Follenfant, LT's Chief Civil Engineer at the time, was due to retire. The extension was built using cut and cover and tunnelling with a small bridge on an open air section over a stream. Whimsical it may seem (like Box Tunnel being aligned with sunrise on Brunel's birthday*), but eac[a to have been done for a reason. Cut and cover is probably the best choice for the tie-in with the original line, and the new platforms at Hounslow West. Bridging the stream avoided drainage issues. And bored tube for the rest of the extension avoided digging up the runways. * actually, as later research reveals, his little sister's birthday
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jun 24, 2021 6:28:38 GMT
Has it also got something to do with the fact trains from HSK can only arrive at platform 4 at Earls Court? From there anything going to Ealing Broadway or Richmond blocks a departure from platform 3 while it crosses the points. If instead the train is going to Wimbledon, no such blocking. Its not uncommon to see two trains depart platform 3 and 4 at Earls Court simultaneously, one from 4 to Wimbledon and one from 3 to Ealing Broadway / Richmond. Trains from platform 4 to elsewhere rather than Wimbledon reduces the station throughput? Unfortunately the layout on the eastbound side is the opposite - trains from Wimbledon can only reach platform 2, and thus if going on to HSK or beyond have to cross the path of any ex-Ealing or ex-Richmond train in platform 1 heading for the City. The recent demolition of Earl's Court exhibition centre, which sat above the burrowing junctions, was a missed opportunity to sort this out.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jun 23, 2021 16:46:30 GMT
The system makes assumptions about the route you take. From Tottenham Hale to Morden the most direct and obvious route is via Euston and Stockwell (changing at one or t'other). The other examples make more sense going via Stratford and Canada Water If there are pink readers at Stratford or , Canada Water you can use them to prove you went that way. Likewise if you had touched out at Clapham High Street and in at Clapham North it might have recognised your route. (I assume you had to touch in at Clapham North, and if you didn't touch out at High Street you would probably have been charged for an uncompleted journey from Tottenham Hale, plus a journey from Clapham North to Mordor)
But there are quirks - a few years ago I went from Moorgate via Highbury & Islington to Tottenham Hale, returning via Anglia Rail to Liverpool Street and then St Pauls. Expecting to be charged two trips, Z1-3 and back, but The System treated my brief sojourn at Tottenham Hale as an OSI and charged me a single Z1 fare
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jun 23, 2021 16:34:56 GMT
Did the Ongar unit stable overnight at Woodford, or somewhere on the branch itself. If the former, did it run empty, or in service, between Woodford and Epping
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jun 23, 2021 16:30:23 GMT
Back in the mists of time (before 1933) the section from High St Ken to Edgware Road was part of the Metropolitan Railway, and it was only after the formation of London Transport that District trains ventured further north (except on the jointly operated Circle). Because of short platform lengths on that section, full length (eight car) District trains couldn't operate there and as the Wimbledon branch could support a higher frequency than the other two -three until the District ceased to run to Hounslow - because they shared track as far as Turnham Green, it could more easily bear some trains being shorter.
As all trains are now run by S7 stock more complex service patterns could be used - e.g Wimbledon,Edgware Road, Aldgate, Victoria, Richmond; or Hammersmith H&C to Upminster via a complete circuit of the Circle, but it ain't broke so why try to fix it?
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jun 15, 2021 7:42:10 GMT
The lift from the arrivals W&C platform was commissioned for service 12/7/2010. It has a 14.72ft rise. Or, more conventionally, 14 feet, 8 and 2/3 inches, or 4.49 metres. Although expressing the rise of a lift to two decimal places in feet (about 3 mm) seems to be rather over-precise. (The rise will probably vary more than that due to thermal expansion and contraction of the cables
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Jun 11, 2021 9:33:04 GMT
As I understand it, the floor of the tunnel had to be raised when the line was electrified as it regularly flooded and 3rd rail electric systems take less kindly to such inundataions than a steam locomotive would. Reinforcement of the road above the tunnel (which is actually a "covered way") further reduced the headroom but that has, I read somewhere, now been replaced with beams having a narrower profile allowing the D stock to fit.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on May 22, 2021 9:38:53 GMT
Each London excahnge originally had a three letter code which translated to three digits. For obvious reasons not all permutations of three letters were possible, for example CATford, BATtersea and ACTon would all have coded as 228, so various contrivances were performed to give each exchange a unique code, for example Acton was 220 (ACtOn, later renamed ACOrn, ostensibly after Acorn Gardens, (it changed to 992 after letter mnemonics were discontinued). Some were very contrived - for example because 926 was WANstead, Wandsworth was 826, which was christened VANdyke. Many exchanges had more than one code, as they served more than 10,000 subscriber lines. For example Kingston's original 546 code was later augmented by 547,549 and 541, and many businesses in Kingston also use 339 ("EDWard", possibly after local boy Muybridge, the photographic pioneer). rhaworth.net/phreak/tenp_01.php?dnoNowadays, any spare eight-digit London number can be allocated to any phone line in the 020 area. In some cases names were changed because of local snobbery - for example some who considered themselves to live in Chelsea are supposed to have objected to having a FULham phone number, so the exchange was renamed DUKe (both of course code as 485). We see the same thing today with postcodes.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on May 20, 2021 6:45:05 GMT
Having said that, I’ve seen some very dubious non-stop runs on the mainline, not least stops removed but the train getting stuck behind another train so ending up getting signal checked in the very platforms being skipped! (Yes Southeastern, looking at you here!) South western do that too (SWT,SWR,it's all the same because it's actually the NR "control" who seem to be in charge and the staff on the ground are apparently expected to comply even when it is obvious the Orders From On High will make matters worse). Also skip stopping in the peak flow direction so the return contra-peak flow will run on time, which may improve their stats (because the second train will be on time) but inconveniences far more passengers. The worst excuse though is when they terminate a train short of a useful interchange (e.g Kingston instead of Wimbledon) "to relieve congestion". The congestion on the platforms doesn't seem to be a consideration!
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on May 16, 2021 12:44:30 GMT
Not a good design. At first glance, it looks like stations Iver to Reading are in Zone 6. Why is that area not white, like the area round Watford Junction?
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Apr 26, 2021 7:15:46 GMT
As a driver though, I still can't fathom all this fascination with speed! The drivers are on their employer's time, but the passengers are on their own time. If speed wasn't important, they'd walk or get the bus!
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Apr 13, 2021 13:07:24 GMT
The closest heavy rail example I can think of to compare is a Beyer-Garratt! Part of the middle section of a Garrett is above the wheeled sections though. Indeed, it is essentially a double-bogie locomotive, with the power bogies extending beyond the end of the superstructure. But then so is a Class 40, as the extreme ends of those locos, the bufferbeams, are also mounted on the bogies.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Apr 13, 2021 0:22:58 GMT
When the 2 extra coaches get put in a 7 coach train where do they go? Other sites list the formations as DMSO+PMSO+MSO+MSO+TSO+MSO+MSO+PMSO+DMSO and car numbers as of the form 340xyz, where x is the position in the unit and yz is the last two digits of the unit number. For example 340621 is the 6th car of unit 345021. 7-car formations have cars 4 and 6 (the MSOs either side of the middle TSO) missing.
|
|
|
Post by norbitonflyer on Apr 8, 2021 9:18:42 GMT
I also like the idea of the Harlequin line which sounds like a portmanteau of Harlesden and Queen's Park. . Which was the original inspiration for the name, back in 1988. I did have a suggestion for the North London Line - Regency Line, as much of it runs parallel to the Regents Canal (indeed, both the canal and the railway were originally intended for the same purpose - to connect Birmingham (via the L&B Railway or the Grand Union Canal) to London Docks. "Regency" and "Premier" were both once suggested for the H&C -the former because it passes Regents Park, the latter as it was the first Underground line (the "Metropolitan" name having been usurped by the later St John's Wood branch and its extensions into the Home Counties)
|
|