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Post by Tom on May 5, 2023 21:13:53 GMT
Is the derailment of an engineering train within the boundaries of the depot something that the RAIB would investigate? It might not be something the RAIB would investigate but it's probably notifiable. In quite a few instances they appoint an Accredited Agent to undertake assessments and preserve evidence whilst the Investigator is on their way to site. I have also known of incidents which are notified but they and the ORR don't initially get involved, but keep a close eye on the situation and have the right to intervene if they feel appropriate later.
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Post by Tom on Apr 30, 2023 21:41:58 GMT
As not every escalator has the same vertical rise (and not every rise will be a multiple of a specific dimension *), and at least one rises at a different angle from the standard, there will always be some bespoke parts. That's not to mean that every part is bespoke; though I would expect Kone to have a 'Heavy Duty' range for customers such as LU. Yes it would be better to be open and honest but to say "unavailable because the supplier was bought out and the new owners promptly removed this design from their project catalogue" is a bit of a mouthful. I'd also suggest your statement is equally misleading. Kone bought out APV in 1998. By 2013 (some 15 years later) it was getting harder to get APV Parts. Fifteen years in an industry like this is hardly prompt - it's moving at a glacial pace! A 1998 mobile phone would have been obsolete within five years, never mind fifteen. And is anyone still using Windows 98 now? * - Yes, I'm aware it will be a multiple of a very small dimension such as 1mm, but let's be realistic.
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Post by Tom on Apr 27, 2023 19:20:02 GMT
Maybe Tom knows the SIL number; I sure do not; if the ATO kit is SIL4, then AIUI it has to be independently verified by a body like Lloyds. Bearing in mind that SelTrac is an integrated ATO/ATP/ATS train control system, it'll be SIL4.
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Post by Tom on Apr 22, 2023 7:05:42 GMT
Ok second thought is that A is Vauxhall.
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Post by Tom on Apr 21, 2023 23:08:00 GMT
A is Swiss Cottage. Agree with pgb that C is Charing Cross.
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Post by Tom on Apr 20, 2023 18:43:10 GMT
I might be wrong but I think jimbo was enquiring about what the 'Special Tunnel Works' were.
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Post by Tom on Apr 17, 2023 19:04:33 GMT
Certainly the Picc has not been singled out, the whole system is showing the consequences of political decisions made by central government regarding TfL's budget. If you don't like those consequences then remember that next time you visit the ballot box. I would be more inclined to suggest that this isn't uncommon when an older stock is on borrowed time. The external appearance of A stock, and to a lesser extent C stock, also seemed to suffer as replacement drew near.
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Post by Tom on Apr 15, 2023 20:39:57 GMT
I would suggest that those windows are much smaller than those on 1938 stock, and retiterate that they go against the previous position that it would not be permissible for stocks which run above ground to have such small windows. They're more reminiscent of CSLR 'Padded Cells'!
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Post by Tom on Apr 15, 2023 17:54:23 GMT
till dislike those tiny porthole type windows. I know the reason why but still looks rubbish to me! I remember someone (can't remember who) in LU had to deal with the adverse comments from people about the small windows on 2009 Tube Stock, and they reputedly said that the only reason Bombardier's design was accepted was because of the Victoria line being 100% tunnel, and that any repetition of it on other stocks wouldn't be acceptable. Corporate memory is very short these days!
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Post by Tom on Apr 10, 2023 8:47:51 GMT
There's a set of stairs like this at Heathrow T123 as well, from the surface/Bus station level down to Ticket Hall level.
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Post by Tom on Apr 9, 2023 8:28:50 GMT
I think it's between Canons Park and Stanmore.
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Post by Tom on Apr 8, 2023 20:01:16 GMT
C is Knightsbridge.
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Post by Tom on Apr 5, 2023 20:57:07 GMT
There is no plan to commission either SMA8 or 9 this year.
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Post by Tom on Apr 1, 2023 22:30:18 GMT
I don’t think so - and you’ve illustrated why the signalling logic is best wayside and not on the trains themselves.
I think it’s more to do with a lot of changes being introduced, some needing to be done during the ‘white periods’ in the NR timetable, and then a considerable suite of tests being run to verify and validate the changes, with time for potential reversion included as well.
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Post by Tom on Apr 1, 2023 19:59:08 GMT
True... but!
The traditional 'North London Line' ran from Richmond to Broad Street, which in Network SouthEast days ended up being diverted to North Woolwich. Likewise, the line between Clapham and Willesden is still commonly referred to as the West London Line.
On the Underground we have similar issues - the southernmost part of the network is on the Northern line, the Circle line isn't a circle any more, and the Jubilee was so named as a reference to an event that took place two years before the line opened! These inconsistencies exist everywhere and we cope with them just fine. The point is that if you're at Stratford you know that the North London Line goes to Richmond and the West London Line goes to Clapham. Ultimately, that's all that matters.
I did say they were slightly tongue-in-cheek...
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Post by Tom on Apr 1, 2023 19:17:45 GMT
Sitting here with a 1992 London Connections map, I'm inclined to suggest the following slightly tongue-in-cheek names: Richmond to Stratford: North London Line Clapham Junction to Stratford: West London Line Clapham Junction/West Croydon/Crystal Palace to Highbury and Islington: South London Lines New Cross to Highbury: East London Line Liverpool Street to Cheshunt/Enfield Town/Chingford: West Anglia Lines
Just need to think of something for the Gospel Oak to Barking, Upminster to Romford, and Euston to Watford services now...
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Post by Tom on Mar 30, 2023 20:15:03 GMT
Edgware Road - Upminster services are never normally provided, even though they are technically possible. But that wouldn't be a District Line service, as it would have to travel over the 'Circle line' section of track between High Street Kensington and Gloucester Road. LU would describe it as a Circle line train on departure from Edgware Road, before it magically becomes a District Line train at some convenient point before Tower Hill.
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Post by Tom on Mar 29, 2023 22:11:17 GMT
On modern stocks it’s 16km/h which is around 10mph.
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Post by Tom on Mar 29, 2023 21:19:53 GMT
I was going to add, but as Dstock7080 got there first: There used to be around 6 Picc trains stabled at Uxbridge is there no longer the space for them? The SSR stabling arrangements have changed a lot over the last few years. The introduction of the S7 fleet has resulted in seven trains which used to stable at Farringdon (3), Triangle Sidings (2), Edgware Road (1) and Parsons Green (1) having to stable elsewhere. This was initially compensated by Wembley Park (5 berths), but since they closed, Neasden is now host to more S7 trains, which resulted in the displaced S8s going to Uxbridge to stable, in turn displacing 1973 stock. Lillie Bridge has theoretically compensated for the number of berths lost, with the 5 from Wembley and 7 from elsewhere being offset by 12 at Lillie Bridge, but that hasn't taken into account any additional Jubilee stabling at Neasden or increases in fleet size.
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Post by Tom on Mar 29, 2023 21:14:41 GMT
This is a reason why South Harrow sidings were relaid to provide twice the roads in the same area. Consideration is also being given to relay sidings at Ealing Broadway, which will become a Piccadilly branch. South Harrow was remodelled as an enabler for the depot rebuilding works planned for Cockfosters and Northfields depots, which will put several roads in a possession at the same time rendering them unusable. The current rolling stock working Mondays to Thursdays has the following stabled overnight: Uxbridge: 1 South Harrow: 4 Northfields: 36 Arnos Grove: 6 Cockfosters: 37 Total: 84The idea is that when the depot rebuilding works start in earnest, this will change. Whilst I don't have any figures yet, I would envisage this changing for the Northfields Depot rebuilding to something like: Uxbridge: 1 South Harrow: 12 Northfields Sidings: 3 Northfields Depot: 25 Arnos Grove: 6 Cockfosters: 37 Total: 84It wouldn't surprise me if a train were to stable at Acton Town, either. Then, when Cockfosters rebuilding gets into full swing, the stock balance will change again so that Northfields is +11 stabling 36 again and Cockfosters is -11 stabling 26. This all assumes there is no increase in train service, of course. At present, there are no plans to reinstate stabling roads at Ealing Broadway, though I will never say never, and it wouldn't be the first time I've gone back to undo something I've previously done at work!
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Post by Tom on Mar 29, 2023 11:36:09 GMT
Plenty of people have commented before me about the idea of multiple colours. I tend to agree that it will only serve to make things more confusing.
As a comparator consider the London Connections map. Traditionally, it came in two variants - a BR version where their lines were in colour but the Underground's were in Black and White using the patterns on the B&W tube map, or an LT Version with the Underground in colour and the BR lines in thin black 'tramlines'.
Later versions did show both in colour but either using a different line weight for the Underground, DLR etc, or by alternating solid/tramline appearance for the NR lines; again, depending on who produced it.
Regardless of the solution, it becomes a bit of an information overload, and that's before any attempt is made to translate this onto an VE sign where the limitations of the technique and the manufacturing processes will be very apparent very quickly!
The simplest method would be to introduce names if you really need to (though I note Network South East used to run several different service patterns under a local brand name e.g. South Western Lines, back in the 1990s and that seemed to work perfectly well) but keep the single 'mode' colour to depict the Overground as a distinct network, a bit like the Elizabeth line does. And better still take them both, together with Tramlink and DLR, off the so-called 'Tube Map' as none are London Underground Services...
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Post by Tom on Mar 27, 2023 15:19:17 GMT
The Ealing Broadway connection was retained until 2011 but had been out of use for some time prior to that - it's possible it hadn't been used since 1993. (I was involved with the decisions to abolish it.)
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Post by Tom on Mar 27, 2023 12:13:25 GMT
Indeed - which reminds me I rally ought to photograph some of the posters we have up at work from the early days of the pandemic.
I made a point of photographing the ones on the Berlin U-Bahn last time I was there - this was just days after they abolished the compulsory wearing of masks (I think we arrived on the last day).
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Post by Tom on Mar 27, 2023 10:08:27 GMT
I hope that the emergency braking was only to reduce speed - and did not bring the train to a halt. I am most alarmed that a train would go in to full blown emergency brake mode (from full speed to stationary) just because it has exceeded a speed limit which has been declared as a notional limit for safety. I do think that you are both trivialising adherence to the speed limits and massively exaggerating the risks from an emergency brake application. Speed limits are set for a reason - they are not arbitrary. While I tend to agree that an overspeed ought to be addressed via braking to the speed limit, the reasons for the system behaving in the way it does are many and varied and without a more full knowledge of the circumstances, it might be completely appropriate. What I would observe is that you are grossly overstating the risks in emergency braking - the rate is selected to give a controlled deceleration which, whilst sudden, does not give a jerk rate that is unacceptably high and cause injury. Your suggestion that this would cause "A mangled mass of passengers with twisted limbs sliding on the floor - most likely uncontrollably" is more reminiscent of how the press described the totally uncontrolled deceleration at Moorgate and in other collisions, rather than the controlled application of an emergency brake - and a such a description is, I feel, the sort a tabloid journalist would use looking for a sensational story, rather than someone who actually knows something about railways. Unannounced random emergency braking used to happen quite frequently on the Victoria line prior to resignalling, and whilst it was sudden, it never led to the circumstances you describe. Indeed, if you knew the signs and could grab a pole quickly, it was no worse than slightly heavy stop in a station.
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Post by Tom on Mar 26, 2023 12:20:17 GMT
Your question has previously been answered here. The reason that it is still 12mph is because new software is required to remove the permanent speed restriction provided for the Tripcock Tester. Because SMA7 was so close behind SMA6 there wasn't sufficient time to produce and test a new version of software just for this one change - it will be caught up with other changes in a future build.
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Post by Tom on Mar 25, 2023 15:24:21 GMT
Not really Bayswater had a slow approach when that went live. Now trains arrive at full speed and depart at full speed and teh testers are still in place. The tripcock testers at Bayswater have (or at least should have) had the ramps tied down and the gates turned around so that a tripcock can pass over at speed without the risk of being tripped.
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Post by Tom on Mar 25, 2023 15:21:21 GMT
D is between West Drayton and Hayes & Harlington.
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Post by Tom on Mar 21, 2023 20:21:51 GMT
Thanks for the correction Tom. To be fair, one of the benefits of siting tripcock testers in platforms is that speed is low. Absolutely; though there was one in Turnham Green EB Fast platform for a while to test freight trains coming from Richmond towards the Midland Goods Yard at High Street Kensington. How that tester operated with Piccadilly line trains passing at speed is still a mystery! Never seen a Tripcock tester anywhere other than in a platform ? I seem to remember reading that there was a tester at Uxbridge sidings or perhaps somewhere else. There was indeed; removed in 2004.
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Post by Tom on Mar 20, 2023 21:20:48 GMT
Tripcocks are mounted on the shoebeam which is effectively rigidly located on the axleboxes. The only lateral motion (sway) is that of the wheel flanges between the gauge faces of the rails. But at tripcock testers, check rails are provided to control the lateral motion. The provision of check rail hasn't been a requirement for several years now. The first to not have them were at Ladbroke Grove in 2012 (when they were converted from temporary installations to permanent).
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Post by Tom on Mar 19, 2023 20:10:01 GMT
Why does the presence of a tripcock tester cause this issue? The system enforces a low speed up to and through the tripcock tester to ensure that the train doesn't get falsely tripped on it, which can happen if the train's speed is too high.
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