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Post by PiccNT on Dec 18, 2016 23:35:25 GMT
Yep. When shunt signal WZ11 clears into T5 sidings, we go past FRLWZ11 which is at track level on the left as we pass it.
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 18, 2016 23:26:00 GMT
We regularly pass a fixed red light on the Picc.
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 18, 2016 14:15:29 GMT
There's still a 73 stock train sitting in Neasden as of this morning, so they're not all completely fixed yet I don't think we're out of the woods yet. One of the trains I had last night had severe flats on it.
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 12, 2016 12:19:03 GMT
Hi Fish. Always happy to see a photo! I am a Night Tube driver so I have only been around for 6 months.
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 12, 2016 9:52:17 GMT
We have 20 MPH TSR's in place in the majority of the open sections. The thinking behind this is that the rheo brake won't kick in at that speed as it is deemed that that is causing a problem. There is also talk of rewiring the braking so there is no rheo application in service brake 1 position. HI you don`t have to rewire to cut the rheo brake out. On the old TEP AND CDU there was a cut out switch for the rheo brake long gone. We have no such cut out switch on the 73's. There are a couple of ways to stop the rheo applying but you wouldn't want to get caught doing so! Each train handles differently generally and if you get a particularly fast train, that generally means that the rheo is going to be pretty fierce so applying the minimum brake application in some instances will cause the wheels to lock. That's where braking technique comes into play.
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 11, 2016 20:40:02 GMT
We have 20 MPH TSR's in place in the majority of the open sections. The thinking behind this is that the rheo brake won't kick in at that speed as it is deemed that that is causing a problem. There is also talk of rewiring the braking so there is no rheo application in service brake 1 position.
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 10, 2016 13:49:23 GMT
Haven't heard anything official but it seemed to go well enough. Plenty of late running that settled down once we just had 21 trains in service. A bit of turning short to bring things back on time and loads of volunteers about providing us with loads of potential problems, vomit, PEA's, falling over on platform, suspect packages etc. The biggest issue as I anticipated was driver fatigue. Having not driven a full shift for nearly 4 months due to union restrictions, I knew it was going to be tough. My final trip from Heathrow to Arnos Grove was tough as I felt drained.
Although I was OK, I heard that in the final stages of the trial, there were quite a few SPADS. Will look on Heartbeat when I get in tonight to see what they were all about.
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 9, 2016 15:02:09 GMT
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 9, 2016 10:44:46 GMT
Night Tube trial commences this evening on the Piccadilly Line. Not quite sure how things will go at the moment on the basis the line is running an emergency timetable. Will report back tomorrow.
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 6, 2016 22:54:52 GMT
As a recently recruited T/Op, I have to say that before reading the report, I had never before heard the term slip points. I'm sure it was never mentioned at training school and i don't recall coming across them in the rule book. I shall make a point of doing some research of them now though!
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Post by PiccNT on Dec 5, 2016 14:38:22 GMT
Section 78 states "The ‘authority’ message includes warnings to travel at caution speed and stop short of any obstruction, but there is no normal expectation that a train operator should be prepared to stop at incorrectly set points" However, the rule book does state "If any points are involved and route securing is not available, you must check they are correctly secured for the appropriate route". I appreciate when it is dark, it is probably hard to see and in this case over what is like a diamond crossover, I guess it could be confusing.
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Post by PiccNT on Nov 28, 2016 12:18:25 GMT
Being a new Night Tube driver, I was certainly taught cadence braking techniques. When you are driving in wet conditions and heading towards the Sudbury's, you have to take particular care. Due to the lack of trains, most of what I did this past weekend was shunting trains in and out of sidings and depots with a small amount of main line driving, mainly from Arnos to Cockfosters. We have 25 MPH TSR's in place and even so, on Friday night when it was dry, the rails were really slippery. I think I drove 7 different trains over the weekend and all of them had various degrees of flats on them.
There was talk that the provider of the material for the wheel tyres were supplying softer materials, whether this is right will probably come out of the investigation. In terms of inexperienced drivers adding to the problem, I think this only started last Monday with the very wet conditions so the only inexperienced drivers out on the line were with an Instructor Operator. Whether this has an effect on the introduction of the Night Tube, I doubt it. Not sure Mr Mayor will allow that! We have a launch meeting next Saturday morning at 2am (yes, you read that right!). Maybe we will get further information then.
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Post by PiccNT on Nov 26, 2016 13:14:30 GMT
I was the first train out of Cockfosters Depot this morning. That also had pretty bad flats. I'm sure the experienced driver, sorry operator that relieved me will be having a work with the Controller! We have been told that there has been a forensic investigation launched into the problem as it's the worst it's ever been. For sure there will be an element of "driving techniques" highlighted as a cause.
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Post by PiccNT on Nov 25, 2016 18:31:14 GMT
Excellent. I book on at 21:30 this evening. Another night of fun :-)
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Post by PiccNT on Nov 23, 2016 22:18:50 GMT
As a guess: wheel flats as a result of current poor adhesion? Yes, I would agree with that. Every train I have driven recently seems to have them. Obviously it wasn't me that caused them :-)
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Post by PiccNT on Nov 18, 2016 12:06:33 GMT
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Post by PiccNT on Nov 5, 2016 16:27:13 GMT
Looks like we have another 4 or 5 taking their road test next week. At Arnos Grove we have 17 running duties plus 5 spare duties and a roster with 26 places, 4 of those are annual leave covers. Having a quick look at the timetable (WTT57), there is a train leaving Cockfosters every 10 minutes. Down at the west end of the line, there will be trains leaving T5 and going into Northfields Depot for maintenance and trains coming out of there going west to maintain the 10 minute service to T5.
Having a quick look at Acton Town, they have 24 on the roster with 4 of those being annual leave covers. They have 16 running duties and 4 spares so it looks like overall there will be a maximum of 33 trains out on the line, but that will include an element of empty running. So with the amount of qualified drivers we have and with a few weeks to go, it looks like we may get a full service if nobody is either sick or on leave.
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Post by PiccNT on Nov 2, 2016 11:10:59 GMT
Number 26 passed out last Thursday.
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Post by PiccNT on Nov 1, 2016 17:05:26 GMT
It won't be a full service as we haven't got a sufficient amount of qualified T/Ops yet. Do you know what the service level will be? No idea really. When I'm next in (Friday) I will look on the Intranet to see if the new WTT is on there along with the duty books. I will also see how many are still undergoing training. It may be that there will just be not many spares about. I don't suppose the business will allow annual leave now until we have sufficient numbers.
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Post by PiccNT on Nov 1, 2016 12:38:28 GMT
It won't be a full service as we haven't got a sufficient amount of qualified T/Ops yet.
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Post by PiccNT on Oct 29, 2016 13:10:36 GMT
And there's a rumour it will reach the Picc on 16th December. Don't quote me!
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Post by PiccNT on Oct 29, 2016 13:07:25 GMT
That then explains why the service was running late when I booked on at 10.30pm last night and had to reform my train. I caused a bit of a delay myself this morning. Was at Hounslow East on the East just about to depart, final check on the PTI and saw some guy leaning against my train. Help via the station staff eventually managed to persuade him to disappear after about 10 minutes. Need that at 5.30am in the morning! Controller was getting a bit agitated and then a DRM appeared at Acton Town for a chat :-)
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Post by PiccNT on Sept 28, 2016 21:21:25 GMT
When we take trains into Northfields Depot from the east end, we are normally instructed to leave the train "back end on". The rear cab door is lined up with the loading platform just by the walk boards. We do this both when stabling the train at night or reversing during the day. We do get an "MA Lost" audible warning about the then back end of the train being off juice when we are preparing to take the train back out.
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Post by PiccNT on Sept 26, 2016 9:48:02 GMT
According to the latest Traffic Circular: The leaf fall season starts on Sunday 2 October 2016 and is booked to finish on Friday December 23 2016. The following arrangements during this period will take effect: – Extended signal overlaps will be in place southbound from Network Rail boundary to Rickmansworth. – A 40mph speed restriction will be in place from the boundary with Network Rail at Mantles Wood (north of Amersham) to Watford South Junction on the southbound line: • Current Permanent Speed Restriction (PSR) signs will be altered to show this 40mph restriction. – Timetable notice TTN 111/16 will be in operation – Supplementary Signal Control Protection will also be switched between Moor Park and Amersham. – When poor adhesion conditions are anticipated, the London Underground Rail Adhesion Train (the ‘RAT’) will lay ‘Sandite’ as required on all running lines north of Wembley Park. – Network Rail railhead treatment train (RHTT) will operate between Harrow boundary and Mantles Wood boundary (north of Amersham) - details below. Please note: While the most diffi cult leaf fall conditions mainly affect the area north of Moor Park, leaf mulch can build up on the railhead anywhere where loose leaf litter is present.
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Post by PiccNT on Sept 7, 2016 7:58:37 GMT
OK, so back to the subject. To be able to provide the service as intended, we may be ready on the Picc sometime in January. However, there may be pressure from Mr Khan to commence the service before Xmas and if we do, it may be with a bit of a reduced service.
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Post by PiccNT on Sept 6, 2016 13:29:56 GMT
Yes, included repeaters and shunts. I didn't have an exact figure but it's around that!
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Post by PiccNT on Sept 6, 2016 13:10:04 GMT
I have a nice thick book named "Signalling Diagrams". Recommended reading for anyone interested in counting signals :-)
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Post by PiccNT on Sept 5, 2016 11:16:57 GMT
I can speak for the Piccadilly Line. We have a little issue with having a bit of a shortage of Instructor Operators. This is having the effect of extending the length of training, set initially for 14 weeks on our line as it is complex and manually driven but my training went on for about 18 weeks before I passed my road test. There is obviously a range of abilities amongst the trainees and anyone that requires a little more training can ask for it. I have no idea at what stage we will have sufficiently trained T/Ops to put on the Night Tube service so we will wait and see when an announcement is made. There are various rumours knocking around but until we hear something official, nobody really knows.
I had my first weekend driving alone last weekend. Apart from a bit of disruption on Friday night caused by a SPAD (not one of us!), I got turned early at T2/3 to get me back on time but thankfully the weekend ended uneventful for me! It is of course 100% concentration on the Picc. There are so many signals to observe, for those who aren't aware, if I drive from Cockfosters to T5 and back again, I will observe and act on around 700 signals. Can't afford to miss any of them!
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Post by PiccNT on Sept 4, 2016 15:44:54 GMT
I drove in manual all the way to Heathrow and back last night :-)
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Post by PiccNT on Aug 12, 2016 12:01:56 GMT
I hardly ever get held up there :-)
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