Post by roythebus on Aug 5, 2009 8:12:20 GMT
Having just browsed through and found this thread
districtdave.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=History&action=display&thread=2543&page=2,
I can possibly answer a few queries having worked on the W&C from 1980 to 88!
Only one car was modernised with fluorescent lighting. I can't remember the number. It was a bit of an experiment, as everything else on the car worked on line volts except the guard's door control panel which was battery fed, like the Q stock.
the modernised car was a cause of many complaints, especially from yours truly who at the time had very good hearing. The fuo tube inverters emitted a very high squeal, probably about 12kHz which I found very annoying, even for the 6 minutes or so I was in the cab. A few other young drivers heard it and complained. the older drivers, having some hearing loss couldn't fault it, so it was "Roy being a bloody nuisance again".
With the introduction of the elfen safetea at work Act, they had to do something about it, so a chappie from Derby arrived with sound detcetion apparatus. He announced that there was indeed a high pitch whistling which could cause some discomfort.
So the answer was to run that car at the Waterloo end of the train all the time so the driver didn't have the whistling to contend with!
All stock was painted NSE colours during the early 80's, except the unit that was stored in the car sheds at Clapham juncion under wraps. It was IIRC deemed uneconomical to remove the asbestos from that set; 5 trains were enough for the service.
The line closed for several months following the flexible rostering dispute. during that time the opportunity was taken to get the rolling stock up to scratch again! After that, it was all in NSE colours.
There was a humorous moment when one motor car appeared with the INTO CITY on the Bank end. I don't know who could have done that....It was removed a couple of days later!
The W&C also featured in an episode of Dempsey and Makepiece. I was the driver on that tain. the whole line was hired by the TV company for a complete Sunday. I managed to get a 16 hour sunday out of it. they started filming in the morning, and though 3 drivers were booked in the course of the day, they had to have the same driver on the filmed train for continuity purposes!
At one stage, they had to run the train into bank and stop at a given point, the usual stop mark. I was asked to back out, and do it again. could I stop at the same point, yes I think so. At the 4th retake, the director asked how I could do that. He thought I was an actor driving the train! I told him I'd done it 16 times a day for the last few years...
The Westinghouse brake on them was usually pretty good. It was possible to stop at Bank so close to the stop block that you could get the buffer block on the train to leave a grease mark on the buffer stop and not set off the train stop! The bobby at Bank never worked out that if the train stopped with a slight jolt, the train buffer would spring forward about 3 inches, kiss the buffer stop and go back to its original position, leaving a nice greasy mark on the buffers!
The line was also fitted with speed control train stops following the recommendations after the Moorgate crash. again, your struly was the test pilot for the inauguration of the system, which in true BR fashion of the time didn't work properly.
districtdave.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=History&action=display&thread=2543&page=2,
I can possibly answer a few queries having worked on the W&C from 1980 to 88!
Only one car was modernised with fluorescent lighting. I can't remember the number. It was a bit of an experiment, as everything else on the car worked on line volts except the guard's door control panel which was battery fed, like the Q stock.
the modernised car was a cause of many complaints, especially from yours truly who at the time had very good hearing. The fuo tube inverters emitted a very high squeal, probably about 12kHz which I found very annoying, even for the 6 minutes or so I was in the cab. A few other young drivers heard it and complained. the older drivers, having some hearing loss couldn't fault it, so it was "Roy being a bloody nuisance again".
With the introduction of the elfen safetea at work Act, they had to do something about it, so a chappie from Derby arrived with sound detcetion apparatus. He announced that there was indeed a high pitch whistling which could cause some discomfort.
So the answer was to run that car at the Waterloo end of the train all the time so the driver didn't have the whistling to contend with!
All stock was painted NSE colours during the early 80's, except the unit that was stored in the car sheds at Clapham juncion under wraps. It was IIRC deemed uneconomical to remove the asbestos from that set; 5 trains were enough for the service.
The line closed for several months following the flexible rostering dispute. during that time the opportunity was taken to get the rolling stock up to scratch again! After that, it was all in NSE colours.
There was a humorous moment when one motor car appeared with the INTO CITY on the Bank end. I don't know who could have done that....It was removed a couple of days later!
The W&C also featured in an episode of Dempsey and Makepiece. I was the driver on that tain. the whole line was hired by the TV company for a complete Sunday. I managed to get a 16 hour sunday out of it. they started filming in the morning, and though 3 drivers were booked in the course of the day, they had to have the same driver on the filmed train for continuity purposes!
At one stage, they had to run the train into bank and stop at a given point, the usual stop mark. I was asked to back out, and do it again. could I stop at the same point, yes I think so. At the 4th retake, the director asked how I could do that. He thought I was an actor driving the train! I told him I'd done it 16 times a day for the last few years...
The Westinghouse brake on them was usually pretty good. It was possible to stop at Bank so close to the stop block that you could get the buffer block on the train to leave a grease mark on the buffer stop and not set off the train stop! The bobby at Bank never worked out that if the train stopped with a slight jolt, the train buffer would spring forward about 3 inches, kiss the buffer stop and go back to its original position, leaving a nice greasy mark on the buffers!
The line was also fitted with speed control train stops following the recommendations after the Moorgate crash. again, your struly was the test pilot for the inauguration of the system, which in true BR fashion of the time didn't work properly.
