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Post by maxym on Feb 14, 2013 7:47:41 GMT
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mrfs42
71E25683904T 172E6538094T
Big Hair Day
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Post by mrfs42 on Feb 14, 2013 9:01:15 GMT
I think the easiest answer is when the last R or CO/CP stock capable of displaying them was withdrawn.
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gantshill
I had to change my profile pic!
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Post by gantshill on Feb 14, 2013 9:12:05 GMT
I'm sure that the Brian Hardy London Underground Rolling Stock books will have mentioned it in the relevant editions. I can't access mine at the moment.
I am guessing that headcodes stopped being used in anticipation of the introduction of the D stock trains, which is not quite the same as when the COP and R stock were withdrawn.
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Post by Dstock7080 on Feb 14, 2013 9:32:03 GMT
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Post by maxym on Feb 14, 2013 9:51:26 GMT
Thanks all. Can anyone supply a specific date? I had 1977/8 in my mind as well. And thanks Londonstuff. Just to be clear, it's webaddress[url/] - correct? |
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Post by londonstuff on Feb 14, 2013 10:08:15 GMT
Nope, the closing tag has to be [/url] This page will tell you all you want to know  |
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Post by maxym on Feb 14, 2013 11:55:11 GMT
Nope, the closing tag has to be [/url] This page will tell you all you want to know [/quote] I'll bookmark it! Thanks. |
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Post by norbitonflyer on Feb 14, 2013 12:23:39 GMT
I think the easiest answer is when the last R or CO/CP stock capable of displaying them was withdrawn. Easy, but apparently it's not a simple as that - as the photos show several with the lights blanked off. Were headcodes phased out as the units went through this modification, or was it an overnight instruction to "only use these two from now on" - like the temporary fix on BR of winding all headcode displays to 0O00 until market lights could be fitted? |
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Post by Dstock7080 on Feb 14, 2013 16:25:51 GMT
Were headcodes phased out as the units went through this modification, or was it an overnight instruction to "only use these two from now on" - like the temporary fix on BR of winding all headcode displays to 0O00 until market lights could be fitted? It was indeed an overnight change, instruction not to use them from . . . (blowed if i can find them now!) |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2013 17:07:59 GMT
The 'magical' operative date was 1/1/78.
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Post by maxym on Feb 17, 2013 9:19:06 GMT
Thanks, reganorak.
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Ben
fotopic... whats that?
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Post by Ben on Feb 17, 2013 16:14:30 GMT
It had been commented that SR passengers got to know their trains headcodes out of familiarity and regularity, and so could identify if something out of the normal was happening. Is it known if passengers found the Headcodes any use? Or did staff find them useful to be displayed anyway? Would there have been any benefits on keeping them atall?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2013 17:34:32 GMT
I certainly found them useful in avoiding Barking and Dagenham East trains while I was waiting for an Upminster one. You could easily spot them the length of the platform. Nowadays I can't read the front until it is quite near.
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Rich32
Staff Emeritus
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Post by Rich32 on Feb 17, 2013 18:21:02 GMT
It had been commented that SR passengers got to know their trains headcodes out of familiarity and regularity, and so could identify if something out of the normal was happening. Is it known if passengers found the Headcodes any use? Or did staff find them useful to be displayed anyway? Would there have been any benefits on keeping them atall? When I did my commuting to Gravesend a few years ago, I soon cottoned on to how the Headcodes worked and what each meant. Great fun working them out and can still remember them all. |
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slugabed
Zu lang am schnuller.
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Post by slugabed on Feb 17, 2013 18:27:06 GMT
It had been commented that SR passengers got to know their trains headcodes out of familiarity and regularity, and so could identify if something out of the normal was happening. Is it known if passengers found the Headcodes any use? Yes they were very useful! I used the SR o get to school and back in the 1970s....the Headcodes were not only on the front of the train but also on the wooden boards which were on the platforms to indicate "next train" so it was easy to learn which headcode referred to which route. 87 and 89 were for the Hounslow Loop,21 and 32 for the Kingston Loop,38 for Reading and,most usefully,the 58 for Windsor,which was fast to Putney if I was running late... |
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Post by norbitonflyer on Feb 17, 2013 19:31:12 GMT
It had been commented that SR passengers got to know their trains headcodes out of familiarity and regularity, and so could identify if something out of the normal was happening. Is it known if passengers found the Headcodes any use? It was certainly well known on the SE and Central Divisions that odds were City (Cannon Street/Blackfriars/London Bridge as the case may be) and evens were west end (Charing Cross/Victoria). |
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Post by grahamhewett on Feb 18, 2013 12:40:30 GMT
slugabed - in fact, the SR timetable published the headcodes certainly into the '70s so they presumably thought the public used them as well. Not sure when the publication ceased - by c1990 at the latest. GH
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roythebus
Pleased to say the restoration of BEA coach MLL738 is as complete as it can be, now restoring MLL721
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Post by roythebus on Feb 23, 2013 8:45:15 GMT
It's a bit like doing away with route numbers on buses! Most people on the SR knew where the train was going by the headcode, same on the DR!
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Post by brigham on Feb 23, 2013 10:52:05 GMT
The only one I remember being taught as a kid related to tube stock; 'if the middle one is lit, it goes via the Bank'.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 16, 2013 9:52:03 GMT
The head codes were also useful to signalmen when I was a ROA in 1966 at Mansion House and the describer was'up the wall'we read the headcodes to tell the signalman who reset the discriber to forword on to Whitechapel signalbox .Broadsman
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