Terminology of train directions - Hainault loop

Okay, so you're absolutely right, so the "clock" is the Hainault loop as it appears on your standard tube map. So you can imagine Chigwell is 12 o'clock, Fairlop is 3 o'clock, Redbridge is 6 o'clock and South Woodford is 9 o'clock. Ish. So clockwise is

Leytonstone - Woodford - Hainault - Newbury Park - Leytonstone - Woodford ....

And anticlockwise is

Leytonstone - Newbury Park - Hainault - Woodford - Leytonstone - Newbury Park ...

So, no service between Leytonstone and Hainault anticlockwise means

Leytonstone - Wanstead - Redbridge - Gants Hill - Newbury Park - Barkingside - Fairlop - Hainault

is out of action.

But

Hainault - Grange Hill - Chigwell - Roding Valley - Woodford

is in action and so is

Woodford - Roding Valley - Chigwell - Grange Hill - Hainault - Fairlop - Barkingside - Newbury Park - Gants Hill - Redbridge - Wanstead - Leytonstone.

At least, according to the service status message, but contents may vary

Now inner rail and outer rail are defined based on the fact that London Underground trains run on the left. So the inside track (inner rail) is

Leytonstone - Newbury Park - Hainault - Woodford (anti clockwise)

and the outside track (outer rail) is

Woodford - Hainault - Newbury Park - Leytonstone (clockwise)

Obviously the map is stylised, but there really is a fairly tight curve Gants Hill - Newbury Park and clearly the trains from Gants Hill to Newbury Park are on the inside track (inner rail) and the trains from Gants Hill to Newbury Park are on the outside (outer rail).

Now, onto the next bit. Trains from Roding Valley to Hainault are always described as "Hainault" on the platform describers and are supposed to be described as Hainault on the front of the train. In normal conditions almost all of these trains continue to central London, but they are described as Hainault as far as Hainault in order to encourage passengers for the city at Roding Valley to take the faster route via Woodford. Woodford station is obviously where this difference really counts. Trains to central London via Hainault are always described as Hainault trains at Woodford so passengers will go via the mainline via South Woodford. Imagine getting a "White City" service as an unsuspecting punter and finding yourself going via Roding Valley! Hence, quoting from the Working Time Table:


In practice this is not always adhered to.

As for whether they would terminate at Hainault in this case, I can only guess, because obviously the disruption might require a little bit of juggling - as demonstrated by the fact that trains were going to Grange Hill presumably for the depot. However, the service status message implies that on arrival at Hainault - whether your train would have continued to London or not - it would have been possible to continue on to London, possibly by boarding another train. The service status message says that Hainault to Leytonstone via Newbury Park is running, but Leytonstone to Hainault via Newbury Park is not. However, you may very well have had a bit of a wait at Hainault. Or not. There's no way of knowing.

Are there many using Roding Valley who don't know we drive on the left?
On second thoughts, there probably ARE some in Chigwell, where eveything is bling.....

I suppose that if you regularly use the loop like I do, you would have a clearer understanding of the various 'directions'.
If you travel to Hainault via Woodford, you're on the clockwise outer rail service. If you travel to Hainault via Newbury Park, you're on the anti-clockwise inner rail service.
Furthermore, trains travelling to London via the loop at Roding Valley, Ghigwell and Grange Hill are actually described as either White City or Ealing Broadway Trains, NOT Hainualt trains unless trains actually terminate there and reverse. The destination on the front of the train usually changes once it has stopped at Roding Valley.

Not every train but most trains.
A few early and late evening trains start or finish at Grange Hill/Hainualt via Woodford with a few extra 'rare' Grange Hill via Woodford Trains throughout the day. As you pointed out, the driver should display the correct destination, being either 'Hainault', 'Hainault Via Woodford' or 'Grange Hill'. These shouldn't change if trains terminate there and return to Hainault Depot.

Most trains do continue to Central London, and very often they will appear on Platform Boards with 'Hainualt' and also 'Ealing Broadway', the same applies to Destination Boards at Station Entrances.

Saying this may lead to suggest that there is a lack of clarity, and whilst this at times may be true, many travelers at Grange Hill, Chigwell and Roding Valley will not hesitate to board the next train, as long as they can reach Hainault or Woodford in good time.

Which shows that a description that is "obvious" to one person can be confusing to another. With a loop I associate "inner" as being the side nearer the inside of the loop and "outer" nearer the outside regardless of direction of travel.

Whatever you do with customer information there will be:
a) people who will still get it wrong
b) somebody who will claim to be confused purely for the sake of complaining.

At least it's only a case of one way or the other. Just think of the challenge of multiple possible circular routes - like on the South Eastern lines to Dartford!