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Post by A60stock on Feb 6, 2023 16:08:21 GMT
I've just come across this gem on youtube. Any guesses as to what speed that train is doing and is that possibly a record for shortest time taken between harrow and Finchley road?
If anyone has anything similar to this, please do share!
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Post by t697 on Feb 6, 2023 17:30:00 GMT
From the video I made it 8 minutes 41 seconds start to stop Harrow to Finchley Road. The current Working Timetable (WTT) calls it 10 1/2 minutes running time with passing times of 4 minutes to Wembley Park and 5 1/2 minutes to Neasden so I think it allows for some blocking back from Finchley Road which has always been common in the morning peak but even more so currently with it being the Tripcock to ATC mode change spot at the moment.
On the video I estimate Wembley Park starter passed after 3min 27sec and Neasden after 4min 53sec so only about 1/2 min up on what the WTT now shows for regular running which always includes a recovery margin.
In those days the speed limits were 60mph I think for most of this run as indeed now reverted to. This was before the 50mph limit was put on to A stock to make them last a bit longer! You can hear this one needed the work that was later done on the gears and their set-up!
Perhaps someone else will chip in with timings for known intermediate distances. For the total distance from the reasonably but not totally accurate distances in the WTT, the average for this whole run Harrow to Finchley Road was 49.94mph.
Edit: I just checked Northwick Park to Preston Road and calculate the average between those to be 53.96mph and that is mostly downhill. I think the driver shut off for a bit shortly before Preston Road, or it could just be the equipment dropping out then re-motoring after a gap or excessive shoe bounce.
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Post by A60stock on Feb 6, 2023 18:16:57 GMT
From the video I made it 8 minutes 41 seconds start to stop Harrow to Finchley Road. The current Working Timetable (WTT) calls it 10 1/2 minutes running time with passing times of 4 minutes to Wembley Park and 5 1/2 minutes to Neasden so I think it allows for some blocking back from Finchley Road which has always been common in the morning peak but even more so currently with it being the Tripcock to ATC mode change spot at the moment. On the video I estimate Wembley Park starter passed after 3min 27sec and Neasden after 4min 53sec so only about 1/2 min up on what the WTT now shows for regular running which always includes a recovery margin. In those days the speed limits were 60mph I think for most of this run as indeed now reverted to. This was before the 50mph limit was put on to A stock to make them last a bit longer! You can hear this one needed the work that was later done on the gears and their set-up! Perhaps someone else will chip in with timings for known intermediate distances. For the total distance from the reasonably but not totally accurate distances in the WTT, the average for this whole run Harrow to Finchley Road was 49.94mph. Edit: I just checked Northwick Park to Preston Road and calculate the average between those to be 53.96mph and that is mostly downhill. I think the driver shut off for a bit shortly before Preston Road, or it could just be the equipment dropping out then re-motoring after a gap or excessive shoe bounce. Thanks for this! Of particular note is the fast run from Moor Park to Harrow is down the local lines and boy it looks like that train is really hitting some top speed. I have never seen a train run fast on the local at that speed, not to mention the luck that it's a clear run the whole way! Were there still peak fast trains which skipped harrow southbound at this time? I was expecting this to be the case but clearly not in this situation |
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Post by spsmiler on Feb 6, 2023 18:58:03 GMT
In 1990 yes, although I only saw them in the afternoon peak
Not Harrow, but still on the topic of non-stop trains, this may be of interest
That video clip was unplanned, what I was expecting to see was this twin-kettle powered electric train!!
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Post by antharro on Feb 6, 2023 22:51:51 GMT
Those videos (all of them) are fantastic, thank you both for posting. What a great snapshot of the tube as it was back then - brought back some good memories. The sound of those A-Stock motors in the first video!! Only thing that could have made it better was hearing the air being dumped at the terminus to finish the video off!
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Post by A60stock on Feb 6, 2023 23:44:37 GMT
In 1990 yes, although I only saw them in the afternoon peak What year did they stop? If only there was footage of southbound trains non stopping harrow. Someone out there must have something! |
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Post by t697 on Feb 7, 2023 19:01:11 GMT
I checked the speed on some other parts of the MET 1990 video. There is a break in the video during Moor Park to Northwood so I couldn't check the speed there.
Taking inter station distances that were sourced by someone else many years ago from signal scale plans that I know to be accurate enough and using the starter passing times from the video I calculate;
Northwood - Northwood Hills 47.7 mi/h
Northwood Hills - Pinner 54.8 mi/h
Pinner - North Harrow 55.6 mi/h
I don't know what the speed limits on the local lines were in 1990. The signalling is designed for running through these stations at line speed, unlike most traditionally signalled LUL stations.
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Post by spsmiler on Feb 7, 2023 19:11:06 GMT
If only there was footage of southbound trains non stopping harrow. Someone out there must have something! Somewhere on YouTube I have southbound non-stop trains at either Preston Road and or Northwick Park - or them both. I think that southbound trains still non-stop Wembley Park, but only in the am rush hour. Maybe one of these days someone will go there to film them. I cannot at present as I'm caring for aged parents and need to be at home at that time in the morning to sort out breakfast. |
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Post by t697 on Feb 7, 2023 19:19:43 GMT
Yep, the SB Fasts and Semi-Fasts do non-stop Wembley Park right through the am peak. Maybe a few in the evening that don't but by then most SB trains are All Stations at least south of Harrow.
It's rare for a NB train to skip Wembley Park but is occasionally done to help recover late running I think.
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towerman
My status is now now widower
Posts: 2,968
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Post by towerman on Feb 7, 2023 21:47:02 GMT
When I worked at Ricky in the mid 70s fast Amersham service non-stopped Wembley NB & SB.
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Post by A60stock on Feb 7, 2023 23:54:31 GMT
If only there was footage of southbound trains non stopping harrow. Someone out there must have something! Somewhere on YouTube I have southbound non-stop trains at either Preston Road and or Northwick Park - or them both. I think that southbound trains still non-stop Wembley Park, but only in the am rush hour. Maybe one of these days someone will go there to film them. I cannot at present as I'm caring for aged parents and need to be at home at that time in the morning to sort out breakfast. Sorry, I meant specifically non stopping harrow on the hill southbound during the 90s or before. |
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Post by maxym on Feb 13, 2023 17:38:52 GMT
Enjoyed the videos. The dear old A stock sounded wonderful (OK, not as good as CO/CP stock...!) back then.
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Post by spsmiler on Feb 13, 2023 20:37:26 GMT
Alas, I failed to get any sound of CO/CP stock, as I was using silent super 8 film.
I did try to record sound on a cassette tape with a hand held 'ghetto blaster' music machine but it let me down - did not record the sound properly.
I tried two locations - lineside near Carpenders Park (in the days when Bakerloo line trains still went to Watford Junction) and lineside near Kew Gardens. Trains heard are R stock, Class 501 (3 car and 6 car), 2 EPB, 1938ts and InterCity.
I never took it on a train, size being one issue - it was quite big, and heavy (even more so with 8x D batteries powering it!) Something like 16 inches wide, 8 inches tall and 5 inches thick. Whilst there was a handle to make it easier to carry it was not easy to carry and very visible to those who might want it for themselves.
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Post by A60stock on Feb 24, 2023 16:44:18 GMT
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Post by aldenham on Feb 24, 2023 19:20:58 GMT
This is purely a guess, but didn't the BR services only shuttle between Aylesbury and Amersham on Sundays, so the only way to get to Aylesbury would be to take the Met and chenge at Amersham. |
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Post by A60stock on Mar 13, 2023 15:06:23 GMT
What date did the non stop harrow on the hills end?
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