www.southwesternrailway.com
One of the changes on the SWR website with the change of ownership is that the current carriage working notices have been published:
diagrams
Out of genuine curiosity, why do you carry them round and what for? We get a lot of FOI requests for things like this and no idea what people do with them.
Working as a CSA at one of the stations. CSAs are given ACWNs only at weekends/bank holidays which highlight changes to train workings, platforms etc. I do understand ACWNs are also given to RO2s (dispatch) and Train Presentation.
Think 2Bxx Waterloo to Poole services in past times - they interworked with 1Ts at Waterloo, combined with an aspiration to provide a mix of both types on both routes.
I only speak from past times, but presume you still have access to the Station Working books (assuming they are still produced?) which in effect use to (still do?) take much of their their information from proof copies of CWN's in advance of each timetable change, and formed the basis of permanent information as supplied to station teams. The CWN's in their basic sense were perhaps more inclined to be used by depots and anywhere stock was stabled, and also by NR for use by signallers etc. to format their simplifiers.
A fairly easy remit for a Saturday service. Weekdays a different ball game. With peak hour formations to deal with and a greater use of all platforms (Waterloo), faster turn rounds in the peaks, combined with platform availability, wouldn't necessarily allow for standard pattern working - other than perhaps on the high frequency suburban side(s) - the main line group of platforms only really having a small window each day when some sort of standardisation might be possible - this was (talking past tense here) from about 11 a.m. until about 3 p.m., outside of those hours there were still movements associated with post a.m. peak and pre p.m. peak formations which would require a more complex plan. There were (are?) further complications within that four hour window each day, but don't wish to bore you with more.
No.
The Station Working books are usually given out on each timetable change, Monday-Thursday CWN and then Fridays only CWN. I'm not sure how many copies are given out to us exactly but my guess is around 30-40. I think until December 2024, the Station Working books had some sort of cover but since then it's just the CWNs itself with the dates written at the top of the page. Some new copies (February 2025) were given out IIRC to reflect changes to allocations i.e. more 10 701s. Tbh I only knew CWNs since getting the CSA role last year.
Indeed, we've discussed this before and it makes a lot of sense, I was just making the observation in passing rather than questioning why.
Not only unit mileage constraints, but there was also extreme pressure to reduce crew diagram costs, and these factors combined with an increase in patronage (at the time), but also the restraints of the (19) platforms at Waterloo at the time, would all have had an impact on decisions made in the planning process.
I collect them. Mostly BR era ones 1950s-1970s rather than current day ones. I have over 1,000.
No worries my friend. You had previously been kind enough to send me same PM wise, but had forgotten, and only later realised I could check details myself, so apologies!
You must have a serious amount of shelf space, lol ! I also have collected a few, mostly from latter day on-line purchases, but (as nw1 knows) my interest stems from me using same in anger so to speak from 70's onwards. The 80's and '90's however are a blank as far as me/my collected examples are concerned, and would love to find even a couple of examples?
