Crewe Basford Hall SSM SSS SSN what do they mean?

[trainmania100]

The avid enthusiast can't escape going through their day without seeing at least one train routed through Crewe Basford Hall, but surely one question must have arisen in their cranium at some point in time, what do SSM, SSS, and SSN refer to ?

Unlike other yards where you've got easily understandable acronyms like TC for terminal complex, recep for reception roads/sidings, yards, virtual quarries etc

Does anyone know what SSM, SSN and SSS actually abbreviations of?

And for bonus points can anyone identify ISU (as in coleham ISU)

Thanks I'm sure it'll be helpful to many

 

[JN114]

SSN - Sorting Sidings North
SSM - Sorting Sidings Middle
SSS - Sorting Sidings South

 

[trainmania100]

Ah thankyou that's a big help

 

[A.Butler]

Good morning All,

On a similar vein can somebody please explain the methodology behind the description and workings of a "Virtual Quarry" ... as opposed to a "real" one?

 

[ExRes]

Good morning All,

On a similar vein can somebody please explain the methodology behind the description and workings of a "Virtual Quarry" ... as opposed to a "real" one?

I think it's basically a rail attached area/yard used for storing aggregates for onward movement as required

 

[A.Butler]

I think it's basically a rail attached area/yard used for storing aggregates for onward movement as required

Thankyou for your prompt reply ... confirms my suspicions .. and makes sense.

 

[Controller1701]

I would think that ISU is something along the lines of Infrastructure Support Unit. When you look up the TIPLOC for Coleham ISU it shows as Coleham Civil Engineers Sidings.

 

[Altfish]

Good morning All,

On a similar vein can somebody please explain the methodology behind the description and workings of a "Virtual Quarry" ... as opposed to a "real" one?

A virtual quarry is a railway location where stone (and other materials) are brought to and stored ready for use within the network.

 

[4F89]

A virtual quarry is a railway location where stone (and other materials) are brought to and stored ready for use within the network.

Indeed. Stone etc comes into the VQ in ruddy massive wagons, and goes out on smaller ones.

 

[4F89]

SSN - Sorting Sidings North
SSM - Sorting Sidings Middle
SSS - Sorting Sidings South

SSS no longer in use as a timing point, but the box is just about still standing

 

[Merle Haggard]

Good morning All,

On a similar vein can somebody please explain the methodology behind the description and workings of a "Virtual Quarry" ... as opposed to a "real" one?

They were introduced (and I'm not sure the reasoning still applies) because the wagons designed to deposit ballast onto relaid track necessarily had design features to allow their contents to be discharged in measured quantities, for example, in the case of hopper discharge, a number of bottom doors controlled by handwheels on end platforms. This meant that their design couldn't maximise capacity.
The usual arrangement was for these wagons to be loaded at a quarry during the week and trunk-hauled to sidings near to the work site ready for the weekend. Only a few quarries provided ballast - for example, on the L.M., Hartshill, Penmaenmawr possibly Shap I recall - with the result that, quite often, the trunk haul was lengthy, and inefficient because of the low ratio of ballast weight to gross weight.
Someone then hit on the idea that the trunk movement of ballast could be made in high capacity wagons of simple design, then stockpiled and transhipped into ballast wagons. The extra costs of transfer were more than outweighed by the economies of 102 te wagons on the trunk haul; possibly, there were benefits at the quarries, as the seemingly many different design of ballast wagons had varying capacities.
I think the basic suggestion may have come from Railfreight rather than within the Civil Engineering function.