Spartacus
Established Member
- Joined
- 25 Aug 2009
- Messages
- 2,930
The big one “Only in Britain, typical British railways” etc, like trains are never late abroad.
As someone that is soon to become a timetable planner, this scares me.
The big one “Only in Britain, typical British railways” etc, like trains are never late abroad.
Trams in both Leeds and London tried the contact stud system in the 1890s. There were all sorts of problems. The trams had powerful electromagnets underneath which operated switches that turned on the studs at the right time, then when the tram passed the switch would turn off. Sometimes that didn't happen and there were cases of horses getting electrocuted because the studs were still live.It is possible. There's a tram system in France somewhere that uses contact studs in the roadway that only go live when a tram goes over them.
One thing to remember is that the train planning rules are rarely complete, for instance the rarely take into account that a typical freight train might be a quarter of a mile long and you’re only timing the front, don’t forget about the back.
I thought it was...?The first digit of a trains headcode is indicative some kind of priority system.
Subscribing to Spotters Monthly and posting to lots of internet newsgroups means that your ideas about how to run the rail network are obviously brilliant and way better than anything that any industry professional has come up with.
I thought it was...?
A 1xxx headcode will have priority over a 4xxx headcode though, so even if it is not mentioned, it is still in a way indicative of some sort of priority system surely?It isn’t. Rulebook goes to great lengths to describe the various characteristics and restrictions for the various classes of train; but makes no mention of any priority system. See also various instances of Class 1 trains timetabled to wait for Class 2 stopping service to go ahead - Kings Norton on approach to New Street for example.
A 1xxx headcode will have priority over a 4xxx headcode though, so even if it is not mentioned, it is still in a way indicative of some sort of priority surely?
If there is overcrowding it’s the TOCs fault for not buying more carriages
That all tightly worked diagrams produced by train planning that work on paper also work 100% of the time in practice
Leaves on the line is a made up excuse.
Rail staff actively go out of their way at every opportunity to irritate passengers.
There are extra coaches lying about everywhere that we refuse to use in service.
It isn’t. Rulebook goes to great lengths to describe the various characteristics and restrictions for the various classes of train; but makes no mention of any priority system. See also various instances of Class 1 trains timetabled to wait for Class 2 stopping service to go ahead - Kings Norton on approach to New Street for example.
This one does.....and it's electric!!!
View attachment 55149
Speak for yourself!Train timetablers can make any service work, regardless of complexity, if only they tried a bit harder.
They never will be complete either.One thing to remember is that the train planning rules are rarely complete, for instance the rarely take into account that a typical freight train might be a quarter of a mile long and you’re only timing the front, don’t forget about the back.
I was in Stow-o-o-oake the other day. One of the many British cities so denuded of economic life that you could remake 'The Omega Man' in its centre at 9 am on a weekday
Here are some moreAll trains have to stop at Stockport, based on an ancient law, strangely no one has been able to find this law and the 05.11 Cross Country service from Manchester Piccadilly to Bournemouth certainly isnt aware of this
I like the way that the lady next to the driver is admiring his steering skills, concentration and moustache...This one does.....and it's electric!!!
View attachment 55149
I assume the third rail was recessed into the roadway. Hell of a tripping hazrd otherwise
A 1xxx headcode will have priority over a 4xxx headcode though, so even if it is not mentioned, it is still in a way indicative of some sort of priority system surely?
But a Class 1 is in theory to take priority over a class 2 or class 4, however the TOC's seem to have their own rules that bear little resemblence to generally accepted rules ! If a Class 1 is about 5 or 7 late approaching Ipswich, and there is a RT freight ready to depart the yard, it will be held for the late IC service.
Merkell is suvstantially to the left of her British conservative counterparts, and probably not that far to the right of even the current Labour leadership in substance (when you strip away the rhetoric). What I suspect you really want, if you're anything like me is a competent, pragmatic moderate, rather than the pocket-scale reproductions of Pinochet who seem to have been running Britain recently.
Mr Millibean, btw, would I think have made a better prime minister than he did an opposition leader, a sort of New Labour version of John Major, but it says a lot about this country, none of it good, that a. inability to eat a bacon sarnie elegantly is considered a more heinous offence than leavig a pub without all your children b. that this sort of media-driven twaddle is considered more important than someone's policies, and ability to implement them competently.
Oddly enough, although overall usage figures for the Borders Railway are more or less accurate, the station usage predictions were a bit back-to-front. The inner-end stations in Midlothian have been much quieter than expected, with the outer ones (especially Galashiels) much busier.
Yeah, I'm really not buying the case for extension to Carlisle. Melrose and Hawick might be viable, but beyond that you're dealing with more or less completely empty countryside, and there's nothing that will generate traffic. It might occasionally be useful as a diversionary route, but for that you'd need double track and electrification throughout, and a ballpark figure for upgrading and extending it is at least a billion quid. It's still a gruesomely difficult line to work as well, with gradients and curves that strain even modern rolling stock, and the journey times will never be all that quick.
It's yet another line people get romantic and nostalgic about, and treat the closure as a great injustice, but the truth is the demand for it to return as a mixed-traffic mainline just isn't there. As an outer-suburban commuter route, it will do quite well, but that's it.
A 1xnn headcode may well be timetabled ahead of a 4xnn headcode; but that’s just the way the timetable is written. It’s not a priority system.