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Crompton headcodes?


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Hi, before I get slated for repeaating a topic, as no doubt someone will, I have searched for this with no result.......

 

Can someoine please explain or direct me somewhere to find out what the two digit headcodes mean on class 33's? Tried searching everywhere to no avail.

 

Many thanks! :mellow:

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Southern Region route codes. They were basically numbers for passenger trains*, number-letter or letter-number for freight within the SR, and two letters for inter-regional freight.

A single headcode could cover more than one route, such as 62 Waterloo-Exeter as well as CX-Lewisham-Woolwich-Gillingham/Ramsgate (and no doubt something on the central division. In more recent years they fell out of use, and you'd see drivers turning them to something "significant" for the train, like OE for Orient Express.

*sometimes a single number - headcode 4 meant something different to headcode 04.

Also, the diesel-only routes had a lot of the double-digit numbers: 22 CX-Hastings, 33 Cannon St-Hastings, 55/88 Tonbridge-Reading and reverse, etc

I've got a few booklets listing all the headcodes from around 1980-1984 time (published by Southern Electric Group I think).

They did change over the years.

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In their final years it was always good fun to put 'OE' as mentioned above or things like your own depot code such as 'HG' ( Hither Green ) etc.

 

This applied to 73's as well and depended on the Driver at the time.

 

Sometimes though, you'd regret even bothering, because you'd go to change from a white blank to say a 'H' and find it was at the other end of the reel - you'd soon get wrist ache !!!!

 

Dave

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In their final years it was always good fun to put 'OE' as mentioned above or things like your own depot code such as 'HG' ( Hither Green ) etc.

 

This applied to 73's as well and depended on the Driver at the time.

The unofficial codes could be quite fun. The very precise signalman at Clapham B advised Croydon Control that a light Crompton had just come off the West London Line, apparently headed for Norwood loco, with headcode FF, which he didn't recognise. We concluded that the second word was "Finished" - and the first word has no place on a family site!

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Hi, before I get slated for repeaating a topic, as no doubt someone will, I have searched for this with no result.......

 

Can someoine please explain or direct me somewhere to find out what the two digit headcodes mean on class 33's? Tried searching everywhere to no avail.

 

Many thanks! mellow.gif

Hi

I seem to remember a similar enquiry that cropped up on the old RMweb (3?), which asked about the 33s' inter-regional headcodes, amongst others.

Like you, I've tried a search on there, but nothing's come up.

It might pay you/me to hang on until this forum's replacement server is up and running ?

Regards.

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I tried ggole, et al, and no such luck. Wondered if there was a code that denoted either 'on depot', 'servicing' or eng duties, rather than a specific duty. Wondered what 'red' blinds meant and there must be a list. I am modelling the '95 era, in railfreight grey/and in particular the grey mainline livery. Just like to make a good attempt at the detail!

Will do a new search of this site when fixed... :D

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I tried ggole, et al, and no such luck. Wondered if there was a code that denoted either 'on depot', 'servicing' or eng duties, rather than a specific duty. Wondered what 'red' blinds meant and there must be a list. I am modelling the '95 era, in railfreight grey/and in particular the grey mainline livery. Just like to make a good attempt at the detail!

Will do a new search of this site when fixed... :D

not really, they are "route" codes rather than "duty" codes. They often ran about with two white blanks, especially by '95, and also earlier for light engine movements and engineering work, and when the driver couldn't be bothered. On depot it might be whatever the last working had been.

Two red blanks was for the rear of the train instead of a tail lamp.

 

For 95, you couldn't go wrong with two white blanks. Boring, I know.

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I tried ggole, et al, and no such luck. Wondered if there was a code that denoted either 'on depot', 'servicing' or eng duties, rather than a specific duty. Wondered what 'red' blinds meant and there must be a list. I am modelling the '95 era, in railfreight grey/and in particular the grey mainline livery. Just like to make a good attempt at the detail!

Will do a new search of this site when fixed... biggrin.gif

Hi ag'in,

You might like to look thro' this thread, re-started on the present forum by P.C.M., carried forward from the previous forum's, more-to-see, photo-intensive thread.

 

http://www.rmweb.co....otos-1980s/page

 

The pics. here, may give one or two hints/clues as to what headcodes were displayed during the era that you're modelling. Hope these help.

Regards.

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Southern Region route codes. They were basically numbers for passenger trains*, number-letter or letter-number for freight within the SR, and two letters for inter-regional freight.

A single headcode could cover more than one route, such as 62 Waterloo-Exeter as well as CX-Lewisham-Woolwich-Gillingham/Ramsgate (and no doubt something on the central division. In more recent years they fell out of use, and you'd see drivers turning them to something "significant" for the train, like OE for Orient Express.

*sometimes a single number - headcode 4 meant something different to headcode 04.

Also, the diesel-only routes had a lot of the double-digit numbers: 22 CX-Hastings, 33 Cannon St-Hastings, 55/88 Tonbridge-Reading and reverse, etc

I've got a few booklets listing all the headcodes from around 1980-1984 time (published by Southern Electric Group I think).

They did change over the years.

 

This is very interesting... What was the protocol for 2-character headcodes when Cromptons ventured off the Southern Region to places like Oxford and Bristol?

 

Bill

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This is very interesting... What was the protocol for 2-character headcodes when Cromptons ventured off the Southern Region to places like Oxford and Bristol?

 

Bill

If it was on a regular service with a southern "end", there were 2-digit codes for passenger trains - was it 89 for Portsmouth-Bristol/Cardiff? But I don't think the Cardiff-Crewe trains had an official headcode.

Seem to recall even incoming excursion trains got a numbered headcode.

The double-letter codes were for inter-regional freight, e.g. OF was Westbury-Allington when that was a pair of 33s.

At least that's how it was late 70s to early 80s.

No doubt there were exceptions, but that was the general pattern. I might look out that booklet when I get a chance, but not today.

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This is very interesting... What was the protocol for 2-character headcodes when Cromptons ventured off the Southern Region to places like Oxford and Bristol?

 

Bill

 

 

Hi Bill,

The Portsmouth- Bristol trains had 89 as the headcode, but normally when off region locos showed two white blanks. Brighton- Penzance was headcode 11 during the mid 80s, booked a pair of Cromptons to Exeter.

 

Here are a few from my Southern thread that Ceptic mentioned.biggrin.gif

 

Cheers Peter,

post-7022-12643224104792_thumb.jpg

post-7022-12643225148708_thumb.jpg

post-7022-126432261385_thumb.jpg

post-7022-12643227891626_thumb.jpg

post-7022-12643236998549_thumb.jpg

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It would help to know what period you are looking at?

 

I have just looked out an article for Andy Y on modifying the Heljan cromptons exhaust to original condition. The article (Rail Express Modeller /Sept 07) gives some sample crompton head codes for the 59-80 period ready for cutting out and fitting.

 

some of note:

 

BJ (stop laughing at the back) - Hoo Jnc to Willesden freight

 

9B Willesden Brent - Feltham freight

 

4A Not just the Cliffe cement but also Fawley - Bromford Bridge

 

G1 Plumstead - Crcklewood freight

 

As you can see location is important too as different divisions quite often duplicated the same numbers - no reason not to really - A London area freight being unlikely to pass Toton or Redbridge on the South Western.

 

It is interesting to note that the working timetables do not offer much help - the ones I have seen have the

4 digit (00O0) codes?!?

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  • 11 months later...

 

 

Sometimes though, you'd regret even bothering, because you'd go to change from a white blank to say a 'H' and find it was at the other end of the reel - you'd soon get wrist ache !!!!

 

Dave

 

 

 

Bus destinations are no different. In fact roller blind ones can be a right pain in the arse.

 

 

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Never had a big problem myself with winding number blinds from 0 - 9 and a few letters. Better that IMO than fiddling with switches or entering codes for electronics that may or may not show what you intend and can't be checked from inside the vehicle.

 

Destination rollers however were another matter when you were due to arrive and depart at the same moment in time but had to wind through to the other end of everywhere in the country!

 

Cromptons had around 18 letters plus the numbers with blanks at the ends IIRC. EMU blinds had 0-4, red, white and black blanks, 5-9 to minimise the amount of winding required.

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