caradoc

Many thanks from me too for your entertaining and educational thread Johann. I look forward to future posts!

The bay at Barrhead, Platform 3, has trap points. And (of course) I was on duty in Control when the inevitable happened with a DMU departing against the signal and derailing itself there.

When there were still signalboxes on the Gourock line an Inspector and his assistant paid a late visit to one, only to find the Signalman in a compromising position with a lady friend. Far from being embarrassed or contrite, the Signalman asked them to wait outside until the event was concluded.... So they did!

C8091: Not just the three Class 37s but the Mexican Bean DMU in the background too!

Not sure permission would be readily granted these days to start digging up rural Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire or Lincolnshire to produce our own iron ore again.....

While many of my colleagues were sent on an OfQ course, I never was. Either; I was of high enough quality already, or I was a hopeless case and would learn nothing !

**Spoiler Alert** Episode 2 did not show the rail worker (driver)/enthusiast in a particularly good light. Fortunately the wife has only seen Episode 1 so far.....

Better a few motorists get clobbered in the pocket, to make the message sink in, than cyclists getting clobbered for real. Bear in mind that after stopping it takes more than just a press on the accelerator pedal for a cyclist to get going again ! Having said that, I fully agree that there has to be mutual respect on the roads.

One of the many pleasures of spotting at Didcot in the early 70s was watching Oxford-bound expresses crossing from Down Main to Down Relief and then onto the Avoiding Line, IIRC the speed through the double junction was 45mph. BR later replaced the junction with a single set of simple points, meaning that a Down train could not cross between Main and Relief Lines at the same time as an Up train, later again a second set of points was installed which now allows this. 70mph I think is the speed now, although usually when I travel to Oxford we get stopped at Moreton Cutting anyway to allow an Up train from Swindon to pass first (sometimes seemingly even if that train has only just left Swindon !)

Indeed, but there were never any dual-system trains able to run on both, so the Signallers had to be extra careful routing trains......

Have there ever been any changeover points between 1500v DC and 25kV AC OLE in the UK ? I am not aware of any. There were of course changeovers between 6.25kV AC and 25kV AC, and those were entirely automatic.

In the ROC I worked in the Signallers and Network Rail Control are in the same building, on the same floor and in the same room, so any catastrophe requiring Signallers to leave the building will equally affect NR Control. However the Signallers there only cover part of the Route whereas Control cover the whole thing where many, many trains would still be running. And the major TOC's Control is co-located, so they would be gone too.

I recall that being promoted as an advantage of ROCs but all of us in the operating side knew it was complete nonsense, and could not and would not ever happen; Where would the staff come from, to enable one ROC, at zero notice, to continue its own work and take over another's ? An issue for me with ROCs is that should one, for whatever reason, go down, not only is (of course) signalling for its area lost but also the Control staff to manage the resulting disruption would be gone too ! For that reason, and because IMHO communication between Signallers and Controllers should be by recorded means, ie by phone, they do not need to be and should not be in the same place.

Slightly pedantic point, some of the advertising shows Marton Ferry Road as the street name, although elsewhere the correct Marston Ferry Road is shown !

On some heritage railways perhaps, but not all; I attended the Great Central Railway's excellent Winter Steam Gala in January. It was busy so any notion of social distancing was impossible, not that anyone seem concerned by that, and the fare was reasonable, so much so that I did not take advantage of my railway staff privilege reduction. And I did spend money on refreshments at Rothley and books at Loughborough !

You might be able to kill two birds with one stone, as a few of the Glasgow Central/Wemyss Bay and Gourock services are booked Class 385; For example yesterday the 0957 ex Central and 1057 return were 385019.

I hope that will still happen, but of course it would also require rebuilding the second platforms at South Beach and West Kilbride, so won't be cheap !

Ardrossan to Largs was double track throughout, nowadays there are still two lines as far as Hunterston but only one is electrified ! The other, the Up Freight, sees very little use now. Part of the Crewe/Kidsgrove line is single track, between Crewe and just short of Alsager. Preston/Ormskirk is now single track, and of course severed at Ormskirk, too. In the same area, Burnley/Colne and Bolton/Blackburn.

If you haven't already done or planned it I would thoroughly recommend a trip over the Forth Bridge; Preferably in a Scotrail HST but other trains are available !

Agreed, and I wonder why the barriers are even deemed necessary, given that the railway has been there far longer than the houses ?

Getting back on topic, four fatalities in this US incident: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/chicago-four-people-killed-after-train-hits-car-on-railway-crossing/ar-AAUT7cr?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

Having worked, until 2016, in one of the roles mentioned in the RAIB report, I will not add much, other than to say that the 7 staff on night shift in Network Rail Scotland Control were dealing with around 30 incidents, one of which, the washaway of the line near Polmont due to a canal breach, was on its own a major event requiring a huge amount of Control time. Control staffing has been regarded by some (but not all) senior managers as an expensive luxury, given that staff are relatively well paid and, if the railway is running well, do not have a lot to do, hopefully the tragic accident at Stonehaven will change that attitude.

The photos of the dual gauge track are particularly interesting, thanks Jamie. The difference between standard and broad gauge looks so small one wonders why they bothered (with the broad gauge).

I found plenty to delight me, both for viewing (the layouts) and spending (the traders) purposes ! Especially after two years since my last major exhibition. And the Atlantean back to the city centre after the show topped it off. I also would like to thank all those involved for organising such a superb show.

Pre-TOPS 31s with full yellow ends - Perfect for me. Well done Accurascale, showing other manufacturers (again) how it should be done.....