Jump to content
 

Jim’s “out and about with GBRf” thread


Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

It’s probably to signify where the “plain line pattern recognition” train’s data is captured from, never seen one before 

 

it would most likely be on the sleeper so the below solebar cameras would pick it up 

  • Thanks 1
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Some from last night, donny to Toton with a stud farm train 

 

new units in donny

2BC58703-22DB-47CF-8D15-F5CA8CB3016A.jpg

 

9F8511DA-99E0-4CD2-B3A0-5FB3FECD2357.jpg

 

and my train in Doncaster VQ ready to pull out and run up to st caths to run round and head back to Toton, last minute loco swap as when I prepped the loco in down decoy the GSM radio handset wasn’t working on 66745 so I couldn’t take it and swapped to 66766 

0F0E2D4A-94B0-4410-AB87-B4F47AEFDC9D.jpg

 

rugby to craven arms tonight 

  • Like 19
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
On 05/09/2019 at 09:04, corneliuslundie said:

Saw the train parked up as I came through Cardiff to Shrewsbury on Tuesday. All looking very smart.

Jonathan

 

Must admit the cemex 66 does look very smart indeed!

 

just a couple from last night, ready to fire up at craven arms

38576FD2-CA65-44D4-A234-359F9C3E93A7.jpg

 

and during a stop at gobowen waiting for the passenger train in front to clear the section, my dad was there videoing us too

EECEECBD-F716-499A-9744-D1FED473DCE3.jpg

 

should have been the last night on it but I’ve been asked to come back in tonight to move the lot to hereford ready for next weeks work, then I’m back on it Sunday night too (after a possession near Chester on Saturday night! 

 

Then its looking like a solid month of Trafford park trains while other drivers learn the route with me 

 

  • Like 17
Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, big jim said:

Then its looking like a solid month of Trafford park trains while other drivers learn the route with me 

 

 

Nice shots as always Jim, thanks for posting! 

Is the route learning for the new Southampton - Trafford Pk flow or just for new drivers? 

 

Best wishes, 

Tom

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

It’s for the new flow, there is only me and one other west mids guy who signs the route from nuneaton to Manchester via all possible routes, the other guys are going to have some work ahead of them to learn it as have I to show them! 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
  • Informative/Useful 1
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
On 28/08/2019 at 12:04, big jim said:

We get or roster on a Thursday afternoon then the diagrams come on a Friday evening, quite why I don’t know as if you spot an error on the diagram it’s too late for rosters to amend so it’s left to control to sort out.

 

Hi Jim,

It maybe different for GB of course, but back in the day as a train planner for EWS we would get the details on a Tuesday, of how many trains a particular customer wanted to run the following week. Sometimes it was standard paths and a box ticking exercise, other weeks it could be far more planning involving WTT Q or Y paths or bespoke STP, both usually involved talk with rosters about the best way to deal with it from a crew point of view.

 

The plan (which ran Sunday to Saturday) had to be with Network Rail on a Friday morning by 10am, so that they could get Sunday, Monday and hopefully part of Tuesday’s train paths validated (ie proved they worked if STP) and into TRUST before they went home for the weekend. Crew and loco rosters got it at the same time and would then set about creating the crew diagrams for any WTT jobs, or amend WTT diagrams as necessary, before publishing them so the local depots could allocate people to diagrams from that afternoon. If it’s the same, I suspect that is why you get your rosters on a Friday evening.

 

Rich

Edited by MarshLane
added the validation comment
  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
  • Informative/Useful 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
On 01/09/2019 at 18:43, big jim said:

It’s probably to signify where the “plain line pattern recognition” train’s data is captured from, never seen one before 

 

it would most likely be on the sleeper so the below solebar cameras would pick it up 

It is more about identifying where Basic Visual Inspections (BVI) should finish because PLPR  replaces BVIs, so it is important to tell the patroller where to start / stop the BVI.

  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
13 hours ago, 96701 said:

It is more about identifying where Basic Visual Inspections (BVI) should finish because PLPR  replaces BVIs, so it is important to tell the patroller where to start / stop the BVI.

So with the arrow point up on a down line this signifies the end of the plpr recording session?

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
On 12/09/2019 at 08:54, Chris116 said:

On Tuesday you mentioned that the timings were all over the place. Did you manage to get them altered? 

 

It will take a while to get them permanently changed if they can as they will have to sumbit revised paths etc 

 

the issue is the train sits in basford hall for 45 mins then departs 3 minutes behind a freightliner service (which has also been sat in Basford hall for about 90 mins) which is also going to Trafford park so we follow it all the way

 

every night last week it has delayed us by 25 mins at the last signal on the mainline while it shunts into the freightliner terminal, I’ve suggested we don’t stop in crewe and run 30-45 mins in front of it as we don’t need to shunt much and what we do doesn’t effect the mainline 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Some from last night, possession at Hartford chord

 

basford hall, 66765 

9ED2BA7A-985C-43DA-BA98-B02C1A38248D.jpg

 

ran up to lachford to run round then back to Hartford where I swapped trains for 66772 

62198D5D-20EB-4CCE-B27B-1E7B1FD8B6D1.jpg

 

and away to Greenbank to the possession limit where I got relief at 06:30 

FC95B683-9454-431A-B0DD-76C4B84384D0.jpg

 

in tomorrow morning for a train prep and short hop between Washwood heath and Landor st! 

  • Like 18
Link to post
Share on other sites

hi

as I understand it, you are training other drivers to drive between b'ham and Trafford park

it seems to me there are many variations on this route.

via stoke or crewe ; via stockport  or the airport line; many variations in the b'ham area.

obviously you know all the various possibilities from your previous experience

but how do the 'new guys' get to know all the possibilities

so the company can assign them to drive a train in service?

 

as an after thought - how can you keep your 'route knowledge' up to date if you don't drive

the variations regularly?

 

regards

mike james

 

Edited by mikejames
to add extra question
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

It’s a complicated situation, you have to try and do all routes but it may only be possible to see a couple bits of it on the actual turn, such as our train only goes via basford hall so drivers don’t get to see crewe station therefore they will either have to get a TOC cab pass and learn it on passenger trains or we get a road learning engine out the desired number of times to drive over the route to see the diversions

 

to be honest most drivers in the midlands will know the variations around that area anyway but it’s surprising how few know Nuneaton northward to Crewe yet alone Manchester with its variations, there are plenty of Crewe/Warrington drivers who know it so all is not lost!

 

as an example I had to learn Kidsgrove to Cheadle with an XC cab pass, happened it was for another job but now this turn has come up it’s a handy diversion should we need it, as it happened last week I was diverted via crewe station and bescot to get to Coventry instead of via the Wcml, discovered very last minute so it was lucky I was working the train and sign all available diversionary routes

 

regards route knowledge, if I need a refresh I will either get on a working turn over the desired route or get a cab pass and refresh it on a passenger train

  • Thanks 3
  • Informative/Useful 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

two further questions - if you don't mind the hastle

I (and I suspect others) find your 'as it really is' replies helpful and interesting.

 

There are lots of 'cab ride videos' out there - are they useful at the beginning of learning a route

and does the company/industry try to provide comprehensive coverage and updates etc.

 

 

the aircraft industry has flight simulators - probably more to do with types of aircraft than routes -

but does the railway industry have equivalent - and if so - how realistic is it.

 

finally it seems to me that learning a route in the day will be quite different from driving it at night.

how does this affect route learning?

 

Thanks again for your patience

 

mike james

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...