fender Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 even in my limited collection of railway books there are several pictures where the author comments that the head code is "incorrect for this working". I'm referring to diesel alpha-numeric codes. so how common was this, and was it simply up to the driver to wind the code in correctly? wasn't this for signalmen to identify passing trains? thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 ...incorrect headcodes did happen but the day to day experience of railway staff e.g. signalmen would tell them what the train was and how it was usually dealt with (routeing, shunting etc). Many trains had nicknames e.g. 'the Scotch' or 'the trip' etc. Also, the block telephone/party line between boxes (usually the ongoing conversation between boxes during quieter moments) was an ideal opportunity to advise your colleagues of what was coming. Remember that disc headcode locos ran throughout this period and they simply advised of the class of train. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 even in my limited collection of railway books there are several pictures where the author comments that the head code is "incorrect for this working". I'm referring to diesel alpha-numeric codes. so how common was this, and was it simply up to the driver to wind the code in correctly? wasn't this for signalmen to identify passing trains? thanks. I believe it was normally one of the duties of the second man to set the head code correctly. cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Looking at some of the photos do Croxley Depot a lot of the Class 501's displayed codes that were not correct. I think the Southern Region were the best at keeping headcodes correct as a lot of trains stayed on the same route all day long. XF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
talisman56 Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Looking at some of the photos do Croxley Depot a lot of the Class 501's displayed codes that were not correct. I think the Southern Region were the best at keeping headcodes correct as a lot of trains stayed on the same route all day long. XF And at least in the early 70s the platform timetables listed the headcodes against the service concerned so the onus was on the trian staff to get the code right for the service they were doing... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender Posted April 23, 2013 Author Share Posted April 23, 2013 thanks for the replies. so how many modellers bother putting in the correct head codes, and is there any point since it was apparently not that critical in real life? mind you, I've also got several pics of DMUs displaying the wrong destination boards, so maybe I'm just making too much of this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted April 23, 2013 Share Posted April 23, 2013 It gets more basic than headcodes - I had to point out to the driver of a 317 going to Liverpool Street that he was showing red lights at the leading end. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pobrien Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 It happened in steam days too http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolsteam/5274232698/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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