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Post by zbang on Apr 5, 2020 16:47:05 GMT
Fascinating to hear that the battery locos still use pre-war traction motors. Is there some operational advantage to this or is it now just the case that nothing else would fit? I suspect it's more a matter of "It's working, why change?"
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Post by zbang on Apr 1, 2020 0:41:59 GMT
FWIW, San Francisco Muni has withdrawn all rail service for the duration and substituted buses as needed. They've also cancelled some complete bus lines and extended others. BART, having lost +90% of usual ridership, has reduced the hours of service but not the number of trains on-line (or lengths?); given the headways they run, this isn't surprising. (OTOH, with early station closures they're going ahead with capital improvements where possible.)
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Post by zbang on Mar 30, 2020 3:11:58 GMT
Section 12 station?
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Post by zbang on Mar 23, 2020 19:22:48 GMT
This just in, well, an hour ago- www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-52003076Coronavirus: Tube drivers 'furious' at crowded carriages London Underground passengers have been crowding on to Tube trains, despite warnings to limit non-essential travel. Images from Monday's rush hour show busy carriages, which unions say left staff feeling "furious" as it rendered social distancing "impossible". [...]
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Post by zbang on Mar 19, 2020 22:59:26 GMT
There are some locations that are rapidly reaching this point. There's also a pause on all training - including refresher training - which complicates matters. How much of that falls on legal requirements (as opposed to contractual or TfL's own requirements*)? Assuming an equal spread of re-certifications/etc around the year, ~8% of the certified staff will "age out" each month and that's an awful lot to make up in coming months. It would seem that at least part of the training regimen would count as essential work.
*I'm kind of assuming that TfL can waive their own req's if there's reason and that contract terms can be negotiated (although a strike approved, that's not likely).
(Asks someone who as almost no knowledge of the regulatory environment here.)
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Post by zbang on Mar 18, 2020 18:47:23 GMT
The big snag is of course having it loaded into the signalling system.
I don't know how much work that is and I'm quite curious, but does such a large change obligate some non-service testing? I kind of assume (hope?) that TfL has a simulator to test things like new WTTs.
How would the depot staff be affected? On the one hand, fewer trains in service means fewer to fix and make-ready; OTOH it means that more stock is available in-depot for repairs. Is it possible that overhaul schedules might be brought in since the trains aren't out on the road?
WTT- working time table OTOH- on the other hand TfL- need you ask?
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Post by zbang on Mar 18, 2020 17:55:41 GMT
It's not just the voice, it's the person editing the clips so they assemble into a natural flow; not an easy job and sometimes you need two or three clips of the same phrase just so the pauses and pacing sound right.
Granted that some voice actors make this easier than others and that some are just more understandable to the general population.
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Post by zbang on Mar 13, 2020 16:39:03 GMT
How has traffic been affected? Out here (San Francisco) BART is reporting ridership is down 25-50% (at a loss of $3.5M/week; their farebox recovery is something over 70%) and other systems have similar reports. (The city has banned gatherings of over, IIRC, 500 people, and many companies have told employees to work from home if they can. At least the small pubs are still open.)
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Post by zbang on Mar 8, 2020 5:28:56 GMT
Just so I'm clear..... "contactless" is the same as "touchcard"? Has the little symbol of four curved lines? IME the card have to actually touch/contact the reader to work (same for a mobile with NFC, it's the "near" in Near Field Comm.).
Another case of calling long-wave light "blue" and hoping people buy it.
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Post by zbang on Mar 3, 2020 16:40:38 GMT
....wonders how much software will break if anyone tries to add a (unnecessary) sixth digit....
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Post by zbang on Mar 2, 2020 4:37:13 GMT
To pay the fare or to read my touch card? Doubt either will work.
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Post by zbang on Mar 1, 2020 17:50:47 GMT
Not really. Aside from the fact it’s actually a more secure payment gateway, it comes back to the basic question of usability. This will lead to confusion over whether or not ApplePay is valid. ...and the assumption that google-pay is now the processor (my first thought).
(The change-over and -back costs are usually figured into the contracts for things like this, don't know if those are pre-paid or not.)
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Post by zbang on Feb 28, 2020 21:37:31 GMT
Still in keeping with the topic line-
How common is wrong-road working at all on revenue track*? Obviously it can be quite confusing at some stations (but not others... for instance Edgware Rd #2 & 3) and terminal stations will always have !road moves in/out of dead-end platforms.
*taking the tube lines, SSR, and the other systems separately.
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Post by zbang on Feb 28, 2020 21:27:21 GMT
As an example, which one of these if the odd one out: DVD VCR RADIO DOG Dog, of course; the rest are electronics . OTOH, they're all acronyms for something, practically every English word is now an acronym, albeit some are a bit of a stretch.
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Post by zbang on Feb 9, 2020 18:03:10 GMT
I think it refers to platform faces, rather than structures. An island platform is a single structure but with two faces. I'll go with "platform equals faces" as it appears that LU numbers the faces individually (e.g. platforms 3 & 4 at Edgware Rd). OTOH the phrase "cross-platform transfer" muddies the waters a bit....
In general, this suggests that a single-platform station must be served by only a single track (such as Mill Hill East or Heathrow 4). A skim of the CartaMetro map suggests this is quite rare.
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Post by zbang on Feb 9, 2020 8:17:16 GMT
For clarity, does "single platform station" mean a station with only one platform with a single track next to it or does it also include stations with a platform having tracks on two sides? Heathrow 4 and Kensington/Olympia would count as the first.
(Some rail systems use "platform" to be the passenger area adjoining one or more tracks, so "Platform 1" could have A and B sides.)
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Post by zbang on Feb 4, 2020 17:03:37 GMT
LOL, that may be your opinion, but it certainly wasn't that of the people on the bus, who thought he was a right t*t! We have to be careful. If it's the rules then it's not an opinion is it?
The driver's training probably also includes how to work with the public. It's one thing to follow the prescribed route without deviation; it's another to just blow off anyone who disagrees. I'd guess the training tends more towards "Yes, sir, I understand you'd like to get off here, but I'm only allowed to let people off at designated stops." than "Shut your g*b and sit down".
In some arenas, we call this "multiple systems failure".
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Post by zbang on Jan 18, 2020 17:54:25 GMT
It would be a lot harder to make such a set-up fail-safe, and in doing so it would make the system more prone to false positives as anything (birds, leaves, litter) that interrupted any one of the beams would halt the system. Presumably once the system has been activated it is not that easy to reset as someone has to positively ensure that there is not any possibility of an oversized train present
I'm not sure of the "much harder" part, EE setups are used for machine safety all the time (and they're non-destructably testable). Leaves/birds? Multiple sensors where some enable detection by the others. And reset is not an issue if the "reset" must be done on-site. This isn't a difficult problem.
OTOH they would cost a fair bit more than some painted glass tubes, assuming that the tubes are hardly ever tested or tripped.
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Post by zbang on Jan 18, 2020 0:54:48 GMT
None of the ones at Barons Court contain mercury the glass is painted with conductive paint
Wouldn't it have been easier to replace them with an electric eye setup controlling a relay? (The glass tubes might have been new technology 100 years ago, but not 50.)
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Post by zbang on Jan 11, 2020 3:45:13 GMT
There's an interesting map the area at www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/data/answers/answers-2010/ans10-039-bull-baiters-farm.htm. Apparently, Bullbaiters Farm was originally known as Bullbeggars. Using the map mentioned above, an OS map from the 1890s, and the current one, it looks like Bullbaiters Farm was to the east of Maxwell Park along Bullhead road, roughly at the same latitude as the Tesco petrol station. I'm prepared to be off a bit in any direction. (There went an interesting half an hour .)
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Post by zbang on Jan 8, 2020 17:56:51 GMT
BTW, the February 2020 Trains Magazine (USA-centric) has a nice article titled "Fighting rail wear", recommended if you can get your hands on it.
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Post by zbang on Jan 3, 2020 17:03:55 GMT
That's exactly what I was referring to <mumble> posts ago.
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Post by zbang on Jan 1, 2020 23:55:28 GMT
The traditional way of managing a higher speed approach to a dead-end was to either install hydraulic buffers which provided a controlled buffing force until they were fully compressed, [...] BTW, there used to be some fine (and quite old) examples of this on a couple of mainline platforms at Paddington (11 & 12?). I'm sure I have a picture or two of them but I'm also sure I can't find them a the moment.
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Post by zbang on Dec 30, 2019 3:41:49 GMT
I recall reading of one incident where a section had been isolated to allow a train to be evacuated, but another train was mistakenly allowed to move forward to a point where it formed a bridge between the section it was taking power from and the isolated section. Fortunately a quick-thinking staff member supervising the evacuation recognised the significance of the sound of the stalled train's compressors starting up.
At least with overhead pickup, with multiple interconnected pan's I'd expect the procedure would be to open the line breaker from the leading shoe/pan' so as to prevent as much arcing and the possibility of bridging a section gap. This ought to be standard procedure, but..... Not sure how well that would work for 3rd/4th rail pickups.
And I'd kind of expect that even when the traction current was discharged, the line breakers would be opened to prevent unintended restarts.
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Post by zbang on Dec 27, 2019 16:16:31 GMT
The problem with traction bus cables is the interconnections between cars. It is all very well for us to sit at computers thinking they are a good idea, but [...]
All of those can be dealt-with readily, however isn't passing traction current car-to-car they still generally prohibited? (Connor mentions this.)
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Post by zbang on Dec 26, 2019 4:57:41 GMT
We have the same problem with the media on the left side of the pond. It's really only a few of the really huge unions that were infected with organized crime connections; the rest may have some well-known people at the national level but the locals are, well, local. And Hell has little fury like a local nurses or teachers union being upset .
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Post by zbang on Dec 11, 2019 5:41:13 GMT
FWIW, I've been reading Connor's The London Underground Electric Train, it's an amazing work. Highly recommended (and not blazingly expensive).
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Post by zbang on Dec 11, 2019 5:35:51 GMT
Sadly, I'll miss it- "working" and also being ~~5400 miles away. Will raise a glass for those no longer with us, and then for those who are.
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Post by zbang on Dec 4, 2019 18:50:12 GMT
The "V" frames get more attention then the others in the way of photos but this book is not a technical manual on their development just a overview and when and where they were installed etc... Are there books which cover this sort of development? I have a few about main-line signaling but nothing specific to the London lines. (thanks)
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Post by zbang on Nov 1, 2019 23:44:59 GMT
Piers Connor will know the answer to these questions..... Um, thanks for the pointer; I now see $50-70 flying out the window for books I don't have.
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