I didn't post yesterday because I had a doctor's appointment and so wasn't in class. During my absence, of course, the big tube-related news has been the passing of Bob Crow, who certainly carved a place for himself in the history of Britain's public transport. I, for one, was quite saddened by this, I thought he was an excellent firebrand. During his tenure as Gen Sec of the RMT, Wikipedia informs us that RMT membership increased from ≈57,000 in 2002 to >80,000 in 2008 and not, I think, by accident.
As for today, I had another little class test (10% of the final mark) and so I had to be up on time and get in as fast as I could. I was, therefore, quite tired. My beloved tube network did not, however, let me down and all was well. I managed to turn up at ROV with but 2 minutes to go until the WOO train arrived. That took me to WOO, where I hopped onto a WER service which took me to LIS. Everything was as smooth as silk and - despite just missing an all stations Uxbridge - I was quickly on my way to King's X after boarding a Circle line train to Hammersmith. We made King's X without incident.
And it was pretty much the same story on the way back from Euston Sq. It was a very nice, sunny day and a rather pleasant journey to LIS on another Circle line train. At LIS I had no problem getting the EPP and by LES I was almost falling asleep. In something of a daze, I made it to WOO, where I had a 2 minute wait for the HAI. I did notice that the next westbound was actually held outside WOO station for a brief while, even though the HAI was still in 21 road at the time. I don't actually know why that was, but then I'll readily admit that the finer points of Central line ATO are largely a mystery to me. It did pull in after a short wait and so did my HAI train, which I took to ROV and I finally arrived home shortly afterwards.
The test, as if you care, was fine. There were a few odd points I know I got wrong, but I'm reasonably optimistic that I did enough to warrant an acceptable mark :P
Possibly the signal on 21rd had cleared with the points set up for the shunt over to Plat 3 but there was a fault on the train. While the TOp fixed the fault the signaller at Wood Lane control centre would then have to put the signal on 21rd back to danger. switch the points and clear the signal for the train being held on the "main".
ReplyDeleteOoooh a comment :) My very first. Thanks for taking the time to offer an explanation!
DeleteYou know, to be honest, I mainly just wanted something more interesting to say than: "Journey was fine; I was tired." What I thought was a bit odd at the time, though, was the next westbound pulled up in auto at the last block marker board outside platform 2 (slightly in rear of the crossover, I think). There it stayed for a few seconds - not long, maybe 10 or 15? All the while the HAI in 21 rd was stationary and westbound platform 2 was long since clear of any train. Then, the westbound pulled in - slowly, as usual - the rest of the way into platform 2. Around the same time - perhaps very slightly later - the HAI left 21 rd and moved into platform 3. Maybe this is more common than I realise, I'm just used to trains moving slowly into platform 2 (after all there're another 2 block marker boards before the starter aren't there?) while the HAI pulls out. Mainly it's just an artifact of ATO I'm yet to fathom :P
I did see just that once, though. Well, nearly that. I was standing on platform 3 near to a couple of ammused T/Ops who happened to be watching, waiting for the HAI, which was stuck in 21 rd. Eventually it limped out in RM, but - in that case - the westbound in platform 2 and the eastbound, which was held short at the signal just ouside the platform, had to wait for it.
I actually have a question, if I might trouble you with it, which I've been wondering about and that is: What's it like driving the 1992 stock in coded? There's a very nice article on davros (http://www.davros.org/rail/signalling/articles/central.html) from which I've learnt a lot but I'm interested in what it's like for a T/Op. More specifically, can the target speed change in the middle of a block, or only when you pass a block marker board or signal? Also, if the target speed changes how do you react? If it goes down, I assume you have to get the speed down before the next block marker board/signal? If so, when do you start slowing? Immediately, or do you wait for as long as you need to? Also, if it goes up, when do you put the power on?