Zzzzzzzz 28-02-2012 Zzzzzzzzzz still here... zzzz

Hi

As you might see from the post title, it has been hard work staying awake this week. The course has hit a section that is incredibly dry and incredibly boring but all is essential to driving.
I refer to of course the dreaded TW modules from the rule book.

In we have gone into the deep dark world of how to prepare trains for service and what restrictions are in place for certain faults and failures. A lot of the faults that trains can develop can be isolated but then this raises new questions such as how far can you go? do you need to tell the signaller immediately or the first opportunity? can you go linespeed or do you need a competent person to travel with you? and who can the competent person be as it can vary depending on what is faulty.

Then when you finally get the hang of that, they throw in a new thing. Some faults can be present when a train enters service from ANYWHERE OTHER THAN A MAINTENANCE DEPOT. Now this is important.
Take this section of the rule book about windows on the side of a train...


6.2 Entering service from a maintenance
depot
You must not allow a vehicle to enter service from a maintenance
depot if:
• the outer pane of a double-glazed window is broken
• a large single-glazed window is broken.


Now that seems fairly straight forward but what is a maintenance depot? Some people reading this will be quite intelligent and know that South West Trains has 3. Wimbledon Park, Northam (near Southampton) and Salisbury. However, what I didn't know is that they are only maintenance depots in certain circumstances.
Take the above situation. A train with a broken window cannot enter from a maintenance depot into service. Now the three depots are only maintenance depots for certain types of trains. Wimbledon Park looks after 455 and 458's. Northam looks after all the Desiro's (444 and 450) and Salisbury looks after the diesel fleet (158 and 159's).
Now Wimbledon Park often has Desiro's sat there during the day between the peaks for example but it wouldn't be a maintenance depot for them. That means a Desiro with a broken window CAN (and that is the important bit) leave Wimbledon Park with a broken window as described in red but a 455 or 458 CANNOT. Now what I have written may seem very dry, but this is why I am struggling. All faults a train can have have loads of different conditions.

Some rules require a competent person to accompany the driver to keep trains going. For example the Driver's Safety Device (or deadmans pedal as some may know it) which is a foot pedal the driver must keep depressed otherwise the trains brakes will come automatically, if it fails then the trains guard is competent in the rules to accompany the driver and make sure that he is in control of the train. HOWEVER, if the AWS (Automatic Warning System) is isolated then the guard is no longer competent to be with the driver as someone with drivers route knowledge would have to accompany him or her.

If your really interested then by going to this link... http://www.rgsonline.co.uk/Rule_Book/Forms/Live_Documents.aspx?RootFolder=/Rule_Book/Rule%20Book%20Modules/TW%20-%20Train%20Working&FolderCTID=0x01200060B274261602B94B84F5B3E1E95DE5C8

you can find the TW modules and you'll see what an uphill struggle I have this week to concentrate and stay awake!!

On a much lighter note if you are still with me, a countdown has appeared on the classroom (possibly by me) to try and cheer everyone up. It shows that from today there are now just 28 days left until we drive our first train (albeit in Clapham Yard at 5mph!!) something to look forward to. But that also means that there are 26 days to our final rules exam!!

24/02/2012 Another test

After a long week of Shunting and also how to deal with signalling irregularities, we came to another exam today. For us it was good as we were supposed to being doing it on Monday but felt we were ready early.

Shunting has been a bit of a mine field as a lot of what is in the rule book isn't actually performed by South West Trains such as shunting using rope!! We learnt a lot about how shunter's work and what their different hand signals mean to me as a driver. We also learnt some of the more interesting things that are done very rarely. For example, did you know in the rule book you can drive from a cab that is not at the front in certain circumstances? One of the many interesting things we have had to learn.
We also looked at signalling failures and irregularities. We learnt how to pass signals at danger properly (with authority) what to do if you pass one without authority and also where in the can we can override certain things to do with signalling (when allowed!)
We were on the simulators again this morning, where I drove and had to deal with temporary block working. One thing that has hit me is that since the route learning exam I talked about in an earlier blog is that my route knowledge has become poor. As I was driving along at 50mph (maximum speed in temporary block working) I suddenly saw a set of points ahead of me. One goes a hard bit of braking (as you can only do 15mph over points!) and I only just managed to get to 15mph as I crossed the points! So I think I will be looking at the route learning notes I made before the exam.
Anyway, we finished with an exam this afternoon which I passed so I can relax over the weekend.
Next week is going to be difficult as we are looking at the TW modules which mean that we will be looking at train failures and how to deal with them which is very dry and very boring, but all has to be learnt!

See you all Monday!!

21-02-2012 Just a quick one...

Not much to say today, the course is progressing and with the test taken on Friday last week a day early we didn't have one Monday. We continue to work through the S modules of the rule book and today we made a start on Shunting. Tomorrow is another day out to Clapham Yard to have a look round and see shunting for real!!

That's all, I'm going to have some pancakes now!!

16-02-2012 Signalboxes

Hi all

Now you may have noticed in the past I have said I like signalling. I always wanted to be a signaller but after 10+ applications put in I never managed to get an interview, and so never got the job. So whenever I get to visit a signal box I always enjoy the trip.
When I was at Southern, I visited Pulborough (an old-fashioned lever semaphore box) and Three Bridges (a more modern signalling centre).
Today we did a similar thing and visited Farnham and Guildford signalling boxes.

I have attached pictures of both boxes.

Above is the panel at Farnham. This is an interesting example of a box which is part track circuited (From Alton where the line terminates to half way along the single line from Bentley and Farnham. This is shown on the bottom panel and routes are set up by pressing buttons between signals. Although the picture is blurry and with a bit of luck a colleague will send some better ones. The red lights on the panel indicate where trains are currently standing, and the white lights are where the signaller has already set a route for the train. At the moment on the panel, there is a train stood at Alton platform 1 and the route is set from Alton all the way to the end of panel on the right hand side.

The top panel is where the absolute block system starts and signals are controlled by the lever frame below. Despite the signal box having levers all the signals and points are electronically controlled and the signals are all of the colour light type. As you can just about see on the top panel, the track although absolute block does in fact still have track circuits which can indicate to the signaller where trains are. At the moment, their is a train in the reception road which had only recently shunted there.

For trains to continue to the right on that panel and head towards Aldershot's signalling area, bell codes are used between the signal boxes and only one train can travel between the boxes in each direction at one time.

While we were there S&T (signalling & telegraphs) engineers rang the box and asked the level crossing to be lowered so that they could do some work on the track circuits that are tied into that crossing. You could see the work they were doing as every now and then the track circuits would illuminate the same way they would if a train was there and then go out.

I don't think motorists were too impressed when the gates were lowered for 5 minutes while this work was carried out and then raised with no train crossing but hey ho!!

Later on and we headed down to Guildford box to see what they get up to. Again it is a bit of a poor photo and hopefully some better ones are on their way to me!

When we arrived the two signallers on duty were hard at work. A set of points at Shalford Junction (very top left of the panel) had failed and they could only get reverse detection and not the normal detection. This meant that trains from Portsmouth could not go north towards Guildford and were essentially trapped. If you were travelling in this area at about lunchtime today you may have noticed that trains were delayed by up to an hour as a result.

When we arrived, the signallers were too busy to talk to us as they were dealing with the points failure and also having to ring drivers of trains trapped and also the technicians. You could tell there were problems as a quick glance at the panel at the top left hand side of the panel showed a queue of trains all the way from Shalford Junction all the way back to where Farncombe signal box takes over!

Guidlford panel controls a much larger area then Farnham and this can be seen by the panel. The whole area from Farncombe and a bit down the North Downs line all the way to Effingham Junction and Woking and also to the border with Wokingham signal box.

While we were there they managed to fix the points failure and get normal detection. It took them nearly an hour, which shows it was a difficult fault to fix and they could trains moving again.

While we were there we managed to get a look at a real life demonstration of what we were practising yesterday on the simulator. A train phoned the signaller to report that he had had a brake demand as he passed a single yellow signal by the TPWS equipment (something that should not happen) as the driver was not at fault the signaller got him to fill out an RT3185 form which reports signalling irregularities and that signal was watched as the next train passed over it (nothing happened!)

Was a good day, and better still an early finish. Our next exam which was due on Monday has been moved forward to tomorrow as we are a day ahead so after the pub quiz I will do some revision.

15-02-2012

Hi all,

A nice easy day nothing really to report. As a class I think we are all starting to do well with the learning. We had some revision this morning for the test we have on Monday and no one really struggled. As we are a day ahead we got to spend the afternoon on the simulators to practice how to deal with signal irregularities and I got to be the signaller (bad photo at bottom).

Seeing as how I really wanted to be a signaller and never managed to get an interview it was really fun for me and hopefully I'll get to do it again at some point.

Still tomorrow is the day I am looking forward to as we should be going to Guildford and Farnham signal boxes with photos to follow.

Until then...

me being the signaller!

14/02/2012 - Valentines Day or more importantly signals, signals and more signals...

Hi all

I'm writing this on Valentines Day and it has been a day of mixed signals.. No.. I haven't been left by my girlfriend but have spent the day studying the S modules of the rule book where we have learnt all about what signals are, how they differ and what they mean to the driver.

We also looked at the safety systems that are linked to the signalling systems such as  AWS (Automatic Warning System) and TPWS (Train Protection and Warning System).
We looked at how when we pass a green signal, we get a nice bell in the cab and all is well. However, when we pass a more restrictive signal (NOT green in other words!) we get a horn (no jokes please) and all is less good!!

TPWS goes one step further and is like a hidden eye in the cab. It watches the driver as he drives and steps in when he may approach a red signal to fast or worse pass a red signal (known as a SPAD or Signal Passed at Danger). It will put all the emergency brakes on and stop the train and has to be respected!

We also had a wander over to Basingstoke station and had a look round the station and at the infrastructure there. We were shown how as a train passed over to track circuit the signal behind it immediately goes back to danger, and also how points work. All in all an interesting day and going out in the afternoon made what was written on paper make sense.

Tomorrow will be much of the same and then on Thursday we are going out to some signal boxes and hopefully I can get some pictures, so stay tuned!!

09-02-2012 The Beginning

And so we begin...

After the test this morning to see if we had picked up the simulator route, we get on to the meat of the course. Rules.

As a prospective driver, I need to know a lot of rules. Rules that govern how I book on for duty, what to do if I have to go by the side of the line or how to drive a train when it is slippery.

Today we started at the beginning on G1 module of the rule book. This is general responsibilities and personal track safety for non-track workers and governs what might present a danger to trains or how to stop a train in an emergency. For the most part, it was an recap of what we had done during basic rail and wasn't too taxing.
We also looked at the Cab Secure Radio, which is fitted to trains and allows the driver to contact the signaller and vice versa.

All in all, a relaxed day but we have been warned that we are now a small way up a hill on the way to being a driver and that the hill is about to get much steeper!

p.s on another note, good luck to all the drivers who are on the February course and started job training today. I have met one already and wish them the best!

07-02-2012 It's a small world...

Hi all, I'm still here and still going strong.

As I mentioned in my last post our group at the moment is hard at work learning the simulator route as the simulators will be heavily used during our rules training.
So far I have made 2 return trips from "Easton to Weston" and have probably sat with another driver for the same amount and finally I am happy to say, the route is starting to sink in.

I drove my last trip today without having to look at the route map and purely by memory which for me is a great achievement! We'll have to see Thursday morning when we are doing another assessment on the route to see how well we have picked it up.

The reason my post has the title "small world" is because on my way home today I met two persons who joined the company this week. One of which, who is going to be a driver is probably reading this as you are and it was him that reminded me to post an update this evening. The other is related to one of the drivers who I was with for cab experience who at the time I was told would be starting soon in the ticket office, so it's good to meet some more people.

i have one more day on the simulator tomorrow before the exam Thursday and then on Friday we start getting knee deep into the rule book so there is something to look forward to!

Below is a few pictures I have taken today. Both on the simulator with one showing a colleague of mine who was driving and the other showing the secondmans side of a simulator cab. If I can I will also post a picture of the route map that we as a group have drawn of the simulator route which was to help us learn as I think it is a work of art. Until then here is a video I found on youtube of a young man driving the simulators at South West Trains http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgwie7PsAcE&feature=related

2/2/2012 I'm back!!

Hi all

It was a busy last week in the sense that I was out and about the network all week. In the same sense, it was a very quiet week (hence the lack of updates) in terms of anything happening worth reporting!

I spent the week on cab experience. This meant that I was paired up with an experience driver and followed them round all day and sat with them in the cab while they drove. I was hoping during this week that I would see something interesting. Maybe some single line working by pilotman or perhaps an authorised signal passed at danger but alas it was not to be :(

What I did see was a signal that was playing up and had to be tested in front of us (with our knowledge of course!) which went from green to red and back to green again, and also I realised just how much tea is in a cup when it is knocked onto the floor (i.e lots!!!)

Still it was a nice relaxed week, where I could sit in what would be my future office and watch the world go round and see how drivers drive. It also meant that I was back on shifts for the last week which was a bit of shock after being on office hours for the course so far.

Still back to the school today and it was a bit of bonus day as well.
We came in and were immediately told to pair up as we would be going into the simulators! I paired up with another trainee who would be at my depot and we went second. After tossing a coin I was picked to drive first and suddenly I felt under a great deal of pressure. I had told all the other trainees that I drove trains a lot on my computer using openbve (found here if you want a go http://trainsimframework.org/). I was concentrating like mad driving a route I had never been over before and managed to do quite well. I have no idea how late we were (and I think it was quite a bit!) when we arrived at the terminus of Weston station, and despite a fail to call (station appeared out of nowhere at 90mph, no chance of stopping!!) and a fault with the TPWS (Train Protection and Warning System info here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_Protection_%26_Warning_System) I got to the end in one piece.

If I can I will upload some of the simulator route maps onto my blog but it says copyright on the front so I will have to check.

The rest of the day was taking up by a discussion on the the Principles of Route Learning, which focused on why drivers have to know the route better than the back of your hand and why drivers cant driver wherever they want!

So if you'll excuse me, I'm off to learn the simulator route!!