Tubeguru gets a new job

[Sam]

Perhaps they will once the essential engineering work to provide an IMPROVED service for them then they will...

[moley]

To flesh this out some more now that public timetables are out:

Are the West of England trains going Basingstoke > Yeovil > ExSD (Reverse) or Basingstoke > Wesbury (Reverse) > ExSD?

Is the Basingstoke stop only a crew stop or is it a passenger stop too?

The WoE services are going Basingstoke -> Yeovil -> Exeter. No trains will be running on the Berks and Hants line during the diversion. Basingstoke will not be a passenger stop so far as I know, because this is a diversion and there are plenty of SWT services for Basingstoke.

But SWT are running a reduced service Basingstoke through to Exeter to provide paths.

FGW service are running Waterloo - Basingstoke (pick up only) - Westbury (Reverse) - onwards towards Castle Cary/Taunton. In the reverse direction they are setting down at Basingstoke only. There appears to be some kind of connection to Reading (bus?)

SWT appear to be running an hourly service from Waterloo to Salisbury.

The diversion from Basingstoke to Waterloo will be Basingstoke -> West Byfleet -> Chertsey -> Staines -> Clapham Junction -> Waterloo. Trains will run via Twickenham in all instances except on Monday the 27th, when they will go round the Hounslow Loop.

With regard to Waterloo, HSTs can only use platforms 17, 18 and 19 with restrictions. I have no idea what the restrictions are. They are not permitted in any other platform, so don't go looking for them on the lower-numbered side! HSTs are also only allowed to use the Windsor lines in and out of the station, and not the main lines.

HSTs usually use platform 19. On 19, the driving cars are past the nornal end of the passenger platform. The actual platform continues right up to the opening for the Eurostart shed. Not sure about platforms 18/19 - this may relate to short HST sets only.

Re: The Mainlines. HSTs are not allowed through Platforms 7/8/9/10/11/12 at Clapham Junction from memory due to the tight angles. Hence, the long winded diversion I presume. That said, West Byfleet -> Chertsey -> Staines -> Clapham Junction is the ususal EWS route so it may be that there are not many EWS drivers cleared on the SW Mainline.

It appears that this is more about ensuring that the South West Trains timetable does not fall appart because once each hour in each direction a FGW service needs to cross from the mainline to the Windsor lines at Queenstown Road Battesea. SWT timetable has not been trimmed that much.

Apparently 8 & 9 at Clapham Junction are ok for HSTs now.

[tubeguru]

Wow - a whole year without me posting some boring crap in my job thread.

But now that changes, with the news that I am finally going to complete my 08 training next week (three years after I drove one in training) and be able to drive the bloody thing around Old Oak Common (we've actually got two there - you can often see them sitting around as you go past on a train).

Here's a picture of the two, as taken from a passing train:

http://www.mdrs.org.uk/gallery/2010/MW8 ... _08483.jpg

The on on the left has had its number painted on since this picture was taken. 08483 is still in its original BR blue/weathered green.

[tubeguru]

Today's work:

Book on. Jump on empty sleepers to the Oak. Have 08 training brief on the way, in the lounge car. Walk to 08. Walk round 08 in the pouring rain. Enter cab. Start engine. Mess with the brakes. Shut engine down. Get out of 08. Jump on an empty HST to Paddington. Go home.

Tomorrow, I get to drive it around doing cool stuff. Cool.

[palkanetoijala31]

Today's work:

Book on. Jump on empty sleepers to the Oak. Have 08 training brief on the way, in the lounge car. Walk to 08. Walk round 08 in the pouring rain. Enter cab. Start engine. Mess with the brakes. Shut engine down. Get out of 08. Jump on an empty HST to Paddington. Go home.

Tomorrow, I get to drive it around doing cool stuff. Cool.

sounds rather mundane that day

[tubeguru]

Today's work:

Book on. Jump on empty sleepers to the Oak. Have 08 training brief on the way, in the lounge car. Walk to 08. Walk round 08 in the pouring rain. Enter cab. Start engine. Mess with the brakes. Shut engine down. Get out of 08. Jump on an empty HST to Paddington. Go home.

Tomorrow, I get to drive it around doing cool stuff. Cool.

sounds rather mundane that day

Not at all - I've been looking forward to learning the 08 for ages. Plus, I was done well before lunch.

[Sam]

I saw the Red Alert DVD today for the tree incident.

One question, was Thames Valley signalling centre recently opened then?

[tubeguru]

Yes, TVSC became operative last year. Slough IECC was transferred a couple of weeks ago. Swindon B will disappear soon.

[Sam]

Yes, TVSC became operative last year. Slough IECC was transferred a couple of weeks ago. Swindon B will disappear soon.

Thanks. I guess there was a lot of pressure on at the time and no one really took lead responsibility We now have some signals under TVSC at Reading.

[tubeguru]

Will you sign Reading when you pass out, or is that one for later?

Andi, today's work was slightly more interesting. The 57 that was supposed to run light from the Oak to Paddington to bring the empty sleepers in failed at the exit of the Oak this morning, and once again the 08 was called into action to do the job. So this morning I performed secondman duties for the 08 driver from Paddington to the Oak (all 08 movements on the main line must be double-manned due to the 08 not having AWS. It is fitted with TPWS, but this won't stop you having a SPAD.

So we trundled down to the Oak at 15mph in the pouring rain, uncoupled the 08 and ran it forward into the siding, while the man on the 57 on the back (the one which had brought the train up from Penzance) shunted the coaches into the shed.

The driver then disappeared to do the rest of his job, and I was joined shortly by my training driver who had hitched a lift down in the sleeper coaches. We were then told that the 08 was needed to rescue the failed 57, which was still sat near the exit of the Oak. We had to wait over an hour for a succession of empty HSTs to arrive at the Oak from Paddington before I could finally take control of the beast.

The plan was to run round the 57 and couple to the London end so we could push it into the shed. But it had failed across the trailing points we needed to use to run round it. So first of all I had to drive up to the Bristol end of the loco, couple up and pull it clear of the points. We then uncoupled, ran round, coupled up to the front of the 08 and did a "double shunt" (in, out, in) to get it all the way across into the HST shed. After dropping the 57 off we had to abandon the 08, as a training course of engineering drivers were taking over for another interesting move - collecting a dead Heathrow Express train from the HEX depot and dragging it over to the FGW wheel lathe shed (it's got pretty bad wheelflats).

The HEX train will stay in the FGW yard until tomorrow, when it needs returning to its own depot. As tomorrow morning is my 08 assessment with a competence manager, it looks like that will be my job. The HEX train has no brakes, so the only stopping power comes from the straight-air brake on the 08 - that should be interesting.

I hope all that makes up for yesterday, Andi.

[Sam]

Yes Neil I will sign Reading as a link 3 driver then if I make to link 2 I will get Alton as well, then of I stay long enough and get to link 1 then I will have Portsmouth to add to Reading and Alton

[tubeguru]

So what do you sign as a new driver, and will you learn more stuff in link 3?

[tubeguru]

While I'm waiting for Sam's answer, I'll bore you all to death further with the final chapter of my 08 training. As the 57 that failed yesterday is still out of action, I was certain the 08 was once again pressed into service to pull the empty sleepers to the Oak. Sure enough, on arrival at work this morning I noticed the old beast coupled up to the Bristol end on platform one.

The booked driver had already been approached by the competence manager, who told him that I would be driving the sleepers to the Oak, with the comp manager acting as my secondman. So we went out to it, I fired it up, did the brake tests and away we went at 07.20 (nice and early). It's a bit weird driving a loco with the cab at the rear (like a steam loco), and you have to keep switching sides as the line curves (the controls are duplicated on both sides of the cab). It took a while to get to the Oak due to the 15mph speed limit of the 08 on the main line. We were also put into the Royal Oak Sidings to let a HEX train past, and there was a brief stop just before the Engine and Carriage Line to allow another train past.

Once we were in, the shunter uncoupled me and I drove forward into the pilot siding. Brakes on, engine off, dispose of the loco (which essentially means switching out two massive knife switches on the side of the loco, trying to avoid the live contacts all around them!)

And that was it - my comp manager was more than satisfied that I could drive them, so I took the next taxi back to Paddington and signed by route and traction card.

OK, it's all over now - you can come out of hiding.

[The Raven]

No wonder you can only do 15mph if you can only see where your going out the sides!

[al]

Congratulations!

How often are you likely to drive one now you are allowed to do so?