Atomic Systems

hi,

My dad was telling me today that the computer system on the 360's are set wrong.

The 360's water retention is supposed to hold 150 gallons and when this gets full the computer locks down all the toilets and any one unlucky enough to be in there at the time will also gat locked in!! However, the computer has been set at 150 Leiters (sp?) so more often than not the loos are always locked down.

Any thing else wrong with the 360??


On another note...

Passed out as crossing keeper yesterday so now im ofically a grade 1.

On the day i passed out i had a near miss near marks tey in which an anglia 86 boat train almost hit a lookout whos was aparently standing in the four-foot with his back to the traffic. IDIOT!

Then in the evening i noticed alot of sparks form under another Anglia train and thought since its my first day ill play it safe. Turns out that the driver was braking for a 20mph speed restriction from about 80mph.

Ive been told they do that alot, and because of that i caused about 14 trains to be delayed while they inspected the train at colchester, of which the driver, platform staff and Colchester PSB were not very happy.

What am i supposed to do?? Let the train carry on with out reporting it? or report it and cause alot of delays and anger?? For all i know there could have been something seriously wrong with that train and cause an accident.

As for the driver i dont think braking that hard into a 20mph speed restriction is all that clever, especialy over a maned level crossing where any one could see it.

-Moan over-

Thanks for being bored enough to read

Dan

Must have been fairly heavy braking! Seems fair to play safe and stop the train though.

With incidents like the Central Line tube accident at Chancery Lane last year in mind, I'd say you were dead right to play it safe. Can't be much good for the track or the train wheels to brake like that.

On the original subject of train toilets, I recently came up from Edinburgh to Inverness on a Scotrail 170 where they obviously hadn't bothered putting water in the tanks for some time. On the "toilet cleaning report" posted proudly above the loo some previously unimpressed passenger had written "fair to middling". Says it all.

You have to think how you'd feel if you thought something was wrong but did nothing then found out their was a big accident with fatalities. It really annoys me when their is an accident and people stand up and say things like "i regularly travel on that line and have though something was wrong for ages". If so why didn't they tell someone? Just before Christmas a HST pulled into Leicester with large amounts of smoke coming from the rear bogie. Feeling that the potential cause could be a hot axle box or traction motor bearing both of which could (and have) cause a derailment, which on the MML with its many high speed curves and 110mph running could be very serious, I decided to inform the driver. He had a quick look back and when the buzzer went carried on to London. I felt a lot more secure knowing that if I got to Manchester and heard there had been a serious derailment I would have done everything I could have (everything that wasn't going to get my arrested anyway). Sadly though they don't seem to take passengers very seriously although I did get a train to stop south of Colchester after shouting to the guard that a door wasn't shut properly, but the few times I reported bad bits of track I've never heard anything and nothing has ever been done, perhaps explaining why passengers don't tell anyone something is wrong.
Interestingly one of the other times I felt the need to report a fault with a train was to do with the toilet. In that case it was the tank on a 156 leaking everytime the train braked causing water to fall from the roof and run down the walls as well as flooding the floor in the toilet itself. As well as the fact that this didn't exactly give a pleasent travelling experiance (although it was the nearest a central trains 156 carpet has come to being cleaned in some time ) I was also pretty concerned that water might get into the control circuits in the compartment behind the driver, especially as water being a conductor of electricity tends to cause wrong side fauilures by allowing power to get to things that shouldn't be powered (e.g door or brake control circuits). Not suprisingly I got the "i know, its been doing it for ages, I'm only a glorified ticket puncher so wouldn't have a f**king clue what might happen anyway" (ok, he didn't say the latter but it was implied). This was only a few weeks after two Central Trains had uncoupled pulling away from Nottingham (potentially fatal in the right circumstances) due to water getting into control circuits.

Intresting stuff, I dont know any Railway Rules and Regs but if I saw sparks comming from a 86 I would of reported it, didnt know brakes gave off serious amounts of sparks but obviously they do.
Sadly many people just dont care anymore CT been a prime example, how anyone can let a train spilling water inside stay in servcie is very wrong.

What am i supposed to do?? Let the train carry on with out reporting it? or report it and cause alot of delays and anger?? For all i know there could have been something seriously wrong with that train and cause an accident.

If in doubt ALWAYS report it. If it was a regular thing more experienced staff will know about it.

As for the driver i dont think braking that hard into a 20mph speed restriction is all that clever, especialy over a maned level crossing where any one could see it.

The sparks were probably down to a knackered shoe I'd assume. He may not have been breaking that hard.[/quote]

My dad was telling me today that the computer system on the 360's are set wrong.

The 360's water retention is supposed to hold 150 gallons and when this gets full the computer locks down all the toilets and any one unlucky enough to be in there at the time will also gat locked in!! However, the computer has been set at 150 Leiters (sp?) so more often than not the loos are always locked down.

Any thing else wrong with the 360??

It's the case on most rolling stock, the tanks should actully hold about 75% of the contents in the sewage tank, with all the braking and turning you have to allow the spare 25% for water to move about in the tank, which is why the doors lock. The doors are supposed to lock as soon as the last person has left the toilet.

Congratulations on passing out a grade 1.

Still awaiting for the assesment test for a grade 3.

Daniel

As a Driver myself and one who passes over your Crossing quite regularly
to and from Wembley, Rugby and Crewe.
I think you have done the right thing to report the incident as it says in Section B of our Holy Bible (The Rule Book)

As Local Signal Boxes have been replaced with Modern Power Boxes,
So have the people who used to be able to get Trains stopped!!!

After I leave Colchester Southbound you are probably the last Person who could spot a defect with my Train.
(OR WHO WOULD BE INTRESTED IN)

After you we soon come under Liverpool St Power Box Control and they cant see any problems from London.

Where as before you had Marks Tey Box, then Witham, then Chelmsford, then Igatestone, and Shenfield all with Signal persons who could get the Train Stopped easy.

On the other hand those 2 Speed orders in your area are a real pain!
As there is one on both the Up Main Line (40mph which was reduced from 60mph) and one through Colchester Station on the Down Main Line (20mph reduced from 40mph)

It's about time Network Rail realized that there is more Railway than the West Coast Mainline and got some work done on it's East Anglia Zone.

Anyway I think an Anglia Set would use your Crossing as a Braking Point for Colchester Station in the Down Direction, I did when I worked for Great Eastern the Signals are normally Yellow there anyway as we often Terminated in Platform 1 at Colchester.

If you see anything wrong with my Freightliner get me stopped as some of the stuff we have on board would make your Hair curl!

It's sad that again the off cost(who's paying for the delay) rises above safety.

Anyway Congratulations in Passing Out(Next Stop A Signalman Up The Box At Colchester or LVST)?


Gary.......................................

coxy64 wrote: Anyway Congratulations in Passing Out(Next Stop A Signalman Up The Box At Colchester or LVST)?

I would do all the grades before pushing buttons and looking at computers all day. It's more fun lol.

coxy64 wrote:Daniel

As a Driver myself and one who passes over your Crossing quite regularly
to and from Wembley, Rugby and Crewe.
I think you have done the right thing to report the incident as it says in Section B of our Holy Bible (The Rule Book)

As Local Signal Boxes have been replaced with Modern Power Boxes,
So have the people who used to be able to get Trains stopped!!!

After I leave Colchester Southbound you are probably the last Person who could spot a defect with my Train.
(OR WHO WOULD BE INTRESTED IN)

After you we soon come under Liverpool St Power Box Control and they cant see any problems from London.

Where as before you had Marks Tey Box, then Witham, then Chelmsford, then Igatestone, and Shenfield all with Signal persons who could get the Train Stopped easy.

On the other hand those 2 Speed orders in your area are a real pain!
As there is one on both the Up Main Line (40mph which was reduced from 60mph) and one through Colchester Station on the Down Main Line (20mph reduced from 40mph)

It's about time Network Rail realized that there is more Railway than the West Coast Mainline and got some work done on it's East Anglia Zone.

Anyway I think an Anglia Set would use your Crossing as a Braking Point for Colchester Station in the Down Direction, I did when I worked for Great Eastern the Signals are normally Yellow there anyway as we often Terminated in Platform 1 at Colchester.

If you see anything wrong with my Freightliner get me stopped as some of the stuff we have on board would make your Hair curl!

It's sad that again the off cost(who's paying for the delay) rises above safety.

Anyway Congratulations in Passing Out(Next Stop A Signalman Up The Box At Colchester or LVST)?


Gary.......................................

Hi,

Thanks everyone for their support, i thought i was doing the right thing, allthough ill remember for next time and f*ck the people up the Col PSB.

Only joking most of 'em are a good bunch

As for my next step up i want to be a driver, either for a frieght company or passenger.

Gary, if you could give me any information about what you need or what its like to be a driver that would be great. As far as i know you have to be 21 and have a full UK driving leicence with good concentration.

Thanks

Dan

Gary, if you could give me any information about what you need or what its like to be a driver that would be great. As far as i know you have to be 21 and have a full UK driving leicence with good concentration.

You need to be 21 and in good health. You also have to pass their wonderful assesment. Drivers Licence is not required (for my line at least) but some companies may want it.

I'd love to change over to freight, but I couldn't handle the hours!

I was down at Barnham, in the wonderful 3rd rail land, recently. I saw what might have been a VEP, although I suspect I may have been wrong, leaving towards Portsmouth. I was watching it, and it looked like something blew up at the back of the train. I then looked at the track and noticed the rail not there then.

Now I'm not an expert on 3rd rail and how the trains on it works (I'd rather be a 43 expert though, which I consider myself to be), but it seems abnormal for that to happen. I didn't report it because I only use the railway as a passenger, unfortunately not as a worker, so had no idea what to do. I never heard nothing happen after so I guessed everything was OK.

I don't blame you for reporting it. I would have done in your position. Just out of interest, what are these grades you and SCT mention?

To be a driver, you have to be at least 21 (and there's only one driver that I know of at 21), have brilliant eyesight and perfect concentration (that might let me down a bit, although if I don't have a PC with me in the cab to distract me, I reckon I'd do fine). Don't know if FGW require you to have a drivers license (I'd better get mine quickly), but it would be daft, to be able to drive a train and not allowed to drive a car.

A wage of £32,000 with FGW (as of summer 2003) makes me most interested...

Wouldn't mind knowing about those grades, and how you get onto getting them.

To be a driver, you have to be at least 21 (and there's only one driver that I know of at 21), have brilliant eyesight and perfect concentration

You don't quite need brilliant eyesight. You need to have perfect vision with glasses if needed. You also have to be able to read the top 2 lines of an eye chart from 3 meters WITHOUT glasses.

Experienced Drivers pay on c2c is £31,000. When someone passes out they earn somewhere in the mid to high 20s for the first couple of years.

Ah yes, the part about glasses I didn't think of. At least I've got that under my belt then. The chances of me ever becoming a driver then are becoming more likely!

My perscription is -5 in each eye and I can pass the test.

I am very lucky that glasses correct my eyesight 100%.