Train Station Question: What's this for?
Discussion
marshalla said:
It'll be here ( http://railfoto.fotopic.net/ ) somewhere
I recall seeing those things - aren't they on the underground though, not the mainline?I'm curious now too!
I assumed that they set the height of the track for ballasting crews so that train floors were at about the right height for passengers to get on and off without needing climbing gear.
No idea if this is right but you only see these things below platforms. They only appeared locally in the 90's and we seemed to survive until then without them.
No idea if this is right but you only see these things below platforms. They only appeared locally in the 90's and we seemed to survive until then without them.
They're everywhere. I asked a Network Rail employee what they were once and got the definitive answer... but I can't remember exactly what it is now. I believe the red slider is positioned at a height equal to the top of the railhead. In the event of these devices being on a banked curve it's placed relative to the height of the highest railhead... but I could be wrong!
DrTre said:
What's a railhead?
I never did find that out, but 'slippery rail head' formed part of the useless buggers' excuse when they stranded me for hours due to what could, if generous, be described as 'a bit of frost'. I answered that it sounded like their employees were having a bloody sight more fun than their paying customers, which they didn't seem to like...
Dogwatch said:
I assumed that they set the height of the track for ballasting crews so that train floors were at about the right height for passengers to get on and off without needing climbing gear.
No idea if this is right but you only see these things below platforms. They only appeared locally in the 90's and we seemed to survive until then without them.
Yeah that's what I always thought, they look like they are there to be adjusted height wise rather than be connected to something electrical.No idea if this is right but you only see these things below platforms. They only appeared locally in the 90's and we seemed to survive until then without them.
Driller said:
Yeah that's what I always thought, they look like they are there to be adjusted height wise rather than be connected to something electrical.
Yeah, the red square is a little slider that can be pushed up and down and indicates the height of the highest railhead. The number '0' near the bottom of the white square in the OP's pic varies and, I think, indicates the difference between the height of the higher railhead and the lower one in the event of a banked curve. Could be wrong about that though, and not sure what the four digit number at the top of the white square indicates.Theres are called Datum Plates
They are used on the railway as a means of informing maintenance crews what the track should be like.
The red block means that the track is not to design, sometimes there is a green block this means it is to current design.
The top left empty sections would usually indicate the structure and number. For example if if that was 30 metres down the platform (They are spaced every 10 meters) it would be number 3. They also have numbering for plates of of platforms, eg. Gantrys, Over Bridges, Underbridges and other places.
The number 1023 would indicate how far away the block is away from the outside edge of the rail. Its in millimetres.
The red squares with the letters indicate what line it is referring to, UF means up fast, so i would assume the station your in has 4 lines?
If your interested its always referenced to a up U or down D railway line. There's main,fast,slow,goods,loop,relief and some other names for lines.
The 0 indicates that the cant or super elevation of the track is 0.
Cant for anyone interested is the difference in height from one rail to the other, with a maximum of a 150 mm cant.
The number next to the cross on the left indicates the hight of the block.
Hope that helps
They are used on the railway as a means of informing maintenance crews what the track should be like.
The red block means that the track is not to design, sometimes there is a green block this means it is to current design.
The top left empty sections would usually indicate the structure and number. For example if if that was 30 metres down the platform (They are spaced every 10 meters) it would be number 3. They also have numbering for plates of of platforms, eg. Gantrys, Over Bridges, Underbridges and other places.
The number 1023 would indicate how far away the block is away from the outside edge of the rail. Its in millimetres.
The red squares with the letters indicate what line it is referring to, UF means up fast, so i would assume the station your in has 4 lines?
If your interested its always referenced to a up U or down D railway line. There's main,fast,slow,goods,loop,relief and some other names for lines.
The 0 indicates that the cant or super elevation of the track is 0.
Cant for anyone interested is the difference in height from one rail to the other, with a maximum of a 150 mm cant.
The number next to the cross on the left indicates the hight of the block.
Hope that helps
Ross1988 said:
Theres are called Datum Plates
They are used on the railway as a means of informing maintenance crews what the track should be like.
The red block means that the track is not to design, sometimes there is a green block this means it is to current design.
The top left empty sections would usually indicate the structure and number. For example if if that was 30 metres down the platform (They are spaced every 10 meters) it would be number 3. They also have numbering for plates of of platforms, eg. Gantrys, Over Bridges, Underbridges and other places.
The number 1023 would indicate how far away the block is away from the outside edge of the rail. Its in millimetres.
The red squares with the letters indicate what line it is referring to, UF means up fast, so i would assume the station your in has 4 lines?
If your interested its always referenced to a up U or down D railway line. There's main,fast,slow,goods,loop,relief and some other names for lines.
The 0 indicates that the cant or super elevation of the track is 0.
Cant for anyone interested is the difference in height from one rail to the other, with a maximum of a 150 mm cant.
The number next to the cross on the left indicates the hight of the block.
Hope that helps
Thanks for the info folks, especially Ross1988 - kinda makes sense now. The station I was at only has 2 lines, and the plates seemed to be every 2M (roughly) though.They are used on the railway as a means of informing maintenance crews what the track should be like.
The red block means that the track is not to design, sometimes there is a green block this means it is to current design.
The top left empty sections would usually indicate the structure and number. For example if if that was 30 metres down the platform (They are spaced every 10 meters) it would be number 3. They also have numbering for plates of of platforms, eg. Gantrys, Over Bridges, Underbridges and other places.
The number 1023 would indicate how far away the block is away from the outside edge of the rail. Its in millimetres.
The red squares with the letters indicate what line it is referring to, UF means up fast, so i would assume the station your in has 4 lines?
If your interested its always referenced to a up U or down D railway line. There's main,fast,slow,goods,loop,relief and some other names for lines.
The 0 indicates that the cant or super elevation of the track is 0.
Cant for anyone interested is the difference in height from one rail to the other, with a maximum of a 150 mm cant.
The number next to the cross on the left indicates the hight of the block.
Hope that helps
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