Network rail logic

[P5BNij]

2xChevrons said:

Rick101 said:

Whilst you're not on a particulally busy line, the Joint is a key diversionary route and will need to be maintained to a standard to remain so.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Northern_and_G...

A tangent but:

I do find it remarkable how long names and terms linger on the railway. I'm in north Cambridgeshire and the Doncaster-Lincoln-Spalding route is still referred to as 'The Joint' nearly a century after it ceased to be a joint line. I mean, why not, since that's what it was called and everyone who needs to knows what it means, but it's an interesting artefact.

An old railwayman I once interviewed for a magazine article said that in Gloucester there was a pub just down the road from the depot which, even in the early 1980s, had a bar half painted red and half painted green as a legacy of when Gloucester was the meeting point between the Midland and GWR systems. Thirty five years after nationalisation and a century after Gloucester had ceased to be a 'border' between the two companies' territories, he - based at Toton - was still told in very strong language to stay up the red end of the bar.

It was just the same at Shrewsbury where the LMS and GWR loco sheds were next door to each other, woe betide anyone who stepped 'over the border' by mistake. In BR days our mess room at the country end of platform 1 at Paddington had a large oak table reserved for Old Oak crews only, complete with a brass plaque telling everyone else to sit somewhere else. Inter depot rivalry was just as bas as inter company rivalry, well into BR days.

[Rick101]

True, the history is very interesting but I'm not a fan of colloquialisms in day to day business.

Too much room for error. From Peterborough via Spalding please. Much clearer in my opinion.

[shed driver]

Are signalmen (signal persons?) still referred to as "Bobbies"? When did signalling cease to be a police duty?

SD.

Just googled and it is because they used to be called Railway Policemen,

[P5BNij]

shed driver said:

Are signalmen (signal persons?) still referred to as "Bobbies"? When did signalling cease to be a police duty?

SD.

'Signaller' is now the term we're supposed to use when on the phone / GSMR, although I still occasionally say Bobbie, some of the regular signallers I deal with have been on the job for decades and we still use the old jargon sometimes, even though it may be recorded, it still 'works' and everyone involved knows what's going on in a given move or instruction. 'Bang road' is one that still gets used a lot on our patch, it's quicker than saying 'make a wrong direction move driver, in the down direction on the up main' etc.

One of the things I find annoying about day to day calls on certain routes I work is the seemingly random four digit numbers for newly installed signals, it's quite a mouthful to have to repeat back over the phone accurately when required to do so and is open to mistakes, a lot of these new signals have replaced old ones with shorter numbers and prefixes.

Edited by P5BNij on Tuesday 30th March 15:02

[Jezzerh]

I don’t know how long you’ve lived there Surveyor but that crossing seems be closed fairly often. I do wonder why they can’t seem to do a job that lasts but then I am assuming that every time they close it they are doing the same work.

There usually seems to be a decent number of people in hi-vis standing around when I walk or drive past so I do wonder if it’s just all a big grift tbh and they do just enough to ensure it will need looking at again a few months later.

I once had to turn back from the pedestrian crossing round the back of Harvey Close as there was a crew ‘repairing’ said crossing. There were 8 guys. On a Sunday. And only 2 of them looked to be completing any sort of activity.

I know I’m a cynical sod!

Edited by Jezzerh on Tuesday 30th March 23:17

[dhutch]

Sounds like our road. They are currently replacing it at around 1x150m section per 6months.

Full job, grade it out till you are making a mess of the underlying cobbles, clip a few of the gully stones at the edge, prang an iron work, and then hor roll a good thick layer of fresh tarmac, re do all of the lines.

Normal when I walk/ride past, none of the equipment is moving, and there are around 10 blokes standing around doing nothing, presumably waiting for the waggon to return from taking away the spoil or bringing the hot tar, because the only lorry I have ever seen is the road sweeper which appears to wait watching the job like some sort of rotund noo-noo!

Another cracker is that for some reason the roadwork signs for any road closures around here (Wirral) come from Manchester.
So a guy in a 10m long waggon (down plated to 3.5 ton to it can only ever carry load on about 1/3 of the bed) drives over in the morning, puts the signs out for everyone, and they sits in the van cab for the entire day, till is spends another 20mins shuffling them back onto said long wheelbase flatbed, only to repeat it all the next day, for the rest of the week.

Obviously they only work 10 till 3 to avoid causing a disruption, so what should be a day or twos job max, does take literally a whole week.
And always stop 10ft short of the major road leaving an apron of gravel to start and stop on, without then also doing the aprons of minor roads which are all just as bad from the same treatment.

Then without fail about a week after they have been, holes start opening up left right and center in the next section, causing 6 months of driving on the ploughed surface of the moon type road surface, till they repeat.

Assuming the surface lasts around 10-15 years, I reckon this is sustainable indefinitely.


Daniel

Rant over. Certainly not cynical!

[ZymoTech]

shed driver said:

Are signalmen (signal persons?) still referred to as "Bobbies"? When did signalling cease to be a police duty?

SD.

Just googled and it is because they used to be called Railway Policemen,

The origins of the "Bobby" name go right back to the early days of the railways in the 19th century when genuine policemen were employed to stand at the lineside to operate rudimentary signal posts or to display flags to drivers. As policemen were known then as "Bobbies", after Sir Robert Peel, eventually through the passage of time the nick-name transferred across to refer to signalmen.

[MoggieMinor]

P5BNij said:

shed driver said:

Are signalmen (signal persons?) still referred to as "Bobbies"? When did signalling cease to be a police duty?

SD.

'Signaller' is now the term we're supposed to use when on the phone / GSMR, although I still occasionally say Bobbie, some of the regular signallers I deal with have been on the job for decades and we still use the old jargon sometimes, even though it may be recorded, it still 'works' and everyone involved knows what's going on in a given move or instruction. 'Bang road' is one that still gets used a lot on our patch, it's quicker than saying 'make a wrong direction move driver, in the down direction on the up main' etc.

One of the things I find annoying about day to day calls on certain routes I work is the seemingly random four digit numbers for newly installed signals, it's quite a mouthful to have to repeat back over the phone accurately when required to do so and is open to mistakes, a lot of these new signals have replaced old ones with shorter numbers and prefixes.

Edited by P5BNij on Tuesday 30th March 15:02

Actually got called Bobby this morning! It is still used quite often, especially for non safety critical conversations. The railway still has plenty of local jargon and terms but calls are regularly downloaded and scored against the required protocols.

I too have never seen the point of the new system of signal numbering. Previously signals were prefixed with the identity of the controlling box, usually by the first and last letter of it's name. Drivers easily knew whose area of control they were in. Now signals are prefixed by line of route so can have the same letters but be controlled by several different signallers.

[surveyor]

Jezzerh said:

I don’t know how long you’ve lived there Surveyor but that crossing seems be closed fairly often. I do wonder why they can’t seem to do a job that lasts but then I am assuming that every time they close it they are doing the same work.

There usually seems to be a decent number of people in hi-vis standing around when I walk or drive past so I do wonder if it’s just all a big grift tbh and they do just enough to ensure it will need looking at again a few months later.

I once had to turn back from the pedestrian crossing round the back of Harvey Close as there was a crew ‘repairing’ said crossing. There were 8 guys. On a Sunday. And only 2 of them looked to be completing any sort of activity.

I know I’m a cynical sod!

Edited by Jezzerh on Tuesday 30th March 23:17

Early days for us.

They did close the road last Tuesday, but there was little noise. Another one tonight. Hopefully a quiet one again! I think they are probably working on the crossing up the line, and using ours as a staging post. Probably be wrong again though!

[surveyor]

More fun and games this week.

Road closure signs Monday Tuesday and Wednesday but no noisy works warning.

Monday night we were woken up By a jack hammer at 1am then went for hours.

Somewhat pissed of i spoke to the head engineer for the area the next day to find that we should have been notified. I make a point that consecutive noisy working actually creates safety issues for neighbours who have to work in the day and are kept awake at night.

And they pull the works. I’m astonished.

I believe they are coming back tonight to compete them. The notification failed again, but an engineer knocked on the door and is going to report back that I’m not the ogre
That they expect.

He also confirmed that the neighbouring signallers are a bit odd!

I look forward to some heavy tamping later..

[dhutch]

surveyor said:

I look forward to some heavy tamping later..

Is that like heavy petting, only firmer?

[AJB88]

surveyor said:

He also confirmed that the neighbouring signallers are a bit odd!

Its not just the neighbouring ones I'm afraid.