Recent content by thecrofter

You can't screenshot the actual photo railcard - not on an iPhone anyway. You get a blank screen.

Don’t think the robot put up the bonnet strut though

Interesting that the car still appears to be locked (door mirror folded) but the bonnet is open. No sign of debris in front of the car so wonder if it was opened by the robot or manual intervention?

If an "Emergency Switch off" had been requested (and agreed by the ECR - not all are), the procedure is to drop the feeder breaker to open the section to the midpoint. This would also kill any bare feeders/ATF. Of course that's not an Isolation (with Earthing) which would be effected somewhat...

Here's a nugget from my archives. Original 1963 Euston - Manchester - Liverpool Electrification Major Switching Diagram (what we'd now call a Major Feeding Diagram). A few amendments over the years but last updated 1993 for Manchester Airport / Heald Green. Hope it's readable as it was a large...

That was indeed the source for my cryptic comment in post #169. With the advent of Solid State Interlocking (SSI), the backup Signalling Supply Transformers couldn't maintain a constant enough output for SSI with the wide variations in the OLE supply. Back in the 1990's, a trial was conducted...

As Elecman says. They were hurriedly introduced by WCRM as a Safety Case requirement before Virgin was allowed to introduce the Class 390 fleet in the 2008 VHF timetable. There were two Dampers per electrical feeding section (one for redundancy) to lessen the effects of the Pendolino generated...

Yes Acton Lane was fully converted to SMOS (structure mounted outdoor switchgear) to cover both WCML and NLL. As for other K11 sites still in use (as TSC's), mostly in the West Midlands area, which technically comes under West Coast South jurisdiction. These being: Coventry, Berkswell, Marston...

The attached extract from the Euston area feeding diagram (Normal feeding) from circa 2008 might throw some light on some of your questions above. Wood---d Close is Woodyard Close TSL. The Violet supply is Acton Lane Feeder - F2. Orange (for North Pole Depot) is from Old Oak Common No.1 Feeder...

This was the view from our Son's bedroom window during the build of TV4 at Handsacre. Now I love to see trains passing by but this monstrosity...!!

Just going through my old photos from the end of West Coast Route Mods days and came across these taken in November 2009 of the mimic panels at Willesden ECR, after its closure. Not great quality but hopefully someone will find them of interest.

I seem to recall there was an expectation for lineside staff to use them as a means of crossing a 4 track main line without having to take line blocks. All went downhill when it was realised that "working at height regulations" came into play to climb them thereby necessitating staff to have the...

Known as a Supplementary Conductor.

That's a very specialised question for here. Do you have the excellent book by Garry Keenor on 'Overhead Line Electrification of Railways'? He is the Professional Head of Electrification for AtkinsRealis and knows everything there is to know about the design of OLE/OCS. You can download a free...

I can fill in one of your blanks (?) - Moss Nook / Heald Green Grid Supply Transformer is 18MVA. Found an old Norweb drawing from year 2000 which I assume is still applicable. As for Ardwick Neutral Section, your assumption of it being a means to isolate the Hadfield / Glossop lines is correct.