Acton whistle board

[Hayes]

Can anyone tell me why there's a whistle board at Acton cutting?

It's on the eastbound 'local' track, so it's trains that have stopped at Ealing or Acton Main Line that have to sound their horns.

I don't mean the stock answer for why whistle boards exist, I mean the actual reason for that specific whistle board.

I can't see how any of the normal rules apply (curvature, crossing etc).

Can anyone set me straight?

Why and when did it go up?

Any ideas?

 

[scotsman]

Can anyone tell me why there's a whistle board at Acton cutting?

It's on the eastbound 'local' track, so it's trains that have stopped at Ealing or Acton Main Line that have to sound their horns.

I don't mean the stock answer for why whistle boards exist, I mean the actual reason for that specific whistle board.

I can't see how any of the normal rules apply (curvature, crossing etc).

Can anyone set me straight?

Why and when did it go up?

Any ideas?

That'd be the Up Slow there...hmm, any freight sidings around there?

 

[Hydro]

Up relief heading towards Padd, Mr Quail says there's a reception road for the Western Access into OOC. I think I know the area you mean, I've heard the trains blowing up as we've waited to come off the Poplar lines.

 

[Mojo]

That'd be the Up Slow there...hmm, any freight sidings around there?

Slow lines on the Western!? Never heard such ignorance

 

[Hydro]

It's probably for the benefit for the ground staff at OOC working around the reception road. Though I'd have thought that was well suited to a fixed warning system such as TOWS. I believe that's why such a system exists at Micheldever, a hang over from the days of shunters prepping oil trains adjacent to the mainline.

 

[paulravuslante]

Can anyone tell me why there's a whistle board at Acton cutting?

It's on the eastbound 'local' track, so it's trains that have stopped at Ealing or Acton Main Line that have to sound their horns.

I don't mean the stock answer for why whistle boards exist, I mean the actual reason for that specific whistle board.

I can't see how any of the normal rules apply (curvature, crossing etc).

Can anyone set me straight?

Why and when did it go up?

Any ideas?

Why do you believe that normal rules don't apply? The up relief line that the board applies to is right up against the wall on the north side of the cutting (the Poplar lines are above) and it curves around to the left. Having recently been in a cab on a train travellingup that line I can say it's impossible to see around that corner when traveling on the up relief. Given there is also limited clearance in the cutting, I think it makes sense to have the board there to warn anybody who might happen to be on or near the up relief line.

 

[Hydro]

Given there is also limited clearance in the cutting, I think it makes sense to have the board there to warn anybody who might happen to be on or near the up relief line.

I hope no one is on or near the line in the cutting, I believe it is red zone working prohibited due to the limited clearances and curvature.

 

[Hayes]

Why do you believe that normal rules don't apply? The up relief line that the board applies to is right up against the wall on the north side of the cutting (the Poplar lines are above) and it curves around to the left. Having recently been in a cab on a train travellingup that line I can say it's impossible to see around that corner when traveling on the up relief. Given there is also limited clearance in the cutting, I think it makes sense to have the board there to warn anybody who might happen to be on or near the up relief line.

Be good to know which up relief line you're talking about. You mean the freight line that curves north, east of Western Avenue/A40?

Okay so if it's a safety measure for that up relief line, then why is the whistle board on the main commuter line, not the up relief line?

 

[OxtedL]

I believe relief is the posh (cough) term for slow lines on the great western, if that clears anything up. Or maybe I'm misinterpreting this as some kind of misinterpretation...?

 

[paulravuslante]

Be good to know which up relief line you're talking about. You mean the freight line that curves north, east of Western Avenue/A40?

Okay so if it's a safety measure for that up relief line, then why is the whistle board on the main commuter line, not the up relief line?

I believe relief is the posh (cough) term for slow lines on the great western, if that clears anything up. Or maybe I'm misinterpreting this as some kind of misinterpretation...?

Yes OxtedL, the relief lines are indeed the 'slow' lines (as other areas call them). They're normally used by Turbos on stopping services and Heathrow Connect trains. The main lines (or fast lines if you prefer) are normally used by HSTs, Turbos on limited stop services and Heathrow Express trains. The whistle board *was* sighted on the up (towards Paddington) relief/slow line. I explained above that when you come around that bend and you've got the wall (which carries the Freight / Poplar lines to link up with the NLL) on your left you can't really see anything beyond the bend. I was speaking to a colleague about this yesterday who agreed that was probably the reason for that whistle board's existance.

Note that I said was above, because as of the beginning of April the whistle board has mysteriously disappeared. Our WONs say that it has been 'recovered' (along with one on the Greenford branch apparantly), but doesn't give any reason for its removal. The main / fast lines were closed all day yesterday for engineering works in the cutting, so perhaps it was removed as a consideration for the workers there who didn't want to be deafened every few minutes. We'll have to see if it gets reinstated or not as to whether it should have really been there for any valid reason.

 

[kestrel]

Be good to know which up relief line you're talking about. You mean the freight line that curves north, east of Western Avenue/A40?

Okay so if it's a safety measure for that up relief line, then why is the whistle board on the main commuter line, not the up relief line?

There is only one UP relief line to Pad
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Can anyone tell me why there's a whistle board at Acton cutting?

It's on the eastbound 'local' track, so it's trains that have stopped at Ealing or Acton Main Line that have to sound their horns.

I don't mean the stock answer for why whistle boards exist, I mean the actual reason for that specific whistle board.

I can't see how any of the normal rules apply (curvature, crossing etc).

Can anyone set me straight?

Why and when did it go up?

Any ideas?

Its been up since the steam days, the UR is a blind curve with the 'Whistle' board providing protection for any track workers in Acton cutting

 

[Hayes]

Yes OxtedL, the relief lines are indeed the 'slow' lines (as other areas call them). They're normally used by Turbos on stopping services and Heathrow Connect trains. The main lines (or fast lines if you prefer) are normally used by HSTs, Turbos on limited stop services and Heathrow Express trains. The whistle board *was* sighted on the up (towards Paddington) relief/slow line. I explained above that when you come around that bend and you've got the wall (which carries the Freight / Poplar lines to link up with the NLL) on your left you can't really see anything beyond the bend. I was speaking to a colleague about this yesterday who agreed that was probably the reason for that whistle board's existance.

Note that I said was above, because as of the beginning of April the whistle board has mysteriously disappeared. Our WONs say that it has been 'recovered' (along with one on the Greenford branch apparantly), but doesn't give any reason for its removal. The main / fast lines were closed all day yesterday for engineering works in the cutting, so perhaps it was removed as a consideration for the workers there who didn't want to be deafened every few minutes. We'll have to see if it gets reinstated or not as to whether it should have really been there for any valid reason.

Cheers for this. I now understand that the up relief line is the line that carries trains into Paddington from Acton Mainline and Ealing and beyond (the 'slow' trains). However I still don't get why people are talking about a bend in the track when referring to the relief line to Paddington. The track looks pretty straight to me on Google Maps. But then I don't drive trains. I don't know what it looks like from the cab. And could you mark where Acton Cutting is on a Google Map? Or describe exactly where it is?

 

[kestrel]

Cheers for this. I now understand that the up relief line is the line that carries trains into Paddington from Acton Mainline and Ealing and beyond (the 'slow' trains). However I still don't get why people are talking about a bend in the track when referring to the relief line to Paddington. The track looks pretty straight to me on Google Maps. But then I don't drive trains. I don't know what it looks like from the cab. And could you mark where Acton Cutting is on a Google Map? Or describe exactly where it is?

if we all used googlemaps to drive trains then gawd help us!

The curve is a quite a sharp one as you leave acton ML stn in the UP direction

 

[paulravuslante]

Cheers for this. I now understand that the up relief line is the line that carries trains into Paddington from Acton Mainline and Ealing and beyond (the 'slow' trains). However I still don't get why people are talking about a bend in the track when referring to the relief line to Paddington. The track looks pretty straight to me on Google Maps. But then I don't drive trains. I don't know what it looks like from the cab. And could you mark where Acton Cutting is on a Google Map? Or describe exactly where it is?

Acton cutting is between Acton Mainline and the bridge which carries the North London Line over the Great Western Line.