Arrivals Platform and Departures Platform

[yorksrob]

Not a terminus station, but at Crowhurst in Sussex, the train from Bexhill West used to deposit its passengers into the up bay for the London train, then shunt over to the down bay to collect them from the Hastings train. This may have lasted into dieselisation in the 1960's.

 

[pdeaves]

As originally built, Reading was a single arrival and departure on the south side of the line. How did that work for through journeys?

 

[Rescars]

As originally built, Reading was a single arrival and departure on the south side of the line. How did that work for through journeys?

This arrangement was not so unusual in the early days. IIRC Cambridge was built like this and coped with just one (very long) through platform until quite recently.

 

[pdeaves]

This arrangement was not so unusual in the early days. IIRC Cambridge was built like this and coped with just one (very long) through platform until quite recently.

For Reading, did a train from Paddington drop passengers at the arrivals platform, then pull forward to collect from the departures platform? In the other direction, would a train have to set back between arrivals and departures platforms?

Places like Cambridge worked with a single platform much better once we allowed arrivals and departures at the same platform.

 

[edwin_m]

Reading was predominantly a through station, certainly in its early days when commuter services would not have operated that far out (or probably at all). Most likely the Down end of the platform would have been used for Down trains and the Up end for Up trains, with bypassing via the non-platform track and mid-platform crossovers where necessary.

 

[Taunton]

Not a terminus station, but at Crowhurst in Sussex, the train from Bexhill West used to deposit its passengers into the up bay for the London train, then shunt over to the down bay to collect them from the Hastings train. This may have lasted into dieselisation in the 1960's.

This was not unknown, Taunton used to work like this, at the west end local services from Minehead, Barnstaple and Exeter arrived on the Up side, either in the bay or in the Up Relief platform. They then shunted back across the layout, and propelled into the Down side bays for departure. In loco hauled days a pilot loco specifically handled this drawing back, whereupon the train loco was released to the shed, but it continued into dmu days.

This shunting back across the main line absorbed quite a lot of main line capacity. On summer Saturdays in particular, to avoid this, trains were diagrammed so these locals from the west drew forward and just backed into the Up bay, to carry on to Bristol or Yeovil, and the equivalent in the Down direction.

 

[30907]

This was not unknown, Taunton used to work like this, at the west end local services from Minehead, Barnstaple and Exeter arrived on the Up side, either in the bay or in the Up Relief platform. They then shunted back across the layout, and propelled into the Down side bays for departure. In loco hauled days a pilot loco specifically handled this drawing back, whereupon the train loco was released to the shed, but it continued into dmu days.

It was common elsewhere: the layout at Brockenhurst and Wareham was set up that way, as was Elmers End originally. At Barnstaple and Okehampton only an Up Main platform was available but the process was the same.

Aberdare is interesting: it's similar to Penryn in having both platforms on one side of the line - convenient geographically and saving on track and passenger access.

 

[D6130]

Not a terminus station, but at Crowhurst in Sussex, the train from Bexhill West used to deposit its passengers into the up bay for the London train, then shunt over to the down bay to collect them from the Hastings train. This may have lasted into dieselisation in the 1960's.

This also happened at Eridge with the Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge trains until closure of the line in the mid-1980s. They would arrive in the Down Loop - now the Spa Valley Railway loop platform - then shunt out and over the crossover at the North end, opposite the signalbox before running back into the Up platforms - now the remaining Network Rail platform - to start away again towards Birchden Junction.

It was during this operation - on the last Wednesday before closure - that an empty class 207 unit was derailed in a spectacular fashion when the over-enthusiastic signalman pulled the crossover points when the train was halfway across them. Result: One car on the Up line, one car derailed on the Down line and the middle one leaning at an acute angle straddling both lines!

 

[yorksrob]

This was not unknown, Taunton used to work like this, at the west end local services from Minehead, Barnstaple and Exeter arrived on the Up side, either in the bay or in the Up Relief platform. They then shunted back across the layout, and propelled into the Down side bays for departure. In loco hauled days a pilot loco specifically handled this drawing back, whereupon the train loco was released to the shed, but it continued into dmu days.

This shunting back across the main line absorbed quite a lot of main line capacity. On summer Saturdays in particular, to avoid this, trains were diagrammed so these locals from the west drew forward and just backed into the Up bay, to carry on to Bristol or Yeovil, and the equivalent in the Down direction.

This also happened at Eridge with the Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge trains until closure of the line in the mid-1980s. They would arrive in the Down Loop - now the Spa Valley Railway loop platform - then shunt out and over the crossover at the North end, opposite the signalbox before running back into the Up platforms - now the remaining Network Rail platform - to start away again towards Birchden Junction.

It was during this operation - on the last Wednesday before closure - that an empty class 207 unit was derailed in a spectacular fashion when the over-enthusiastic signalman pulled the crossover points when the train was halfway across them. Result: One car on the Up line, one car derailed on the Down line and the middle one leaning at an acute angle straddling both lines!

This sort of thing always struck me as a bit inefficient for the dieselised era (particularly as Crowhurst had - and still has, a perfectly good footbridge !

 

[D6130]

This sort of thing always struck me as a bit inefficient for the dieselised era (particularly as Crowhurst had - and still has, a perfectly good footbridge !

True....but the track layouts and signalling were still in the Victorian era!

 

[yorksrob]

True....but the track layouts and signalling were still in the Victorian era!

Yes, a lot of room for rationalisation.

 

[izvor]

This also happened at Eridge with the Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge trains until closure of the line in the mid-1980s. They would arrive in the Down Loop - now the Spa Valley Railway loop platform - then shunt out and over the crossover at the North end, opposite the signalbox before running back into the Up platforms - now the remaining Network Rail platform - to start away again towards Birchden Junction.

This sort of thing always struck me as a bit inefficient for the dieselised era

Also a bit pointless (no pun intended) as someone travelling between (say) Groombridge and London would alight at Eridge, then lug their bags over the footbridge to the other platform, while the train they had just got off lumbered its way across to that very platform. Same on the way back. While someone doing Tunbridge Wells to Crowborough had cross-platform both ways. Still it was fun to watch!

Philosophical question I suppose: do you please half of the people all the time or all the people half of the time?

Answer (in 2025): whichever is cheaper!

 

[yorksrob]

Also a bit pointless (no pun intended) as someone travelling between (say) Groombridge and London would alight at Eridge, then lug their bags over the footbridge to the other platform, while the train they had just got off lumbered its way across to that very platform. Same on the way back. While someone doing Tunbridge Wells to Crowborough had cross-platform both ways. Still it was fun to watch!

Philosophical question I suppose: do you please half of the people all the time or all the people half of the time?

Answer (in 2025): whichever is cheaper!

Answer - you please the permanent way dpt by having fewer platforms and points !

 

[D6130]

Also a bit pointless (no pun intended) as someone travelling between (say) Groombridge and London would alight at Eridge, then lug their bags over the footbridge to the other platform, while the train they had just got off lumbered its way across to that very platform. Same on the way back. While someone doing Tunbridge Wells to Crowborough had cross-platform both ways. Still it was fun to watch!

Philosophical question I suppose: do you please half of the people all the time or all the people half of the time?

Answer (in 2025): whichever is cheaper!

Unfortunately the Down platforms were only signalled in that direction and the crossover points weren't fitted with facing point locks, so you couldn't carry passengers on the shunt move. Just as well in view of what happened that Wednesday afternoon in 1986!