If tracks buckle

[Mag_seven]

Looks to be on the up Goods just south of Kingmoor, so not top priority for relaying I would imagine.

No the picture looks like the main line out of Platform 3 looking north to me.

 

[HSTEd]

Could you not clip PVC pipe to the side of the rail web, which could have water circulated through them to suppress temperature spikes during the summer? The water-antifreeze mixture could potentially be used during the winter to help keep point machines from icing up.

 

[Ploughman]

A new target for tampers.

 

[AndrewE]

Could you not clip PVC pipe to the side of the rail web,

Unfortunately the heat transfer from a flat steel web to a circular cross-section tube will be minimal. Also I'm afraid the railway can't even maintain the kit it has now, let alone something new that will only be used a few weeks twice a year at most! Maybe better to install "simple" water sprays - except that they will only be needed for a week in high summer (some years) so the chances of them still working when needed are even less. And that's if there is a power and water supply available!

 

[Bald Rick]

Could you not clip PVC pipe to the side of the rail web, which could have water circulated through them to suppress temperature spikes during the summer? The water-antifreeze mixture could potentially be used during the winter to help keep point machines from icing up.

Ah, but will stop the pipe expanding / contracting, causing the joints to break and the cooling fluid to leak out?

 

[HSTEd]

Unfortunately the heat transfer from a flat steel web to a circular cross-section tube will be minimal. Also I'm afraid the railway can't even maintain the kit it has now, let alone something new that will only be used a few weeks twice a year at most! Maybe better to install "simple" water sprays - except that they will only be needed for a week in high summer (some years) so the chances of them still working when needed are even less. And that's if there is a power and water supply available!

Sprays can also be used in winter to thaw track and equipment, and are used for these purposes on a couple of Shinkansen routes for the purposes of melting snow building up on the tracks!

 

[30907]

No the picture looks like the main line out of Platform 3 looking north to me.

Apologies, should have taken closer look at satellite view.
But a low speed section anyway.

 

[Lucan]

So, ... jointed bullhead on wood - nuff said.

Mr Locke, was it not yourself who invented that type of track?

 

[moggie]

I think the aspect restriction in SSI can only be done by the technician, although it would be possible to add more data so the signaller could operate a control that restricted all signals in a particular area to no better than single yellow for example.

It would also be possible to add switchable speed "boards", probably similar to theatre route indicators or the speed indications in German signalling which I think are clear enough to be visible to approaching trains at any speed. These could even, in theory, be enforceable by extra TPWS loops. However it would need a change to the rule book and would obviously be quite a lot of safety-critical alteration especially if the nearby trackside modules don't have spare connections.

Indeed. Temporary approach control (from red) can only be applied by the technician per signal (i.e. not per route from that signal). If it were to be used it would require a list of specific locations where a TSR was required for a signalling technician to then work out which signals would need restricting and then as a vital safety control would need checking to ensure the application met the TSR requirement. Therefore probably impractical from an implementation pov.
Restriction of aspects to a specific colour (e.g. yellow) is an altogether different problem. That can only be performed in bespoke data with presumably a corresponding application and removal device involving similar provision in the control centre software? In fact when axle counter with conditional reset was first introduced Aspect Restriction to yellow after reset was experimented with for a trial period. This was abandoned after a short period in favour of Aspect Restriction to red. The reasons are unimportant to this subject but I'm not sure an intended control which involved a driver passing what may be an extended series of consecutive yellow signals would go down well in the context of increased SPAD risk.

As for ETCS. It's a similar issue. Someone has to be able to correlate the TSR locations and speeds as advised by the Pway to enable download into the day's signalling control database. If the TSR is part time - i.e. not required once the rail temperature has dropped below the threshold then the signaller must have the means via their control equipment to disengage the TSR? That presumably requires a device contained in the system operation. And of course, the signaller could only perform a blanket disengagement when instructed or alternatively if the TSR is to remain in some places for longer there would have to be a similar process to inform and check withdrawal of the TSR from the appropriate locations. Presumably any such TSR provision would require a pre-planned provision over pre-defined movement authority sections within the ETCS software which could be applied and removed as defined by the Pway engineer - similar to say EPR applications but with its own rule set of course.

 

[Joseph_Locke]

Mr Locke, was it not yourself who invented that type of track?

Harumph. My error was even worse - double headed rail.

Tho' it pains me dearly, that Vignoles chap got it right, and we Brits comprehensively ignored him for nigh on 100 years. As if a continental could do better, I ask you; we go over there and tell them what to do and that's the gratitude you get. It's not as if UIC turnouts are a better design than RT60 ... ah ... err ... well .. what was I saying?

 

[Ships]

Harumph. My error was even worse - double headed rail.

Tho' it pains me dearly, that Vignoles chap got it right, and we Brits comprehensively ignored him for nigh on 100 years. As if a continental could do better, I ask you; we go over there and tell them what to do and that's the gratitude you get. It's not as if UIC turnouts are a better design than RT60 ... ah ... err ... well .. what was I saying?

It's ok NR60 MK2 might fix that....for.double the price :/

 

[edwin_m]

Indeed. Temporary approach control (from red) can only be applied by the technician per signal (i.e. not per route from that signal). If it were to be used it would require a list of specific locations where a TSR was required for a signalling technician to then work out which signals would need restricting and then as a vital safety control would need checking to ensure the application met the TSR requirement. Therefore probably impractical from an implementation pov.

I also wonder if the traction and braking forces from all that slowing down and speeding up might not make the risk of buckling worse.

Restriction of aspects to a specific colour (e.g. yellow) is an altogether different problem. That can only be performed in bespoke data with presumably a corresponding application and removal device involving similar provision in the control centre software?

Yes. It's a long time since I did any SSI data but I think you'd put an if-then statement for each signal immediately after the aspect sequencing, setting it back to yellow if it is less restrictive than yellow and a certain latch is set (or perhaps unset). There would then be a panel request to set and to unset each latch, operated by a button on the screen.

 

[Joseph_Locke]

I also wonder if the traction and braking forces from all that slowing down and speeding up might not make the risk of buckling worse.

There is a rolling effect prevalent on hills where these forces, over time, cause the rail to move "downhill", causing very high SFTs at the top and very low SFTs at the bottom - the newer high toe load fastenings like e+ and Fastclip slow this process a little (it used to be a job in itself to fix in the SHC/BJB/Mills era) and the fix is to let some rail in at the top and re-stress at the bottom.