Railway General Knowledge.

[Cowley]

37425?

 

[xotGD]

37 421

37425

Neither of those.

 

[Cowley]

I’m going to go for 37424 then? I seem to remember that some of the 37/4s were from the late numbered Welsh ones.

 

[xotGD]

I’m going to go for 37424 then? I seem to remember that some of the 37/4s were from the late numbered Welsh ones.

Not that one, but it is an ETH example.

 

[Whistler40145]

Does this loco still exist?

 

[xotGD]

Does this loco still exist?

It wouldn't be operational on the mainline if it didn't exist!

 

[Whistler40145]

I’ll try 37418

 

[xotGD]

I’ll try 37418

Sorry no.

It was 37307 prior to refurbishment, but what is it now?

 

[Whistler40145]

37403 aka D6607 and 37307

 

[xotGD]

37403 aka D6607 and 37307

That's the one.

Your turn to displace steam heat on the West Highland Line...

 

[Whistler40145]

That's the one.

Your turn to displace steam heat on the West Highland Line...

I declare Open Floor

 

[Purple Train]

I've been watching slightly too much Only Connect, so here's one:

What comes fourth in the following sequence:

London Bridge - London Euston - London Paddington - ?

 

[Spamcan81]

London St Pancras?

 

[Peterthegreat]

Waterloo.

 

[Purple Train]

Neither of those are the answer I'm looking for.

 

[Kentish RYS]

Is it ages of London Terminal Stations? I don't know the 4th without searching if it is

 

[Kentish RYS]

4th station I found with a quick duckduckgo.com search, spoiled incase that isn't allowed so people can carry on ignoring it

Spoiler: 4th station

Fenchurch Street

 

[Gloster]

4th station I found with a quick duckduckgo.com search, spoiled incase that isn't allowed so people can carry on ignoring it

I am not the moderator, but I take the attitude that you have to know something in your head or work it out, rather than look it up. I think it is just about acceptable to check the spelling of something if you think it is the answer, but no more. It is a knowledge quiz, not a ‘who is quickest at looking things up on the Interweb-thingy’ quiz.

 

[Kentish RYS]

I am not the moderator, but I take the attitude that you have to know something in your head or work it out, rather than look it up. I think it is just about acceptable to check the spelling of something if you think it is the answer, but no more. It is a knowledge quiz, not a ‘who is quickest at looking things up on the Interweb-thingy’ quiz.

Yeah I was getting that feeling but checked the 1st post and it didn't say

 

[xotGD]

Mornington Crescent

 

[Purple Train]

Apologies - I didn't think this would be too strenuous a question. Most of the ones here seem to be about specific locomotives which are completely arcane to me but then I'm a 21st-century child...

So apologies for setting that. The connection is indeed London Terminals stations in the order of being built, as Kentish RYS has identified: if it is too difficult a question then I'd be happy to give the floor to them because they're most of the way there, and if I'd structured it as a first-round Only Connect question then they'd get the points.

 

[Kentish RYS]

A one that may be a bit tricky/technical as I just have a few minutes on a tea break to think of a question, but I'll take any of the currently correct answers:

As per the latest ERTMS TSI (that is 4.0.0) how many levels of ETCS are there. Maybe helpful to name them if you have a single digit answer

(acronyms explained in post below, sorry I wrote it without thinking)

 

[xotGD]

I have no idea what the question is talking about, but I won't let that put me off:

8

 

[Kentish RYS]

Sorry in work mode there. European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) has in its TSI (Technical Standards for Interoperability - I think) that details all the standards for How ERTMS and component bits such as ETCS (European Train Control, the Train Control bit) GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway, the current radio bit) and the incorporated national legacy Train Protection/Control systems are to behave and talk to each other for interoperability.

Version 4.0.0 is the latest from 2023

Levels is used in ETCS to describe how to train & trackside talk (with radios, balises - 4 foot equipment, think modern version of AWS magnets/TPWS ariels) and the level of driver supervision the system gives to the driver.

The question is interesting (to me) as there is more than one right answer and one that is wrong due to a change in version 4.0.0

It is a specific one but ETCS will be more and more common so I thought it'd be interesting, even if I end up having to give the answer in a couple of says if no one knows)

 

[xotGD]

So 8 isn't correct then?

 

[Ashley Hill]

I’ll try 12 but the way technology upgrades work that could be wrong by tomorrow morning.

 

[DerekC]

Well, up to version 4 there were three, I think. All provide full ATP.

Level 1- communication between track and train by balise (or Euroloop) - applied over conventional signalling.
Level 2 - communication between track and train by radio (GSM-R in older installations, now migrating to LTE). Can be applied with our without lineside signals but retains track based train detection. Balises carry out a beacon function for onboard odometry
Level 3 - as Level 2 but eliminates track based train detection and cannot be used with lineside signals. Capable of being configured in "virtual block" or "moving block" modes.

Level 0 is also used to indicate driver responsible mode.
Level NTC has also been used to describe a mode in which the national protection system (AWS/TPWS in GB) is active

I don't think the last two are in the official Spec.

There is also a configuration that is a hybrid of Level 2 and Level 3, where track based train detection is eliminated on plain track but retained for switches & crossings, but as far as i know it doesn't have a Level descriptor.

I will be interested to know what Level 4 has introduced.

 

[Kentish RYS]

So 8 isn't correct then?

Unfortunately not

I’ll try 12 but the way technology upgrades work that could be wrong by tomorrow morning.

Closest so far to the 'Unconventional' answer but still a way off

Well, up to version 4 there were three, I think. All provide full ATP.

Level 1- communication between track and train by balise (or Euroloop) - applied over conventional signalling.
Level 2 - communication between track and train by radio (GSM-R in older installations, now migrating to LTE). Can be applied with our without lineside signals but retains track based train detection. Balises carry out a beacon function for onboard odometry
Level 3 - as Level 2 but eliminates track based train detection and cannot be used with lineside signals. Capable of being configured in "virtual block" or "moving block" modes.

Level 0 is also used to indicate driver responsible mode.
Level NTC has also been used to describe a mode in which the national protection system (AWS/TPWS in GB) is active

I don't think the last two are in the official Spec.

There is also a configuration that is a hybrid of Level 2 and Level 3, where track based train detection is eliminated on plain track but retained for switches & crossings, but as far as i know it doesn't have a Level descriptor.

I will be interested to know what Level 4 has introduced.

You're thinking/heading the wrong way there [hint].

Unrelated extra info for those who don't know the way around this new ETCS 'stuff' The 4.0.0 is just the newest set of standards effectively, not related to a level. Cambrian is level 2 and is 2.4.0d but ECML will be level 2 but is 3.6.0 (as the latest at the time of spec). The version isn't really relevant to anyone other than engineers/operators making sure the train and trackside will understand each other (or people setting a trivia question and pinning it down to the current set of standards). From memory one of the things appearing in 4.0.0 is a data packet that functions effectively like a drivers white light for automatic crossings, a train on 2.4.0d wouldn't know what this information means as it wasn't in the standard .

Last bit of a hint is Level 0 and Level NTC have parts in the standards about level transitions and for Level NTC, which NTC system it is. There may be more, but they are definitely in there (and in the list of Levels each mode is used in), and for operators they are a level. A bit like how things are modes you might not expect, like No Power are modes.

 

[xotGD]

20

 

[Kentish RYS]

20

More than double to get to the 'unusual' answer or less than a quarter for the 'conventional' one! @DerekC was very close to that