Silly question: Reverse Formation

[DanNCL]

What about the Shipley triangle?

LNER crews don’t sign the third side of the triangle.

 

[methethpropbut]

Why do you prefer backwards out of interest?

I prefer to be pushed into the seat under braking rather than out of the seat. Probably more applicable to buses, where braking is a lot more rough and unpredictable than acceleration compared to trains, but the preference has stuck.

 

[2192]

Which of course would only be half the story - not to mention the fact that most people who couldn’t work out what “reverse formation” meant wouldn’t be able to work out which was “the London end”.

Which is "the London End" at Burton on Trent, where a station announcer announced "reverse formation" for a north bound cross country HST several years ago?! I told some bewildered fellow passengers on the platform it meant first class was at the other end to usual. The train corrected itself at Newcastle.

 

[andythebrave]

Why do you prefer backwards out of interest?

Without wishing to preempt any reply one reason that it is a lot safer in the event of mishap.
It used to be the case (not sure that it still is) that RAF transport aircraft had all their passenger seats facing backwards for that reason.

 

[FGW_DID]

Without wishing to preempt any reply one reason that it is a lot safer in the event of mishap.
It used to be the case (not sure that it still is) that RAF transport aircraft had all their passenger seats facing backwards for that reason.

That was the VC-10 with the rear facing seats. the Tri-Stars were forward facing. The current Voyagers, I believe, are all forward facing but cant confirm as they came into service after I'd finished.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Without wishing to preempt any reply one reason that it is a lot safer in the event of mishap.
It used to be the case (not sure that it still is) that RAF transport aircraft had all their passenger seats facing backwards for that reason.

Well, that sort of depends. You may be protected from the worst of an impact by facing backwards... but you may also get a face full of the person sitting opposite as they are flung forwards!

 

[DelW]

That was the VC-10 with the rear facing seats. the Tri-Stars were forward facing. The current Voyagers, I believe, are all forward facing but cant confirm as they came into service after I'd finished.

I flew on an Air Tanker Voyager (A330) in 2016 and all seating was conventional forward facing. It was pretty similar to any other passenger airliner other than (IIRC) no alcohol on board.

 

[krus_aragon]

Without wishing to preempt any reply one reason that it is a lot safer in the event of mishap.
It used to be the case (not sure that it still is) that RAF transport aircraft had all their passenger seats facing backwards for that reason.

And certain fictional vehicles in the TV show Captain Scarlet: I remember a character noting that the SPV's rear-facing seats had saved his life after a particularly dramatic crash.

 

[andythebrave]

That was the VC-10 with the rear facing seats. the Tri-Stars were forward facing. The current Voyagers, I believe, are all forward facing but cant confirm as they came into service after I'd finished.

Showing my age, it was a VC10 that I flew in (XV109 Arthur Scarf VC) in the mid 70s mostly standing in the flight deck during repeated touch and goes at Brize Norton on a sortie from Lyneham.
Happy days.

 

[D6975]

Well, that sort of depends. You may be protected from the worst of an impact by facing backwards... but you may also get a face full of the person sitting opposite as they are flung forwards!

Difficult, all the seats faced backwards. No four seats round a table here..

 

[Frankton Junct]

I'm the one who has to ask platform staff or other passengers which direction it will be coming from, when there's an announcement that [my coach] will be at the front of the train. I'm sense-of-drectionally challenged.

When I was a child in New Zealand, my Scottish mother frequently was unsure which direction was North. At the time, I didn't understand the reason.

Although the sun rises in the East and sets in the West whichever hemisphere you are in, in the northern hemisphere it goes in a southern arc in the sky whereas in the southern hemisphere it goes in a northern arc in the sky. This affects the way the shadows fall. Most of us unconsciously understand which direction is North based upon this.

Now that I have lived in the northern hemisphere for decades, when I am here I instinctively know which direction is North. However, the last time that I visited New Zealand, I found myself driving south on the Auckland Southern Motorway when I wanted to travel to the North! I had become my mother's son.

 

[Fleetmaster]

Says a lot that LNER seem to care more about telling passengers where First Class is than informing them that for much of their journey their booked forward/rearward facing seat will be rearward/forward facing.

 

[Andy Pacer]

Says a lot that LNER seem to care more about telling passengers where First Class is than informing them that for much of their journey their booked forward/rearward facing seat will be rearward/forward facing.

Presumably so intending passengers can be waiting at the correct position on the platform.

 

[trainophile]

In Birmingham where the main expanse of the platforms are below surface level you don't have the luxury of checking the sky for the position of the sun, besides which you can't rely on the sun being in evidence!

 

[The exile]

Or a XC train to Bristol or Cardiff from Derby......

Or a XC train to Bristol from Birmingham New Street.......

TPO

Announcements at Temple Meads for trains stopping at Avoncliff tell you you need to be in the front coach but don’t say whether that’s front on arrival or departure…

 

[snowball]

Although the sun rises in the East and sets in the West whichever hemisphere you are in, in the northern hemisphere it goes in a southern arc in the sky whereas in the southern hemisphere it goes in a northern arc in the sky.

Except that if you're "in the tropics" (between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn) the sun will be to your north for part of the year and to your south for part of the year.

 

[Frankton Junct]

Except that if you're "in the tropics" (between the tropic of Cancer and the tropic of Capricorn) the sun will be to your north for part of the year and to your south for part of the year.

I worked in Singapore for a while, which was interesting but I prefer a climate with four seasons.

On topic, my point is that, even if you tell someone that first class is at the London end of the platform, and they know that London is to the south, they might still be unsure which end of the platform is the southern end and walk to the wrong end. A system of zones, as mentioned above in the example from Switzerland, is easier for the customer to understand.

 

[Gaelan]

I worked in Singapore for a while, which was interesting but I prefer a climate with four seasons.

On topic, my point is that, even if you tell someone that first class is at the London end of the platform, and they know that London is to the south, they might still be unsure which end of the platform is the southern end and walk to the wrong end. A system of zones, as mentioned above in the example from Switzerland, is easier for the customer to understand.

Every LNER platform I’ve been on has exactly this, in the form of “wait here for coaches X-Y” signs.

Admittedly, it would get somewhat confusing when the train is backwards!

 

[Fleetmaster]

Newcastle is definitely confusing even without this apparent once in a blue moon reversal, since the platforms are aligned east west, meaning "London end" has no real meaning, at least not without being so familiar with the railway you know your Ups from your Downs.

 

[ACBest]

Lincoln is somewhere else on the LNER network where a unit can be turned, on the triangle at Pyewipe Junction/Boultham Junction.

Normally, ECS moves between Lincoln and Doncaster which operate via Gainsborough all include a move around two sides of the triangle to keep things the right way around.

 

[GoneSouth]

XC dont have a 'London' so the orientation of their trains doesnt matter. As long as the PIS can cope.

XC don’t have a London so nothing about their trains matters…

apparently

 

[TreacleMiller]

Correct.

Seating orientation makes no difference to dispatch times, carriages being in the "wrong place" absolutely does.

Presumably so intending passengers can be waiting at the correct position on the platform.

 

[daveo]

I prefer to be pushed into the seat under braking rather than out of the seat. Probably more applicable to buses, where braking is a lot more rough and unpredictable than acceleration compared to trains, but the preference has stuck.

I find it much more relaxing on a fast train to have the scenery rushing away from me rather than towards me. forward facing can give me a headache. I don't find this in road transport!