Split Flap Departure Boards

[hexagon789]

Slightly OT but before the Solari indicators at Queen St Low Level, I seem to remember a long horizontal grey glass box, almost the width of the platform. The destinations and stops were engraved on the glass and lights came on behind. The light shown thro the words illuminating them as appropriate. Some were lit in white and some in yellow but I don't remember the significance. Was yellow for the second train? Its shown on here.. https://www.railscot.co.uk/img/13/710/

Pity it's not closer, I tried looking on Flickr but couldn't even find a distance shot of the indicator.

I wonder if it was anything like the light box design at Paisley Gilmour Street:

Paisley Gilmour Street - RAILSCOT

RailScot, a history of Railways with an emphasis on Scottish Railways. Photographs, maps, news, queries and more.

www.railscot.co.uk

 

[MadMac]

Pity it's not closer, I tried looking on Flickr but couldn't even find a distance shot of the indicator.

I wonder if it was anything like the light box design at Paisley Gilmour Street:

Paisley Gilmour Street - RAILSCOT

RailScot, a history of Railways with an emphasis on Scottish Railways. Photographs, maps, news, queries and more.

www.railscot.co.uk

Broadly similar to the Gilmour Street ones. The small Solari units came along in conjunction with the reopening of the Argyle line - I think Hyndland Box oversaw them.

 

[Tio Terry]

It's a story I'd be very interested to hear!

The contract to provide the new flap indicator for Liverpool St went to Omega. At the same time Omega had won the contract to provide the timing and display system for the Moscow Olympics. Then Russia invaded Afghanistan.

The original plan was that Liverpool St would be controlled by a French Novelle computer and the Moscow system by a massive Hewlett Packard computer. But the US slapped a technology ban on Russia because of the invasion. Omega programmers were stuck in Russia where they were told they wouldn't be released until there was a working system. We needed the same programmers to complete the Liverpool St system. In the end the Novelle went to Moscow and the HP to Liverpool St., which got a working but less than perfect system for the Olympics and we got the HP and programmers for Liverpool St.

The HP used a programming language called Fortran and had huge 8 inch floppy disc drives - this is, of course around 40 years ago! - and it was housed in it's own room in the control point above the stairs that led up from the concourse on the east side of the station. It soon became apparent that the room it was in needed air conditioning because it kept overheating. That was fine for a time, but the A/C air filters started to clog up with a messy substance which was traced to be a mixture of unburnt diesel fuel and brake dust. The Norwich and Cambridge services were still diesel powered in those days and the EMU's were still using brake blocks on steel wheels.

When the HP overheated the system froze so the display would very quickly become out of timescale but still with a display. Commuters being what they are, would arrive, take a quick look at the display for their train and go to the indicated platform without listening to the announcements telling them to ignore the displays. The result, of course, was lots of people found themselves in completely the wrong place.

As far as I am aware, BR refrained from telling people the problem that got them to the wrong station was because Russia invaded Afghanistan!

 

[Bald Rick]

Fabulous story, thank you!

I have a couple of the split flap boards from the more recent departure board from when it was removed in 2007. Or was it 2005/6 (?).

 

[WillPS]

The contract to provide the new flap indicator for Liverpool St went to Omega. At the same time Omega had won the contract to provide the timing and display system for the Moscow Olympics. Then Russia invaded Afghanistan.

The original plan was that Liverpool St would be controlled by a French Novelle computer and the Moscow system by a massive Hewlett Packard computer. But the US slapped a technology ban on Russia because of the invasion. Omega programmers were stuck in Russia where they were told they wouldn't be released until there was a working system. We needed the same programmers to complete the Liverpool St system. In the end the Novelle went to Moscow and the HP to Liverpool St., which got a working but less than perfect system for the Olympics and we got the HP and programmers for Liverpool St.

The HP used a programming language called Fortran and had huge 8 inch floppy disc drives - this is, of course around 40 years ago! - and it was housed in it's own room in the control point above the stairs that led up from the concourse on the east side of the station. It soon became apparent that the room it was in needed air conditioning because it kept overheating. That was fine for a time, but the A/C air filters started to clog up with a messy substance which was traced to be a mixture of unburnt diesel fuel and brake dust. The Norwich and Cambridge services were still diesel powered in those days and the EMU's were still using brake blocks on steel wheels.

When the HP overheated the system froze so the display would very quickly become out of timescale but still with a display. Commuters being what they are, would arrive, take a quick look at the display for their train and go to the indicated platform without listening to the announcements telling them to ignore the displays. The result, of course, was lots of people found themselves in completely the wrong place.

As far as I am aware, BR refrained from telling people the problem that got them to the wrong station was because Russia invaded Afghanistan!

Very enjoyable read, thank you!

 

[Recessio]

One of my earliest memories was always travelling in to London with one parent meeting the other at Liverpool Street - always beneath the "flappy board" as I called it when I was a kid!

This would have been early-mid 2000s, we moved in 2007.

 

[hexagon789]

One of my earliest memories was always travelling in to London with one parent meeting the other at Liverpool Street - always beneath the "flappy board" as I called it when I was a kid!

This would have been early-mid 2000s, we moved in 2007.

I believe it lasted until late-2007 before it was replaced.

 

[station_road]

Pity it's not closer, I tried looking on Flickr but couldn't even find a distance shot of the indicator.

I wonder if it was anything like the light box design at Paisley Gilmour Street:

Paisley Gilmour Street - RAILSCOT

RailScot, a history of Railways with an emphasis on Scottish Railways. Photographs, maps, news, queries and more.

www.railscot.co.uk

Those type of displays (different design but same concept) were fitted at stations between Moorgate and Bedford when the line was electrified as well.

The only Solari type display for that route was actually at St Pancras where two of the main panels were altered to show next trains northbound from King's Cross Midland City (as it was then) and ftom memory coloured blue rather than black. I wonder if that was unique in showing departures from a completely different station?