Whiteball Tunnel blockade - January / February 2014

[whole diary]

[andy_89uk]

But HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) do have central locking - and indeed they have selective door opening.   So logic suggests that the train manager only needed to open a single door / carriage rather than the whole train, and then there's no chance of the other doors being on the latch. 

Thanks for the replies. Can confirm what Grahame says above as we'd not long before stopped at Castle Cary where passengers were (about 6 times!) informed that they could only alight from carriages A and B at the front due to a short platform.

I can also confirm that there was only one conversation with the guard, with the negative response, rather than him going off to check with "control" and reporting back etc.

Only 2 of us in my immediate party, but I did recognise other Waterloo refugees on the train (some/all may have been travelling to Exeter anyway of course).

[Southern Stag]

... Could be nasty if the doors opened.  Don't think there is any door/power interlock on HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train)???

As it was an HST with slam doors that wouldn't have been the case. If a train with slam doors stops at a station platform it has to be despatched regardless of whether it's booked to call or not, because of the risk of people pulling doors on to the catch. Or on trains without Central Door Locking, the risk that doors will have been opened.

But HSTs do have central locking - and indeed they have selective door opening.   So logic suggests that the train manager only needed to open a single door / carriage rather than the whole train, and then there's no chance of the other doors being on the latch.   

However "Don't think there is any door/power interlock on HSTs???" sounds logical considering that the SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) and central locking was added long after the trains were built, and they're now vintage units ... and if there isn't interlocking, then there's presumable a risk of the driver pulling off with only one door open just as Granny Harris ( http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/1881census/Devon/Honiton ) gets off.

Well indeed, but there is no risk of the train leaving without the guard's permission as soon as the signal clears, as had been suggested was the case. Even if no doors are unlocked it is still a requirement for the guard to despatch the train if the train has slam doors. On trains up from the Westcountry which can often be held at Reading West the driver will often crawl through the platform rather than bring the train to a stop normally to give time for the signal to clear so that the train doesn't have to be despatched.

[grahame]

Even if no doors are unlocked it is still a requirement for the guard to despatch the train if the train has slam doors.

And that applies even if there is central locking on all the slam doors, so no way they could have been opened or put on the latch unless the guard released them?

I'm getting lost then. There was need to call control and a potential delay to the train while this lot was going,and the train manager may have judged it unlikely he would get a response in time. But there was no safety issue involved.  Perhaps there was an issue with which company got these people's fares, with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) being out of pocket (or operating outside its franchise) if it made a passenger call at Honiton?

[Super Guard]

Even if no doors are unlocked it is still a requirement for the guard to despatch the train if the train has slam doors.

And that applies even if there is central locking on all the slam doors, so no way they could have been opened or put on the latch unless the guard released them?

This applies to our HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train), even with CDL^▸ (Central Door Locking) yes.  A door can still be put "on the catch" even with the CDL bolts engaged.

[John R]

Changing the subject, but still related to the blockade, can anyone explain the curious working to form the current 1A08, the 0713 Highbridge & Burnham to Paddington.  5A08 leaves Temple Meads at 0511, passes through Highbridge at 0531, reverses at Taunton, before arriving back in Highbridge loop where it sits for around 50 minutes.

Does it have to go via Taunton to access Highbridge loop (I didn't think so), but if so, why doesn't it run in the usual timings from Taunton? Maybe the onboard crew only join at Highbridge, but that looks as though it would mean only 8 minutes from arrival off the local from Bristol, which seems a bit tight.

[grahame]

Are the platforms at Taunton stuffed full of London expresses, Cross Country Trains and Cardiff locals, and a track has still got to be left for works trains to get "up tunnel"?   Just guessing!

[Southern Stag]

It looks like they are. Only 2 platforms can be used to reverse trains in from the Bristol/Castle Cary direction, Platforms 2 and 3. There are departures from them at 0650, 0700 and 0710, and 1A08 would need to leave at about 0655, so it would probably be a bit tight. The 0710 calls at roughly the same stops as 1A08, so it isn't too much of an inconvenience.

[JayMac]

I've just seen, on another forum, someone referring to the Exeter - London via Honiton route as 'The Mule'. Anyone know the origin of this nickname for the West of England Main Line?

[The Grecian]

I've just seen on another someone referring to the Exeter - London via Honiton route as 'The Mule'. Anyone know the origin of this nickname for the West of England Main Line?

My understanding is that the nickname derives from the days when the line was mostly jointed track. At speed trains would make a 'clip-clop' noise running over the joints which sounded like a mule clopping along. As most of the jointed track was replaced around 20 years ago with continuously welded rail it's somewhat less obvious now. The Barnstaple branch and Heart of Wessex lines are the main outposts round here for trains running at speed on long stretches of jointed track.

Incidentally Taunton - Reading is known as 'The Desert' - I think this is due to the fact that it doesn't really pass through anywhere substantial for most of its length until you get towards Newbury, since it bypasses Frome and Westbury - but I could be wrong about that.

[JayMac]

Some digging on my part turned up an alternative explanation.

It's called 'The Mule' because it is the slow alternative to London versus the thoroughbred route via Taunton.

[trainbuff]

Some digging on my part turned up an alternative explanation.

It's called 'The Mule' because it is the slow alternative to London versus the thoroughbred route via Taunton.

That is only since the Downgrading of the Route in the late 1960's! The route via Salisbury I believe gave a faster journey time to London. Indeed if it were dualled it could potentially be quicker now. I prefer to think that both routes, to use your term, began life as 'thoroughbreds'. Unfortunately the madness of the Beeching era and after turned the route into a slower service. Almost an attempt to kill it off in some senses. As was done with other lines.

I believe that this line would be a real benefit if it were turned back from 'The Mule' ( Slow Plod) into a thoroughbred as it was originally planned. At the moment with diversions via Yeovil this line is actually a few minutes quicker than First Great Western. Strange there is no mention in the 121 page booklet!? It is like the old rivalries have reappeared!

[julian]

Are these works still on schedule for completion by next Monday?

[Lee]

Interestingly, although Beechings infamous Reshaping report didn't formally propose closure of the Southern route, it did specifically mark it out as an example of a "duplicating" line that could be surplus to requirements in the future.

[thetrout]

Anyone going to be on the 17:03 tonight? The unlikely Pullman?

[bobm]

Hopefully tonight there will be a 17:03 - last night it was cancelled between London and Newton Abbot.  I was told one of the reasons is they were running out of room to stable sets at Exeter.
Fingers crossed tonight it will run, but I'd be less optimistic about any "fine dining".