News September 2019 Southend pier Traffic management Passive provision heritage challenges empowering people the return of Ruth Whether you’re in holiday mode or work mode; Signet Solutions offer a wide range of courses all year round! So if you find yourself day dreaming of amazing holidays in the Caribbean... Maybe it’s time to find a career that makes those summer sizzlers all the more worth it - fresh starts, promotions, refreshers we’ve got the lot! Check us out online or call to find out more information on what we offer. +44 (0)1332 343 585 [email protected] www.signet-solutions.com Our fixation with detail Not wanting to stereotype, but my the initial limits to ensure that the focus attention. Can the new system be experience of working in the railway thus opportunity is not overlooked to include integrated in with the old? Will it be a far has led me to realise that engineers, additional necessary elements. This can seamless transition for the driver and the particularly design engineers, can be be interpreted as considering updating signaller? Are we creating any operational prone to obsessions with detail. From everything to every modern standard. deficiencies or complications? Is our the eight behavioural styles identified The resultant reasonable opportunity failure to recover legacy systems by Belbin, “Completer Finisher” would reports become lengthy, detailing every impacting on overall system reliability? be the type that rings most true. Whilst specific wire, relay and control called Will avoiding an additional cost now lead their attention to detail and need for to task when they are found wanting. to an increased cost in the future? perfection can bring significant benefit, Almost universally, the output of such When considering what is reasonable, I have concerns that as we move into report is that to fix these issues is simply question whether the end user, be it the a more austere period in UK main line not reasonable. This begs the question, passenger, driver, signaller, asset manager rail, where life extensions and piecemeal if it was never going to be reasonable or maintainer, will gain any benefit from renewals will form the norm, the inability to fix it, why spend the time, effort and the improvement. If the answer is no, to acknowledge when enough detail money detailing it? perhaps it was never reasonable to is enough has the potential to cause consider it in the first place. The test for reasonable opportunity serious problems. is about identifying residual risk and Lynsey Hunter My concern stems from the phrase informing the asset owner of the risk they signalling risk and review engineer ‘reasonable opportunity’. When a need to manage. It is well known that Network Rail scope for a project is identified, a legal risks occur at the system boundaries, and and IRSE Council member requirement is to look wider than it is at these boundaries where we should Cover story News September 2019 The Vale of Rheidol Railway is a lock levers and point levers. On arrival, narrow-gauge heritage railway that the train crew protect their train by runs between Aberystwyth and Devil’s reversing the points behind them. They Bridge in the county of Ceredigion, then advise the duty officer who, once Wales. The line was the last British Rail satisfied, gives authority for the next (BR) route to be operated by steam and section token to be removed from the the first to be privatised. mechanical interlock. This locks the preceding token into the interlock, It has three sections with ground and releases the token for the next frames at each end of the loops, section. Visit irse.info/i6y0m for more locked by an Annetts key fitted to information provided by John Tilly. each section token and controlling a Southend pier Traffic management heritage challenges Passive provision empowering people lower quadrant, GWR style semaphore Photo Paul Darlington the return of Ruth home signal, along with facing point In this issue Southend Pier Railway signalling 2 From the IRSE and its Sections Kevin Weston Whether you’re in holiday mode or work mode; Signet Solutions offer a wide range of Railway Traffic Management: technology 8 News from the IRSE 24 courses all year round! So if you find yourself day dreaming of amazing holidays in the to empower people London Office 26 David Palmer Caribbean... Maybe it’s time to find a career that makes those summer sizzlers all the more London & South East Section 27 The development of tokens and tokenless block 10 Midland & North Western Section 28 worth it - fresh starts, promotions, refreshers we’ve got the lot! Check us out online or call to with a modern twist find out more information on what we offer. Kevin Chivers Minor Railways Section 29 York Section 31 Neutral host networks 12 Paul Darlington Younger Members Section 32 “It’s only passive provision ...” 14 Membership changes 38 Stephen Dapré +44 (0)1332 343 585 Industry news 20 Your letters 35 [email protected] Past lives: Ning Bin 36 www.signet-solutions.com 1 Southend Pier Railway signalling Kevin Weston The current Southend Pier (in the south east of England) In 1978, the railway closed due to deterioration of the was preceded by a wooden pier built in 1830 which, equipment and the cost of repairs. The 1949-built electric cars after 1851, had a narrow-gauge horse tramway to were withdrawn, although preserved examples can be found at convey goods and visitors to the pier head. The north various places including the Southend Pier Museum. end of the pier is land side with the south end sitting in The railway was completely rebuilt, and was reopened on the Thames Estuary. 2 May 1986 by Princess Anne. The new line is 3-foot gauge Construction of the current pier started in 1887 and the plans (914mm), comprising a single track with a midway passing loop included provision for an electric railway, the building of which and twin-track terminal stations at each end. Two new trains started the following year. The railway was completed in 1891 were built by Severn Lamb consisting of a diesel locomotive and ran the full length of the pier, 1¼ miles (2km). It was single and six coaches. These trains are not diesel multiple units, they track with a of gauge of 3 feet 6 inches (1067mm) and was operate with the diesel locomotive at the pier head end and a electrified by a third rail at 500V DC positioned between the driving trailer coach. running rails. The electrification was led by Colonel Crompton. The rolling stock was a single ‘toast rack style’ coach. The Original Signalling system expanded and by 1930, the line was double track with The original signalling consisted of a signal box at each four trains, each of seven coaches. end, situated about 200m (220 yards) from the station. The track layout at each signal box included a facing and trailing In 1949, the rolling stock was replaced with new trains built by crossover in the form of a ‘scissors crossover’. The points were AC Cars of Thames Ditton in Surrey. The new stock comprised protected by two-aspect (red/green) signals and although very four trains of seven, 4-wheeled coaches, liveried in green and few records exist, photographs show the junction signals from cream. Each train could carry up to 260 passengers. At a top the double track section to the platforms consisted of two speed of 18mph, the journey took 4 minutes each way, and separate signal heads. during peak periods a train ran every five minutes until 11pm. The record for passengers carried in one day stands at 55 000. 2 IRSE News | Issue 258 | September 2019 Treadle Normal lie of points (contacts operational only for direction shown) Facing point lock Treadle, operational both ways (independent contacts for each direction) Point machine Two-aspect signal Signalling location case One-train override keyswitch Southend-on-Sea Pier Railway track plan. Various contemporary photographs of the period show that the Equipment points were operated mechanically with ‘economic’ facing point All the original 1986 equipment was installed by GEC to the locks and a mechanical fouling bar. It is assumed that track then-current British Railways (BR) standards. The design uses circuits were not used. standard BR specification relays, power supplies and other Each signal box was positioned on the east side of the pier, equipment. The relays are housed in a BR type large location over-hanging the Thames, which must have been an interesting case (as per standard drawing BRS-SM 431) located at the north place to be in rough weather. A lever frame was provided in end of the loop. All the external equipment is directly fed from each signal box, the exact type is unknown but appears to be this location and no disconnection boxes are used. a Saxby & Farmer “A” pattern or Westinghouse “A2”. It is not The relays are to BR930 specification of various types working known what form of block working (if any) existed between at 50V DC. BR930/004 single and BR960/211 twin relays are the signal boxes. generally used, with BR961/017 twins for point detection, Photographs taken in the last year of running show that the BR943/172 for the point WRs and BR949/6047 for the point south end crossovers were partly recovered, and it is likely timer relays. The only non-BR specification relays are used for the railway was being operated as two single lines from the the 15 second treadle timers. These are GEC type ZT7701 solid northern, shore, terminus.