During a shopping trip to Peterborough today (by train) I managed to get a few pics whilst waiting for the train home. A class 365 EMU has just arrived from London on platform 2 (on which I am standing) and a GNER class 91 in push mode has just arrived in platform 2 with a train for London. This shows the "blunt" end of a 91, which has a cab and can operate with this end leading, mainly for fill-in turns. The appropriate name of the 91!
This is the earlier shot, from platform 2, of the 365 arriving. Crescent bridge in the background looks good these days. It used to be drab grey!
An Anglia Railways class 170 DMU cruises through on the fast tracks with a Hull to Kings Cross train. A class 56 freight locomotive was standing at the far side of the station with a string of empty flat wagons. The engine was not running so was not due to move very soon.
I was about to rejoin my wife Irene on platform 3 for our train home, when a Eurostar arrived with a Leeds train in platform 4. Luckily it was the only one left in original paint. Others are now repainted in GNER blue. This is the rear power car, passing the Peterborough sign, with Crescent bride in the background. When stopped at the platform, each power car was past the platform ends, along with two of the passenger cars, such is the great length of these trains! Passengers in the platform-less cars wishing to alight, had to walk through the train to acheive the platform.
Nice pics there Alan. I haven't seen one of the 365's in the flesh since they changed the front end (that "smiley face" grille when they added cab air conditioning to them) they look quite cool, but due for a repaint! Nice to see a 56 as well, we don't see them down our way.
Alan, in the first photography of the Euostar it is looked, in front of the Eurostar, one "iron" species into the tracks. What is this?
Fabrizo What you can see there is part of the Train Protection Warning System. A system designed to provide a type of automatic train control. It replacesand augments our Automatic Warning System.
Martyn, I had not seen a 365 in Peterborough before, so didn't know about the "smiley face" change. Last time I was there, the units from King's Cross were 317's. Shows how long I have been absent from railfanning around here Several locomotives were stabled just outside the staion, but well out of range of my little "slip-in-the-pocket" digital camera! They included a 37 in grey, a red 47, an EWS 66 and others.
The system, like the old AWS system uses both electro and permanent magnets. The electromagnets are normall fitted to stop signals. If a train trys to go past a red signal then the electomagnets, will are live when that signals displays a stop aspect, will activate a receiver on the train which will apply the brakes fully, basically an emergency application. The other whay that these work is by time. Obviously depending on the speed the TPWS is set for, depends on the spacing of two magnets. As a train passes over the first magnet it activates a timer and if its passes over the second magnet faster than the magnet is set for, then it must be speeding and the brakes are again applied. The system can be set from as low as 10mph up to about 90 mph. Its the poor mans version of Automatic Train Control. I could be more explicit but I would probably loose you all in technicalities. This is basically how it works.
Ron - That system seems to be very similar to the train stop system once used in the US by NYC, ATSF and others. I also wonder if the system applies the brakes in emergency or a full service application. The US requires a full service rather than an emergency. In automatic train (speed) control systems the engineer can recover from a full service once he has reduced the speed to that allowed. It has also been found that with blended brake system used on electric MUs the train will stop quicker using full service than in emergency as the dynamic portion is eliminated in emergency braking.
Gil We don't use dynamic braking (We call it rheostatic or regenerative) very much in this country so our system slams the train straight into full emergency. The majority of our EMU's have enhanced braking in emergency. We can't release the brake if its is in emergency. It stays in full emergency for two minutes after the initial application. The reason for the two minutes is to stop drivers using emergency as a service brake. [ 21. December 2002, 13:55: Message edited by: Ron Carlisle ]
Ron, the TPWS system uses frequency rather than magnetics and is an adjunct to AWS not a replacement. The two loops have different frequencies which must be traversed in the correct direction in order to activate the brakes. Travelling across active loops in the 'wrong' direction has no effect. In order of approach, the OSS (OverSpeed Sensor) arm freq is 64.25kHz, OSS trigger freq 65.25kHz, TSS (Train Stop Sensor) arm freq 66.25kHz. The trigger freq is the same as the OSS. Opposite direction loops have a freq 0.5kHz higher than their normal direction counterparts. I did have a more comprehensive reply for Fabrizio but have lost it. I may have time to redo it if anyone is interested. Cheers,
I am, I try & keep up with these things in the magazines, but it's nice to have someone in the know to explain them.
