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Two letters

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Two letters 25/04/2010 at 12:19 #1167
Jsun
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In signal naming it's been my observation that signals are prefixed by the identifier of the box that controls them. Kings Cross for example all signals are prefixed with K. However at Edinburgh it seems every signal is duely prefixed with the box ID and an interlocking ID (?). Why is it that signals aren't numbered rationally E503 E507 E511 but are instead numbered E503 EH507 EH511?
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Two letters 25/04/2010 at 12:19 #8750
Jsun
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In signal naming it's been my observation that signals are prefixed by the identifier of the box that controls them. Kings Cross for example all signals are prefixed with K. However at Edinburgh it seems every signal is duely prefixed with the box ID and an interlocking ID (?). Why is it that signals aren't numbered rationally E503 E507 E511 but are instead numbered E503 EH507 EH511?
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Two letters 25/04/2010 at 12:38 #8751
Peter Bennet
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Cowlairs is the same CQ, CC, CN etc. as is Yoker. Motherwell on the other hand does use 2 letters in some areas but there does not seem to be any pattern, though I've not looked closely in to it.

Why and whether a Scottish thing I don't know.

Peter

I identify as half man half biscuit - crumbs!
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Two letters 25/04/2010 at 13:28 #8752
sparplu
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I think it is for the panels that are being operated for example i'm sure MC (for motherwell box) indicates that the panel controls the section of line to cove lc as the coding only comes into effect once panel 6 at motherwell takes control of that section of line (i could however be completely wrong)
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Two letters 25/04/2010 at 13:32 #8753
kbarber
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Peter Bennet said:
Cowlairs is the same CQ, CC, CN etc. as is Yoker. Motherwell on the other hand does use 2 letters in some areas but there does not seem to be any pattern, though I've not looked closely in to it.

Why and whether a Scottish thing I don't know.

Peter

I wonder if it's relevant that some of these date (IIRC) from the days when Chris Green was creating Scotrail; I think it was a deliberate strategy to create a definite sense of identity different from the english railway system. I've heard it said that he understood the Scottish dimension particularly well & there's a story related in "Changing Trains" (Viv Chadwick & Valerie Stewart, David & Charles but probably long out of print) that as part of some oficial event he arranged a dinner, complete with haggis and piper; when someone suggested that the pipes mightn't be universally appreciated his retort was along the lines of "...that would be some damned Englishman". So although it never quite got to UDI it's not at all surprising that the Scottish Region started doing things in its own quite distinctive way.

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Two letters 25/04/2010 at 13:58 #8756
JamesN
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First Letter is Controlling Box (C = Cowlairs), Second Letter is which individual Interlocking the signal is a memember of (Q = Queen Street)

It's been fairly standard practice across the whole network since the late 90s.

HTH

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Two letters 25/04/2010 at 14:59 #8757
UKTrainMan
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Is it not the case that the letter prefix cannot be duplicated?

'E' is already in use for the Exeter area, as seen on this photo.

Any views and / or opinions expressed by myself are from me personally and do not represent those of any company I either work for or am a consultant for.
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Two letters 25/04/2010 at 15:48 #8758
flymo
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There are many duplications of Signal Prefixes around the country. Not an exhaustive list perhaps but still a good reference. Click on the relevant letter A - Z for more info
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Two letters 28/04/2010 at 10:14 #8804
Forest Pines
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kbarber said:

I wonder if it's relevant that some of these date (IIRC) from the days when Chris Green was creating Scotrail; I think it was a deliberate strategy to create a definite sense of identity different from the english railway system.
The Edinburgh signalling predates "Scotrail" by a few years, but there was probably already a "separation" feeling. I recall a Slateford-based signalling lineman telling me that the Scottish Region had its own in-house design of route relay interlocking that the engineers and linemen much preferred to contractors' systems, largely because in most cases it used fewer relays.

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Two letters 04/05/2010 at 17:51 #8965
mfcooper
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And signal prefixes are even duplicated locally.

Stratford (North London Line) has a Signal Prefi of 'S'. South Tottenham also has a signal prefix of 'S'. Additional confusion arises because many diagrams and other computer systems all seem to think South Tottenham has a prefix of 'ST', which is not the case on the actual signals.

A South Tottenham signaller once told me he received a phone call from a driver using a Signal Post Telephone, and the driver then stopped outside the signal box to give the same message; the driver thinking he had spoken to Stratford NLL on the signal post telephone previously!

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Two letters 04/05/2010 at 21:29 #8972
JamesN
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JamesN said:
First Letter is Controlling Box (C = Cowlairs), Second Letter is which individual Interlocking the signal is a memember of (Q = Queen Street)

It's been fairly standard practice across the whole network since the late 90s.

HTH

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Two letters 05/05/2010 at 14:47 #8975
Zoe
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Two Letters can also be used to refer to sections controlled by a SCC. without direct reference to the SCC For example on the WCML you have RN (Rugby Nuneaton) and then NL (Nuneaton Lichfield). Both of these are controlled from Rugby.
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