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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 23/01/2014 at 17:06 #54157 | |
Josie
310 posts |
...although if UsVsTh3m is correct, it won't count as flooding for much longer. UsVsTh3m: Signalling equipment room flooded with quick-drying cement Easiest Simsig timetable ever? Log in to reply |
| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 23/01/2014 at 17:37 #54158 | |
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Danny252
1461 posts |
It's somewhat telling that what I find most distressing is the damage to all those lovely old relays 
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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 23/01/2014 at 17:52 #54160 | |
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Sacro
1171 posts |
" said:It's somewhat telling that what I find most distressing is the damage to all those lovely old relays :(Damaged? They'll be preserved for a fair while. Log in to reply The following users said thank you: guidomcc, officer dibble, Josie, fsxfaulder, Steamer, JamesN, TimTamToe, mfcooper, Temple Meads, y10g9 |
| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 23/01/2014 at 19:53 #54164 | |
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fsxfaulder
77 posts |
Read about this on BBC news earlier,how the hell did they manage that?
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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 23/01/2014 at 20:18 #54166 | |
jc92
3629 posts 
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the engineers had requested a temporary (concrete) block?
"We don't stop camborne wednesdays" Log in to reply The following user said thank you: fsxfaulder |
| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 23/01/2014 at 22:27 #54171 | |
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Danny252
1461 posts |
Nah, it's an upgrade to solid state interlocking! (Shamelessly stolen from signalbox.org's forum) Log in to reply |
| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 23/01/2014 at 22:28 #54172 | |
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Ben86
126 posts |
But I'm not sure that it was cement to happen? :whistle:
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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 24/01/2014 at 01:16 #54175 | |
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Josie
310 posts |
I heard about it on Twitter, where the puns were rife. Apparently TfL are looking into rail repla-cement buses.
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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 24/01/2014 at 17:21 #54199 | |
Steamer
3923 posts |
Remarkably, the concrete was removed and signalling re-instated overnight: BBC News Fantastic job! "Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q) Log in to reply |
| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 24/01/2014 at 17:44 #54202 | |
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Danny252
1461 posts |
Apparently it was quite a sweet ending: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10594718/Why-sugar-helped-remove-Victoria-Line-concrete-flood.html
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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 24/01/2014 at 18:30 #54206 | |
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AndyG
1835 posts |
Something I was told about on my Civils course back in the early 1970s, and had to put into practice once in an aborted winter concrete pour. 56lbs of sugar from the site canteen in 70 tons of concrete (stirred, not shaken!) was sufficient to stop it setting for 3 days. That's about a 1:3,000 mix! I can only help one person a day. Today's not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look too good either. Last edited: 24/01/2014 at 22:07 by AndyG Reason: typo Log in to reply The following user said thank you: jetblast787 |
| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 24/01/2014 at 21:35 #54208 | |
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Sparky
84 posts |
I don't think it's solid state interlocking. Just installing some new hard wired technology. Lol
I intend to live forever. So far so good Log in to reply |
| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 25/01/2014 at 00:14 #54212 | |
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maxand
1637 posts |
That's a great tip - worth remembering.
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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 25/01/2014 at 00:15 #54213 | |
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Nutter
78 posts |
The person who came up with the idea of using sugar deserves a MASSIVE bonus
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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 25/01/2014 at 01:33 #54218 | |
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Danny252
1461 posts |
It's a relatively well known fact in the construction business, I believe - presumably when you're pouring concrete as your day job, it's a good idea to know how to handle things if they go wrong...
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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 25/01/2014 at 09:49 #54222 | |
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miker15
50 posts |
Yes, I started work in the readymixed concrete industry in 1969 and I learnt about sugar as soon as I had my first encounter with a real truck mixer, which was carrying the recommended bag of Tate & Lyle
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| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 25/01/2014 at 12:01 #54224 | |
outofsection
149 posts |
As an electronics engineer, I would hazard a guess that most if not all the electro-mechanical equipment such as the relays would survive intact as they look like they have sturdy cover-all plastic covers held in place by strong clips. Added to that the fact that the concrete is quite viscous, which means it would be far less likely to penetrate the join between the plastic cover and the base of the relay as quickly as water would. The worst fluid of all to spill on electrical & electronic equipment is sugary coffee. Not only can the water cause electronic components to release their smoke (and once that happens they'll NEVER work again), but once you dry the water out, you're left with a sticky, electrically conductive layer of gunk all over the PCB/equipment which MUST ALL be cleaned off otherwise arcing/tracking will almost inevitably occur as the PCB & components will absorb water into the sugar from the atmosphere and create further damage & electrical short-circuits! I reckon most of the electrical/electronic damage in the cemented control room was probably to the power supply units. These would have died/blown fuses/trips as soon as the concrete hit any exposed contacts/joints/bare wires etc.. I reckon most of the repair job would have consisted of cleaning the concrete out of the wiring looms & any exposed relay contacts followed by exhaustive testing. I've spent a few nights on customers premises after a flood armed with a toolbox, a hair dryer & a test meter. As long as the equipment was not connected to the mains at the time the water went in or before I could get there to dry it out, once it was fully dried out, it usually worked fine. That's a mighty useful tip about the sugar delaying the cement from setting though: noted for possible future use! Log in to reply |
| Victoria line suspended due to flooding 25/01/2014 at 13:37 #54225 | |
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Stephen Fulcher
2026 posts |
Replacing the tracker ball in IECCs was a fairly common fault at one time after reports of a signalman spilling tea on it! If you caught it quickly enough you could dismantle it, clean it up and it would work again. If not and it dried up, like outofsection says, it was useless and a new one was needed. Log in to reply |