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Peterborough Question..

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Peterborough Question.. 17/09/2019 at 02:36 #120443
Valuska
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14 posts
With the Peterborough SIM I am a tad confused how to get into Biggleswade siding from Platform 4. Even ARS will not place the train into the siding, it appears it has to be done manually.

Any help would be appreciated as I am at a loss how to get into this siding.

Cheers,
Val.

Val
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Peterborough Question.. 17/09/2019 at 03:13 #120444
TUT
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505 posts
Access to the sidings is controlled by a ground frame. In fact there are two.

A ground frame is a lever frame located there, on the ground, at the points - or it can also be a local switch panel. But basically the points (and some signals in some places) are operated locally, on the ground.

Two of the most obvious reasons why you have ground frames, one from the days of yore and one from the days of power boxes.

In the good old days points were mechanical, they were connected to a lever and you had to have a good hard tug on the lever and yank them over using arm power. There was an upper limit to how far away the points could be from a signal box. So that's one reason you might have a ground frame. It also simplifies the interlocking and reduces the number of levers you have to have in the signal box (and the amount you might have to pay the signaller...). The ground frame would be electrically released from the signal box and the ground frame release lever would be mechanically interlocked with signal levers to prevent you setting conflicting routes. Clever stuff.

In the case of a big power box like Peterborough, you have a huge complicated resignalling project with remote control of dozens upon dozens of points and signals and so on. If you've got a little-used siding like that at Biggleswade, you have to justify the cost of remotely controlling all of the required points and signals and adding all of the required interlocking and routes and controls and so on. Or you can simply have a ground frame release in the box and have the points worked on the ground. Again, if you release the ground frame, that is interlocked with points and signals for complete safety.

So, what you have to do, well there's two ways. The old way is to left click on the green 'R' (I would use G.F. A) and it will start flashing. This grants the release to the ground frame operator and you'll notice, for example, you can't clear K763 signal. Try it. The old way, is to now go to Show > Lever frames > Biggleswade A. The fancy new way is to right click on the N. This brings up the lever frame. You've now taken over the job of the ground frame operator. Reverse lever 1 by moving the slider (like a scroll bar slider) down to the bottom. It should be flashing. You can now pull the points reverse (move the lever 2 slider down to the bottom) and clear K236 (move lever 3).

When you're done, simply undo the process. Move the slider on lever 3 back up to the top to move it normal. Normalise lever 2, normalise lever 1, close the lever window, right click on the R which should now be flashing and see how K763 can be cleared without issue once more.

Last edited: 17/09/2019 at 03:16 by TUT
Reason: None given

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The following users said thank you: Valuska, as1981, DBrant
Peterborough Question.. 17/09/2019 at 05:01 #120445
Valuska
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14 posts
Got it...many thanks for that.
Val
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