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Trains stopping in junctions

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Trains stopping in junctions 01/05/2021 at 11:10 #139236
hendyrix
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3 posts
Hey guys

Was playing Swindon and noticed a lot of freight trains and some ECS come into places like Highworth Junction and Wantage Road and stop for about 30 mins before rejoining the mainline.

Was wondering in the real world what would be the reason for this?

Cheers

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Trains stopping in junctions 01/05/2021 at 11:26 #139237
Stephen Fulcher
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2007 posts
Sometimes to get empty stock out of the way and
free up platforms

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Trains stopping in junctions 01/05/2021 at 12:34 #139240
postal
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5189 posts
hendyrix in post 139236 said:
Hey guys

Was playing Swindon and noticed a lot of freight trains and some ECS come into places like Highworth Junction and Wantage Road and stop for about 30 mins before rejoining the mainline.

Was wondering in the real world what would be the reason for this?

Cheers
Recessed to allow other trains to pass?

In real life the TT may be over-ruled if:

a) the train(s) due to pass are not running or are out of course so there is a clear path on the main line,
b) the train due to recess is running early (or the overtaking train is late) and the train due to recess can reach a further location where it can be recessed to allow other trains to pass,
c) the train due to recess is running late and can pick up its due timetable by running straight through,
d) the train is booked to recess to allow a train to pass which is no longer in the TT but the recessed train has not had its TT revised to reflect the change to the other TT,
e) the train is being deliberately held as there is no room further down the line to recess it to allow other trains to pass.

In earlier years there was a lot more freedom for signallers and/or Control to make decisions that kept the trains moving even if taking them off due TT. While there is a delay attribution scheme which can financially punish operators and/or Network Rail if trains are deliberately run off-TT and then things go wrong there is far less leeway allowed when considering those sorts of decisions.

“In life, there is always someone out there, who won’t like you, for whatever reason, don’t let the insecurities in their lives affect yours.” – Rashida Rowe
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Trains stopping in junctions 03/05/2021 at 08:41 #139266
kbarber
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1708 posts
postal in post 139240 said:
hendyrix in post 139236 said:
Hey guys

Was playing Swindon and noticed a lot of freight trains and some ECS come into places like Highworth Junction and Wantage Road and stop for about 30 mins before rejoining the mainline.

Was wondering in the real world what would be the reason for this?

Cheers
Recessed to allow other trains to pass?

In real life the TT may be over-ruled if:

a) the train(s) due to pass are not running or are out of course so there is a clear path on the main line,
b) the train due to recess is running early (or the overtaking train is late) and the train due to recess can reach a further location where it can be recessed to allow other trains to pass,
c) the train due to recess is running late and can pick up its due timetable by running straight through,
d) the train is booked to recess to allow a train to pass which is no longer in the TT but the recessed train has not had its TT revised to reflect the change to the other TT,
e) the train is being deliberately held as there is no room further down the line to recess it to allow other trains to pass.

In earlier years there was a lot more freedom for signallers and/or Control to make decisions that kept the trains moving even if taking them off due TT. While there is a delay attribution scheme which can financially punish operators and/or Network Rail if trains are deliberately run off-TT and then things go wrong there is far less leeway allowed when considering those sorts of decisions.
Adrian Vaughan gives a very vivid picture of regulating in his Signalman's Twilight, but that was back in mechanical days on a route where signalmen were responsible for their own regulating. The Great Northern was another line where that was the case and it is recorded that Crescent Junction (south end of Peterborough Station) had an unofficial handsignal: the signalbox broom brandished out of the 'box window informed the driver of an up freight that he was on a tight margin in front of an express.

As Postal says, nowadays trains are often timetabled to be held for quite considerable periods for overtaking services (often referenced in reports of cab rides in Modern Railways or Railway Magazine). With relatively few loops and refuge sidings left and with intensive regular-interval timetabling, finding a margin to run a freight can be quite a challenge these days, and since privatisation the 'performance regime' has substituted (legally-enforceable) agreements for signalman's commonsense, job knowledge and instinct.

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Trains stopping in junctions 03/05/2021 at 08:57 #139267
jc92
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3626 posts
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Love the broom. A natural extension of a green flag waved underarm for "get a move on, you're being chased by the back of your train"

I wonder what the handsignal was at night and during poor visibility? I spose you could hang a lamp on the handle

"We don't stop camborne wednesdays"
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