|
Post by railtechnician on Nov 17, 2014 15:24:44 GMT
A close up of the CB reset plunger and, whilst at Charing Cross, the escape hatch from the floodgate control area between the two tunnels How things have changed at some places, I can remember the old style circuit breaker reset device. I know the older style floodgates had the escape hatches but don't think the newer ones had this? That is pretty much the old standard signal main reset breaker these days (they've been around for at least 40 years). I presume the power room is the other side of the wall because the actual breaker is inside the grey housing. Often the CBs are wholly within IMR power rooms and remotely reset via pneumatically operated piston acting in exactly the place where the plunger is in that picture. Which older type of signal main CB are you thinking of, I haven't looked inside one for many years but my recollection is that what is inside the grey housing is an open frame CB? The 600v CB was one of the few items that was covered up for as long as I can recall, probably because they were accessible to non-signals staff for reset purposes. When I began my LT career the 600v was no less exposed than the 100v local derived there from. It was only when the Electricity-at-Work Act was enacted in the late 1980s that we began covering up the 600v changeover switches, step down transformer terminals, line fuses and links and putting padlocks on the trackside signal location 600v link boxes.
|
|
|
Post by Nortube on Nov 17, 2014 18:12:35 GMT
|
|
|
Post by hellocontrol on Nov 17, 2014 18:20:52 GMT
How things have changed at some places, I can remember the old style circuit breaker reset device. I know the older style floodgates had the escape hatches but don't think the newer ones had this? That is pretty much the old standard signal main reset breaker these days (they've been around for at least 40 years). I presume the power room is the other side of the wall because the actual breaker is inside the grey housing. Often the CBs are wholly within IMR power rooms and remotely reset via pneumatically operated piston acting in exactly the place where the plunger is in that picture. Which older type of signal main CB are you thinking of, I haven't looked inside one for many years but my recollection is that what is inside the grey housing is an open frame CB? The 600v CB was one of the few items that was covered up for as long as I can recall, probably because they were accessible to non-signals staff for reset purposes. When I began my LT career the 600v was no less exposed than the 100v local derived there from. It was only when the Electricity-at-Work Act was enacted in the late 1980s that we began covering up the 600v changeover switches, step down transformer terminals, line fuses and links and putting padlocks on the trackside signal location 600v link boxes. During my time I saw all the versions buttons and plungers. The style I was talking about was this one which is still in use.
|
|
|
Post by Nortube on Nov 17, 2014 18:27:02 GMT
<That is pretty much the old standard signal main reset breaker these days (they've been around for at least 40 years). I presume the power room is the other side of the wall because the actual breaker is inside the grey housing. Often the CBs are wholly within IMR power rooms and remotely reset via pneumatically operated piston acting in exactly the place where the plunger is in that picture. Which older type of signal main CB are you thinking of, I haven't looked inside one for many years but my recollection is that what is inside the grey housing is an open frame CB? The 600v CB was one of the few items that was covered up for as long as I can recall, probably because they were accessible to non-signals staff for reset purposes. When I began my LT career the 600v was no less exposed than the 100v local derived there from. It was only when the Electricity-at-Work Act was enacted in the late 1980s that we began covering up the 600v changeover switches, step down transformer terminals, line fuses and links and putting padlocks on the trackside signal location 600v link boxes. >
Looking throuh my photos, I don't seem to have any that show the surrounding area. From my recollection, it was in the IMR (the IMR was the other side of the frame) and there were some parts behind a grating. I suspect the reset breaker was there.
I noticed the covering up over the years. The perspex totally messes up flash photography, especially when trying to photgraph the IMR frame.!
|
|
|
Post by railtechnician on Nov 18, 2014 0:52:48 GMT
That is pretty much the old standard signal main reset breaker these days (they've been around for at least 40 years). I presume the power room is the other side of the wall because the actual breaker is inside the grey housing. Often the CBs are wholly within IMR power rooms and remotely reset via pneumatically operated piston acting in exactly the place where the plunger is in that picture. Which older type of signal main CB are you thinking of, I haven't looked inside one for many years but my recollection is that what is inside the grey housing is an open frame CB? The 600v CB was one of the few items that was covered up for as long as I can recall, probably because they were accessible to non-signals staff for reset purposes. When I began my LT career the 600v was no less exposed than the 100v local derived there from. It was only when the Electricity-at-Work Act was enacted in the late 1980s that we began covering up the 600v changeover switches, step down transformer terminals, line fuses and links and putting padlocks on the trackside signal location 600v link boxes. During my time I saw all the versions buttons and plungers. The style I was talking about was this one which is still in use. Yep, I'm not sure but in my mind this and the previous type fall into the 'same meat, different gravy' category although I could be wrong. I have never looked inside one of this type as far as I can recall but my thought always was that this type was a purely mechanical reset whereas the type with a plunger made the circuit of a reset coil to pull in the main breaker. Certainly both types were very much 'current' (no pun intended) during the whole of my career these I suspect being a slightly older pattern as most of the locations I can think of that employed them were built pre-1960s and the plunger type were used in the 1970s Picc resignalling and possibly date from the Victoria line. Of course the LT habit was only to upgrade that which needed upgrading so serviceable equipment located in upgraded locations was simply rewired rather than replaced.
|
|
|
Post by railtechnician on Nov 18, 2014 1:12:31 GMT
I think the manual ones were the best. When all else fails, get the pole out and go walkies. Sidings traction current circuit breaker' Apolgies for the poor quality, I could have done with a better camera for dark use. Click on the photo for a larger picture.
Circuit breaker closed - full view
Circuit breaker open - close up
Traction current circuit breaker reset plunger. This was the only traction current reset plunger provoded for a driver's use.
Yep Traction Breakers are simply in a class of their own, AFAIR it was a wooden handle job at all the locations where I reset them manually. A manual reset via the wooden handle (it always reminded me of a naval pin or truncheon !) of course was only normally required when the main traction supply was off as there was no power available to operate the CB reset coil from the plunger. I'm not sure under what circumstances a driver would be resetting a Traction Breaker, however, I know of no situation where this would be possible if the siding T/T had been tripped which is why the self contained Siding T/T unit was mounted at a station platform and contained both T/T and Traction Reset Plungers. I can deduce two possible scenarios, first one of safety, i.e. tripping out the siding traction at the platform in order to walk into the siding and then reset it before boarding a stabled train. The second thought is where a CB is fitted instead of a traction fuse and the driver has the facility to reset the traction if s/he has wound up too fast and tripped it out. I am inclined to favour the first thought but I am guessing. Either way the plunger may or may not have reset the CB directly, it is entirely possible that the plunger reset both the Siding T/T and the Traction CB, it is impossible to know without seeing the drawings or the specific operational rules/procedures for the site.
|
|
|
Post by railtechnician on Nov 18, 2014 1:47:08 GMT
<That is pretty much the old standard signal main reset breaker these days (they've been around for at least 40 years). I presume the power room is the other side of the wall because the actual breaker is inside the grey housing. Often the CBs are wholly within IMR power rooms and remotely reset via pneumatically operated piston acting in exactly the place where the plunger is in that picture. Which older type of signal main CB are you thinking of, I haven't looked inside one for many years but my recollection is that what is inside the grey housing is an open frame CB? The 600v CB was one of the few items that was covered up for as long as I can recall, probably because they were accessible to non-signals staff for reset purposes. When I began my LT career the 600v was no less exposed than the 100v local derived there from. It was only when the Electricity-at-Work Act was enacted in the late 1980s that we began covering up the 600v changeover switches, step down transformer terminals, line fuses and links and putting padlocks on the trackside signal location 600v link boxes. > Looking throuh my photos, I don't seem to have any that show the surrounding area. From my recollection, it was in the IMR (the IMR was the other side of the frame) and there were some parts behind a grating. I suspect the reset breaker was there. I noticed the covering up over the years. The perspex totally messes up flash photography, especially when trying to photgraph the IMR frame.! That perspex is a rather expensive material known by the name 'Lexan 2000' which came in large sheets as well as various extrusions. I had a large hand in the EAW project, I was comms at the time but signals had an impossible task to cover up all that was required on all lines as it didn't have enough staff so I was 'on loan' so to speak using the old telephone exchange at Acton Town as a work room with five fitters turning out bespoke covers for all the signals equipment surveyed by my survey teams. AFAIR my area was predominantly the Met from Amersham to Aldgate. There were no official drawings for covers, each was designed by whoever surveyed each site although I made suggestions after visiting several example IMRs and relay rooms around the combine. Unfortunately lots of things got covered up that really didn't need to be (very low voltage telephone, clock and other circuits) and some 'designs' produced by the fitters made maintenance a PITA as I later discovered when I became a Signal TO and had to waste an hour per shift removing and replacing covers before being able to carry out and complete point maintenance in particular. The effect was to reduce the number of ends of points able to be fully maintained during a normal shift by one end! To my mind no-one but suitably trained, qualified and licensed staff should ever have been allowed into RRs, IMRs, Switchrooms etc but in the 1980s these once sacred areas were thrown open to all and sundry when they were allowed to enter them unsupervised and there were some notable incidents as a result which probably accelerated the inevitable as H&S was gathering pace at the time, years after most UK industries had been converted to safe working practices. It did mean that compliance with EAW was very much a Heath Robinson affair because LU was slow to see the writing on the wall until it happened! When I began my LT career everything signals and comms was pretty much open and live and earthing was a joke as the different earths were not tied together in equipotential zones but one was told and learnt very quickly that the railway was a dangerous place and that all things electrical from 6v dc to 22 kV ac were to be respected i.e. treated as live at all times. We worked 'live' pretty much all the time especially when fault finding and were thus very careful where we put our fingers, limbs and torsos. This was pretty much the case right into the early 1990s for some jobs such as point maintenance on depot roads, routine change and testing of some signal circuitry etc. These days I believe the railway to be a less safe place despite the never ending growth in H&S because people now assume that they are protected from everything and indeed expect to be ! There is nothing worse than complacency in what can never be anything less than a dangerous working environment for those who do not routinely look out for their own safety at all times.
|
|
|
Post by Nortube on Nov 19, 2014 1:46:45 GMT
In all my visits to the various IMRs over the years, for different reasons, I've always been accompanied by a suitably licensed person, whether it be the AET (as they were then) or anybody else. Having had electric / electronics as a hobby from a young age, I always had a healthy respect for electricity, especially as that was in the days before ELCBs etc. Being on the job surrounded by and crossing over bare 630v conductors also kept me aware of my environment.
The IMRs were a new and interesting experience for me. All those bare contacts, whether they were LV or HV were respected. This was more so because I didn't want risk catching against something and getting a bollocking for shutting the job down!. The space in many of them was very restricted and even breathing out in some places was probably a no-no!
I think you're right about the railway being less safe. As with other areas, people are being mollycoddled these days. In the old days, it was routine to cross over bare live rails, or at least partly boarded up ones in the depot. Getting on and off 72 stock in depot was always done through the front cab door (they didn't have side doors) and this was inevitably done with the couple face over the juice rail. It was anevery day experience. They can remove sections of current rail where there are walkboards, but they can't remove every bit of current rail. There is always going to be a time when a driver has to get on the track, usually when the juice is still on.
|
|
|
Post by Nortube on Nov 19, 2014 1:59:11 GMT
With regards the CB in Tooting siding, the idea was, like your second reason, to reset the CB if the driver opened up with the route not set and thus tripped the CB. I assume that the reset plunger worked in parallel with the reset button on the platform control unit. The reset plunger was already there when I joined the job, although I've never used it.
I'm not sure about whether the siding plunger resets the siding T/T or not. I know that they can be reset separately from the platform control unit.
|
|
|
Post by railtechnician on Nov 19, 2014 4:37:53 GMT
In all my visits to the various IMRs over the years, for different reasons, I've always been accompanied by a suitably licensed person, whether it be the AET (as they were then) or anybody else. Having had electric / electronics as a hobby from a young age, I always had a healthy respect for electricity, especially as that was in the days before ELCBs etc. Being on the job surrounded by and crossing over bare 630v conductors also kept me aware of my environment. The IMRs were a new and interesting experience for me. All those bare contacts, whether they were LV or HV were respected. This was more so because I didn't want risk catching against something and getting a bollocking for shutting the job down!. The space in many of them was very restricted and even breathing out in some places was probably a no-no! I think you're right about the railway being less safe. As with other areas, people are being mollycoddled these days. In the old days, it was routine to cross over bare live rails, or at least partly boarded up ones in the depot. Getting on and off 72 stock in depot was always done through the front cab door (they didn't have side doors) and this was inevitably done with the couple face over the juice rail. It was anevery day experience. They can remove sections of current rail where there are walkboards, but they can't remove every bit of current rail. There is always going to be a time when a driver has to get on the track, usually when the juice is still on. My comment re unlicensed unqualified staff in relay rooms and IMRs was not aimed at Operating department staff but at the many contractors who were allowed in unaccompanied from the late 1980s onward. Back in the day no-one would gain access to an IMR without contacting the local shift AET regardless of rank, it was not only a matter of signalling safety but also a matter of courtesy. I spent my first 2 years or so on Signal New Works starting as a T4E wireman, becoming a T3E semiskilled circuit installer and then occasionally an Acting T2E chargehand before transferring to the Telephone Section as a T3E telephone lineman in training in the Telephone maintenance section as my base trade had been PO Telephones Technical Officer before joining LT. Thus I had been a keyholder with access to relay rooms and IMRs while with Signals and as a T3E telephones was a keyholder to telephone exchanges, switchrooms and comms equipment rooms but even when subsequently a T2E telephone installation chargehand, then a T1E telephone installation lineman I was not a keyholder for signal equipment rooms and had to be accompanied by an AET (light duties) attached to the telephone section to gain access to signal equipment rooms. Later as a Comms Equipment Technician and Acting Class 1 Inspector with both Comms Installation and Maintenance responsibilities I became a keyholder for all signal, electrical and communications rooms. Along the way I also trained and qualified as a keyholder to access and work in all lift and escalator chambers and to operate lifts and escalators for engineering purposes and to access all substations to install and maintain T/T and other equipment both with and without supervision as required per job. Thus at devolution with SE&C downsizing apace I transferred to Picc Line Engineering as the Night Comms Technical Officer and then trained as a signal lineman becoming a dual grade Signal & Communications Technical Officer. I was amazed to discover that contract cleaners had unsupervised access to IMRs but that was the tip of the iceberg so to speak. Quite often I'd enter an IMR to do maintenance and discover other department staff and contractors therein but few had, had, the courtesy to inform us of their intended presence and intentions in advance. Frequently if their work involved track work e.g. fitting point heaters they would be on the track working as soon as the juice was off and their Protection Masters would have placed them in danger by not protecting them from the possibility of points being thrown. In the early days of the job being flooded with contractors and before the InfraCos were sold to the highest bidders we (line engineering) found ourselves picking up the pieces after contractors who had failed to follow the expected protocols and procedures and who were a danger to themselves and to others. Many was the occasion as we approached the end of the night shift that we had to localise and correct signal failures where contractors had been working without informing us. I have always been of the opinion that it was fair to say that, from an engineering standpoint, both devolution to lines and the PPP were unmitigated disasters, the decisions being made for political purposes and wasting £taxpayers billions in the process.
|
|
|
Post by railtechnician on Nov 19, 2014 4:59:29 GMT
With regards the CB in Tooting siding, the idea was, like your second reason, to reset the CB if the driver opened up with the route not set and thus tripped the CB. I assume that the reset plunger worked in parallel with the reset button on the platform control unit. The reset plunger was already there when I joined the job, although I've never used it. I'm not sure about whether the siding plunger resets the siding T/T or not. I know that they can be reset separately from the platform control unit. I suspect that the traction plunger would have been wired as you suggest but in that case it would also be ineffective with the T/T circuit down as it inhibits the CB Reset facility, i.e. the TTR has to be up. The driver opening up would not trip the Siding T/T circuit and generally speaking the Siding T/T would only be down if it had been tripped either deliberately, as in routine T/T testing or to knock the siding juice off, or by a broken or earthing T/T wire. From a maintenance viewpoint we used to test and/or readjust all T/T circuits approximately every six months. I don't know but I would not be at all surprised to learn that the station supervisor also tested the Siding T/T's when the main section juice was on but before traffic began or after traffic ceased. I can't recall ever testing the Siding T/T at Tooting Broadway, when I was doing Northern line T/T routines as a CET I was generally at street level playing leapfrog from substation to substation checking the T/T room equipment while a dozen or more colleagues played leapfrog testing all the station equipment as we worked from section to section down the line completing multiple routines in a single shift. The worst substation I recall in South London was Elephant & Castle as the access to the T/T room was via the subway under the roundabout which usually was full of drug users in the wee small hours and not somewhere one would want to visit alone although I did have that 'pleasure' in the early 1990s.
|
|