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| ETB abolished on NIR 11/03/2017 at 14:28 #93609 | |
AndyB
4 posts |
Sorry, it's been a while since I was here! Token working came to an end on NIR in November, as Castlerock and Londonderry cabins closed permanently, Portrush was reduced to a ground frame (obviously still in the cabin) and Coleraine relocated from an NX panel in the traditional cabin to VDU driven in the station building. The loop at Castlerock was last used on the evening of 31 October, after which Down trains were handsignalled through the Up platform for two days, and two trains each way which crossed were bustituted. The last services signalled by ETB were on 2 November, and similarly with the ETT used as a manual token on the Portrush branch. The various sections closed on 2 November, including the line from Antrim to Coleraine (the boundary is on the down side of Slaght level crossing, south of Ballymena), and Antrim to Coleraine reopened on 7 November. The Portrush branch reopened as OTW with sequential track circuit operation on 14 November, and the section from Coleraine to the new loop at Bellarena and Londonderry reopened on 20 November. Some level crossing treadles were moved to permit 90mph running, and the Bann Bridge (still operated by NIR staff) is unaffected apart from no longer being interlocked with the Coleraine-Castlerock No.6 tablet. All three sections (Coleraine-Portrush, Coleraine-Castlerock and Castlerock-Londonderry) have the distinction of having their block instruments linked by VHF radio due to dodgy cable routes, which was also true of Belfast-Antrim and I expect also Ballymena-Ballymoney, an example which would be followed by BR. The EKT from Castlerock-Londonderry also had another distinction: in the 1930s, an instruction was given that Waterside (old and future station) and Eglinton were to withdraw a tablet for the next morning as a safeguard against tablet failure. The instruction remained in place through the closure of Eglinton and Limavady Junction signal cabins until 2 November 2016, amended somewhere along the way by no longer being required to replace the token the next morning and request ILC as long as the instruments were working. Last edited: 11/03/2017 at 14:29 by AndyB Reason: wee update re radio-linked instruments Log in to reply The following users said thank you: norman B, Gwasanaethau |