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Lickey Banker detaching at King's Norton?

You are here: Home > Forum > Simulations > Timetables > Saltley > Lickey Banker detaching at King's Norton?

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Lickey Banker detaching at King's Norton? 03/11/2014 at 17:45 #65442
Steamer
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I've noticed a couple of moves on RTT which appear to show freight trains dropping the Banker off at King's Norton- can anyone confirm this? 667F, 069L, 661G and 001M* are the trains concerned.

*Yes, I know these aren't the real headcodes.

"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)
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Lickey Banker detaching at King's Norton? 03/11/2014 at 18:18 #65443
Danny252
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And for additional excitement, it seems the banker came all the way from Stoke Gifford attached to 667F - an interesting set of moves.
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Lickey Banker detaching at King's Norton? 03/11/2014 at 18:29 #65444
Finger
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That would be really fast work on the shunters' part - if they managed to drop the 667F's banker in 1/4 minute. Even more surprising would be trains dropping banker at the start of their journey as 001M.
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Lickey Banker detaching at King's Norton? 03/11/2014 at 18:49 #65445
Danny252
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" said:
That would be really fast work on the shunters' part - if they managed to drop the 667F's banker in 1/4 minute.
Note it took 28 minutes to proceed from Longbridge to Kings Norton, compared to the booked 8 minutes - real location reports aren't as comprehensive/reliable as Simsig makes them.

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Lickey Banker detaching at King's Norton? 03/11/2014 at 19:22 #65446
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I presume we are talking about modern era timetable here? As opposed to a timetable written for the BR era. Firstly you need to understand the workings of the Lickey Banker. The only time they attached to the rear of the train was once they used Cl.66 locomotices & the trailing wagon was fitted with a buckeye. A handful of Cl.66s were modified around 2005 fitted with an auto uncoupler which was activated in the cab of the banking loco. The loco controller reponsible for the West Midlands area would ensure that the Lickey banker was covered by one of these engines. Once the banker had attached on the rear it would detach at a pre-designated point in the Sectional Appendix & would detach from the train whilst the train was moving. Even in the BR days when pairs of Cl.37/0s were used to bank trains up the bank they didn't couple up onto the train, they just buffered up on the rear vehicle & pushed whilst the train engine was also under power. At the top of the bank the driver on the bankers would shut off power & the train that had been banked would simply acclerate away from the banker. In 2005 I rode back on a loaded coal train from Portbury. We went into the loop at Bromsgrove, the banker came onto the rear & there was a communication system located next to the cab of the train engine & another device in rear where the banker driver could communicate with the driver on the train engine. This equiptment was located at cab height so there was no need to get out of the driving seat. IIRC you pressed a button & the device at the other end would ring, that driver pressed a button to answer & the 2 drivers could chat to one another like being on a telephone. I don't even recall the driver getting out of the seat to notify the signaller I think he just pressed a button on this communication console which would have triggered an alarm on the panel at Gloucester to notify the signaller there that the train was ready to proceed with the banker ready on the rear. The route was then set & the signal showed a proceed aspect. Then it was a case of full throttle all the way up the bank & we never even stopped for the banker to be detached as that was undertaken on the move by the banker driver.
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Lickey Banker detaching at King's Norton? 03/11/2014 at 20:11 #65447
valenta43002
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These workings were for diverted freightliner coals trains that would normally go via Shrewsbury
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