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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 29/04/2015 at 22:20 #71527
Steamer
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I can highly recommend this, from the publishers of Railway Magazine. It's an overview of the transfer to ROCs and the abolition of mechanical signalling. It's a great introduction to the current situation for those new to signalling, while those familiar with the bulk of the text will probably find something they didn't know. What really stands out, though, is the sheer number of pictures, illustrating dozens of boxes past and present. There are plenty of interior shots, all of good quality and with plenty of detail to study! A must-buy.

Got my copy in Tesco, I assume it can be found in WH Smith and other stockists of railway magazines.

"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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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 29/04/2015 at 22:53 #71528
Hooverman
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Were you referring to this one. I had a quick look through one of my colleagues at work and I found to many inaccuracies and out of date information just on our areas migration to our ROC that I couldn't bring myself to buy a copy in the end. But I do agree there are quite I few good Signalbox pictures inside that are worth a look.

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 07:43 #71533
maxand
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As Steamer mentioned in his original post, this is a magazine, not a book. Each issue costs £6.99; however, there seems to be only one a year. A subscription would probably make a nice gift to a friend interested or involved with railway signalling.

http://magazines.whsmith.co.uk/Resignalling-Britain-Magazine-Subscription.cfm

PS What's a ROC? Nothing in the glossary. I thought maybe it's a giant bird that carries you off like it did to Sinbad. :silly:

Last edited: 30/04/2015 at 07:48 by maxand
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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 08:01 #71534
kbarber
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" said:


PS What's a ROC? Nothing in the glossary. I thought maybe it's a giant bird that carries you off like it did to Sinbad. :silly:
I believe it's 'Regional Operations Centre'. Well, that's what it is this week, at least

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 08:05 #71535
Steamer
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" said:
As Steamer mentioned in his original post, this is a magazine, not a book. Each issue costs £6.99; however, there seems to be only one a year. A subscription would probably make a nice gift to a friend interested or involved with railway signalling.

http://magazines.whsmith.co.uk/Resignalling-Britain-Magazine-Subscription.cfm
The publication is a one-off. The 'one issue per year' appears to be a way of fitting a one-off publication into a website built for subscriptions.

Quote:
PS What's a ROC? Nothing in the glossary. I thought maybe it's a giant bird that carries you off like it did to Sinbad. :silly:
Regional Operating Centres. There will be 12 of them in total, and together they'll control the entirety of the country. Some of them have opened already, and existing 'boxes are steadily being transferred to them.

EDIT: Corrected acronym- Keith posted while I was typing.

"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)
Last edited: 30/04/2015 at 12:25 by Steamer
Reason: Corrected acronym

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 08:39 #71536
ozrail
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Ordered through Classic Magazines website. Thanks everyone for the heads-up. It would take three months to show up here in Australia.
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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 09:21 #71538
Firefly
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Quote:
Railway (Route?) Operating Centre
Regional Operations Centre as per KBarbers post

FF

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 13:23 #71541
maxand
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Added to our glossary. Please edit if details have changed since 2011.

What does this imply for the future of SimSig?

Last edited: 30/04/2015 at 13:26 by maxand
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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 13:58 #71542
Firefly
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Quote:
What does this imply for the future of SimSig? :unsure:
What do you mean? I can't see it altering anything.

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 14:15 #71543
mfcooper
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Not "Regional", just "Rail Operating Centre".
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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 15:20 #71545
Muzer
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" said:
Quote:
What does this imply for the future of SimSig? :unsure:
What do you mean? I can't see it altering anything.
I think he means with regards to new sims/especially ones of "current" layouts and the ever increasing possibility of conflict of interest rearing its ugly head.

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 30/04/2015 at 16:25 #71546
GeoffM
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" said:
" said:
Quote:
What does this imply for the future of SimSig? :unsure:
What do you mean? I can't see it altering anything.
I think he means with regards to new sims/especially ones of "current" layouts and the ever increasing possibility of conflict of interest rearing its ugly head.
Much will just be a re-control, very little in the way of alterations on the ground. Some will switch from MCS to Westcad, some will get TMS (Traffic Management System), though TMS has been scaled back somewhat or at least put on ice for the later stages.

SimSig Boss
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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 01/05/2015 at 04:47 #71562
maxand
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Firefly wrote:
Quote:


Quote:
(maxand)
What does this imply for the future of SimSig? :unsure:
What do you mean? I can't see it altering anything.
What I meant was, if all the PSBs are replaced by a handful of ROCs, then to be authentic, future sims may need to be centred on ROCs, not PSBs. Maybe there is some plan for a ROC to be further divided into regions previously served by a PSB, but most of our existing sims will need reworking to remain authentic, i.e., part of a new ROC rather than a standalone existing PSB, making many sims still good fun, but anachronistic.

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 01/05/2015 at 08:03 #71574
kbarber
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" said:
Not "Regional", just "Rail Operating Centre".

Just as I suspected... they did change it. :doh Wonder what they'll call it next week? :silly:

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 01/05/2015 at 08:19 #71576
maxand
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"Regional" makes more sense to me than "Rail", the use of which here is tautological.

Anyway, the reference I included in my glossary entry calls it "Regional" and lists the number of ROCs planned as 14, not 12. However, this was back in 2011. If anyone can find a more recent authoritative article, particularly where "Rail" is the preferred term, please amend my entry and replace the reference. Although I may sound pedantic, I believe it's important to get it correct from the start.

Last edited: 01/05/2015 at 08:19 by maxand
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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 01/05/2015 at 10:01 #71584
Firefly
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Quote:
What I meant was, if all the PSBs are replaced by a handful of ROCs, then to be authentic, future sims may need to be centred on ROCs, not PSBs. Maybe there is some plan for a ROC to be further divided into regions previously served by a PSB, but most of our existing sims will need reworking to remain authentic, i.e., part of a new ROC rather than a standalone existing PSB, making many sims still good fun, but anachronistic.
To be honest a ROC is just a combination of individual workstations. So taking TVSC as an example they now have:- (might need help from someone who actually works there!!)

Paddington Workstation
Acton Workstation
Hayes Workstation
Slough Workstation
Twyford Workstation
Reading Workstation
Reading West Junction Workstation
Newbury Workstation
Didcot Workstation
Swindon Workstation (Not yet commissioned)

So there's a Simsig for Swindon and Didcot and that just simulates the Didcot and Swindon Workstations.

When PSB's are migrated across to ROC's they will be split into manageable workstation areas, the workstation boundaries may change a little so some Dev's may choose to alter their boundaries to match workstation control areas whilst others may wish to model the boundaries on the old Panels. Some may even include the workstation control areas on with an era option on startup.

The long and short is no significant change. Don't expect a single sim to cover a whole ROC area, although it's possible that all workstation in a ROC get simulated and will chain together.

FF

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 01/05/2015 at 14:09 #71587
RainbowNines
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Picked up my copy today - reading it as we speak. It doesn't really tell a lot about the new ROCs that's not already freely available, but the author's vast collection of photographs of boxes and signals is really worth picking it up for. There are a couple of good stories too.

I must say I'd quite like it if he did a proper book of photos, historical recounting and stories. This feel a bit like it only skims the surface, and is packed into 130 pages.

It's still worth it though.

EDIT: I note that he has done some books. All good then.

Last edited: 01/05/2015 at 14:11 by RainbowNines
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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 01/05/2015 at 14:40 #71588
JamesN
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" said:
Quote:
What I meant was, if all the PSBs are replaced by a handful of ROCs, then to be authentic, future sims may need to be centred on ROCs, not PSBs. Maybe there is some plan for a ROC to be further divided into regions previously served by a PSB, but most of our existing sims will need reworking to remain authentic, i.e., part of a new ROC rather than a standalone existing PSB, making many sims still good fun, but anachronistic.
To be honest a ROC is just a combination of individual workstations. So taking TVSC as an example they now have:- (might need help from someone who actually works there!!)

Paddington Workstation
Acton Workstation
Hayes Workstation
Slough Workstation
Twyford Workstation
Reading Workstation
Reading West Junction Workstation
Newbury Workstation
Didcot Workstation
Swindon Workstation (Not yet commissioned)

So there's a Simsig for Swindon and Didcot and that just simulates the Didcot and Swindon Workstations.

When PSB's are migrated across to ROC's they will be split into manageable workstation areas, the workstation boundaries may change a little so some Dev's may choose to alter their boundaries to match workstation control areas whilst others may wish to model the boundaries on the old Panels. Some may even include the workstation control areas on with an era option on startup.

The long and short is no significant change. Don't expect a single sim to cover a whole ROC area, although it's possible that all workstation in a ROC get simulated and will chain together.

FF
Pedant - Swindon Workstation is commissioned, albeit only running the Kemble line at the minute.

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'Resignalling Britain' Bookazine 01/05/2015 at 17:15 #71595
sorabain
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" said:
"Regional" makes more sense to me than "Rail", the use of which here is tautological.

Anyway, the reference I included in my glossary entry calls it "Regional" and lists the number of ROCs planned as 14, not 12. However, this was back in 2011. If anyone can find a more recent authoritative article, particularly where "Rail" is the preferred term, please amend my entry and replace the reference. Although I may sound pedantic, I believe it's important to get it correct from the start.
http://www.networkrail.co.uk/news/2014/jul/Manchester-rail-operating-centre-opens/

will that do?

I think "Rail" is fine and not tautological since it's a term for broad use. It fits with Air Traffic Control (ATC), or Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) for airbourne and maritime operations.

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