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| Absolute block regulations 22/08/2024 at 18:12 #158265 | |
itwithlyam
3 posts |
Hi, does anyone know where these "Absolute Block Regulations" everyone refers to are defined - e.g. regulation 5 (warning arrangement)? I've been searching all over the internet but can't find an actual source with this.
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| Absolute block regulations 22/08/2024 at 19:07 #158266 | |
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TUT
532 posts |
The regulations for train signalling were set out in, well, well in the regulations for train signalling! The big four (Southern Railway, Great Western Railway, London Midland and Scottish Railway and London and North Eastern Railway) published their own regulations for train signalling, but they were very, very similar. A better historian on these matters than me could tell you more about the history of the various regulations and the processes by which they were mostly standardised. Before the days of the big four the original smaller companies again published their own regulations. Again I am not a great expert on this but I think there were quite a lot of differences in the earliest days, but they grew to become very similar. The Signalling Record Society has a very wide collection of signalling regulations however they are for the most part only available to members https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/archiveregulations.php Here you can find, to give just one example, the LMS's E.R.O. 52019 Book of Instructions to Station Masters, Signalmen and Others containing The Regulations for Train Signalling on Double Lines by the Absolute Block System (Section I of the Rule Book); by the Permissive Block System; also General Instructions to Signalmen dating from 1934 After nationalisation BR published its own signalling regulations which were standardised, although with regional variations (mostly along the lines of the former big four). On that same web page we find, for example, BR's 29960 Regulations for Train Signalling and Signalmen's General Instructions As you can imagine these are, well, private and not for publication. These are official BR and earlier company publications. For the information of the company's servants only. You couldn't pick up a copy at WH Smiths. Nevertheless, you may be able to find copies on Ebay or at railway auctions. Alternatively consider joining the SRS if you're interested or you could consider visiting the archives in person. Otherwise the rules are summarised and explained in various places, including https://signalbox.org/block-system/ The regulations did not really change all that much for many years and the October 1972 revision of BR's regulations closely resemble earlier signalling regulations, including regulation 5 (Warning Arrangement), although the main Rule Book had been considerably reorganised. In more recent years the form and layout of the Rule Book has been overhauled several times, most recently with the RSSB rule book. The current rule book, including the train signalling regulations, which are now published as modules including TS1 (General Signalling Regulations) and TS3 (Absolute Block Regulations), is made available by the RSSB to professional railway workers, but is not available for public consumption. The absolute block regulations have been fiddled with in recent years in some rather unsatisfactory ways, but the core of them is very much as it ever was. Most of the rules for divided trains for example have been dispensed with, including the 5-5 bell signal, due to the fact that we don't have unfitted or partially fitted trains running around any more that could run away in the event of a train dividing. The modern rule book does not have regulation 5, it has module TS3 regulation 3.5 Restricted Acceptance. It can only be used in very, uh, restricted circumstances nowadays unless special instructions say otherwise. Last edited: 22/08/2024 at 19:09 by TUT Reason: None given Log in to reply The following users said thank you: flabberdacks, mldaureol |
| Absolute block regulations 23/08/2024 at 08:36 #158269 | |
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kbarber
1742 posts |
To add to TUT's very clear description. There was a core of Block Regs that was created by the Railway Clearing House in (I think) about the 1870s, following a rear-end collision at Canonbury arising from the Great Northern and North London railways having very different regulations. Individual companies were free to add to them or to interpret them according to their own ideas of how a railway should run. An example of the latter: the old Regulation 4 (dealing with the rules for giving 'Line Clear'  stated inter alia that all points within the clearing point must be set (and locked, if facing to the approaching train) before LC could be given. On the Great Western there was an absolute interpretation, strictly enforced by the inspectorate, that once LC had been given those points could not be moved until the approaching train had come to a stand. On other railways, although the same wording was used, it was implicitly accepted that facing points could be moved even after 'Train Entering Section' had been received and there was an instruction in the General Appendix dealing with moving points while a train was approaching. So far as additional regulations were concerned, the report into the Ardsley collision of 1959 https://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/MoT_Ardsley1959.pdf is clear that the former LNER had no standard regulation for shunting into forward section (Reg 31 in the 1972 book) but implies that the LMS did have.So far as 'Private & Not for Publication' is concerned, I've heard it said that this was a standard formula used on railway notices so they didn't have to furnish a copy to the UK's copyright libraries (principally the British Library, which has a right to a copy of every book or other publication 'published' in the UK). This was agreed by the British Library, which would otherwise have been completely overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of notices and other material published by the British railway industry. My knowledge, I have to admit, is older than many here but I did work AB for several years and have taken a close interest in how things developed, so I'd be happy to say more here (if people aren't already bored) or to respond to PMs. Another excellent resource is John Hinson's website https://signalbox.org/ where you will find an excellent set of articles on the Block Regulations. Log in to reply The following users said thank you: mldaureol, flabberdacks |
| Absolute block regulations 23/08/2024 at 17:08 #158272 | |
postal
5264 posts 
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kbarber in post 158269 said:. . . so I'd be happy to say more here (if people aren't already bored) or to respond to PMs. . .If you wrote the book at least you'd be getting paid for boring people! “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 Log in to reply |
| Absolute block regulations 23/08/2024 at 17:10 #158273 | |
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Stephen Fulcher
2078 posts |
Far from boring people John, a lot of us (you included I suspect) find these things of interest.
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| Absolute block regulations 23/08/2024 at 19:45 #158274 | |
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postal
5264 posts
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Stephen Fulcher in post 158273 said:Far from boring people John, a lot of us (you included I suspect) find these things of interest.My comment was tongue in cheek. I've been on at Keith for long enough now about getting a book written. I would be first in the queue to buy it. “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 Log in to reply |
| Absolute block regulations 25/08/2024 at 19:57 #158307 | |
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Jan
906 posts |
TUT in post 158266 said:A better historian on these matters than me could tell you more about the history of the various regulations and the processes by which they were mostly standardised. This article here is probably quite pertinent. TUT in post 158266 said: The current rule book, including the train signalling regulations, which are now published as modules including TS1 (General Signalling Regulations) and TS3 (Absolute Block Regulations), is made available by the RSSB to professional railway workers, but is not available for public consumption. That's not quite true. For quite a few years the rule books were openly accessible on the RSSB homepage. A few years ago for some annoying reasons RSSB made all their documents log-in only, however a plain account anybody can sign up for (i.e. don't need to be a verified member of the railway industry or anything like that) is still enough to get access to probably more or less everything. Two million people attempt to use Birmingham's magnificent rail network every year, with just over a million of them managing to get further than Smethwick. Log in to reply |