Table of Contents
SimSig Victoria Central Panel 1This panel covers platforms 9 to 19 of London Victoria station, the Up Carriage Sidings, Battersea Pier Sidings, Battersea Park, and the junction towards Stewarts Lane. Also present is the connection from Victoria South Eastern platforms.
Approaching Battersea in the Up direction, you have four main line tracks arranged in up/down/up/down order from top to bottom. Shortly before Battersea Park station a line comes off forming the Brighton Reversible which is suitable for passenger use in the 2000, 2010 and 2014 eras, however, there is not as much capacity on this line as there is on the main lines. These five lines continue all the way into London Victoria.
At Battersea Park another pair of lines come in from Factory Junction, from Victoria South Eastern. These join the Slow lines after Battersea Park station in the 1990, 2000 and 2010 eras, but in the 2014 era this connection has been severed to make room for a platform extension, platform 2 therefore becoming a terminus platform and platform 1 being closed.
There are two non-track-circuited sidings at Battersea Pier, both 8 cars in length. These are protected by wheel stops rather than the usual catch points. This is because any trains running away would end up in the River Thames! There are no special controls for the wheel stops: they will move according to the route set and will return to the protecting position shortly after the route has released. Only one TD berth is available in each siding so use sticky notes to remember if more than one train is present in the siding. There is also a tiny staff halt outside the station - situated so that drivers going to/from the sidings can get a ride into/out of Victoria!
Battersea Pier Junction is where a line from Stewarts Lane joins. This originates on Victoria South Eastern's area and the approach is shown simplified (a train could be approaching on one of a few tracks here, but the signaller doesn't need to know where it's coming from, only that it's coming).
Victoria Up Carriage Sidings consists of two track circuited sidings, both 8 cars in length. Beware, there are no measuring tracks to ensure inbound trains will fit. In fact, the interlocking will allow movements into the siding regardless of the occupancy of either track in each siding. Only one TD berth is available in each siding so use sticky notes to remember if more than one train is present in the siding.
Finally, London Victoria station. With this panel you get to control platforms 9 to 19 directly. Being a geographic interlocking, nearly all physically possible routes over alternative pathways through the station throat are possible. For example, signals VC509 and VC511 both have no less than five possible ways of getting to signal VC525!
London Victoria has nineteen platforms, though Central only controls platforms 9 to 19 inclusive. The platforms are of different lengths so care must be taken to ensure a train will fit into a platform before it is signalled into one. All platforms will accommodate at least 12-car trains, which is the maximum length encountered in normal service. However special attention still needs to be paid for charter or other special trains, which might be longer than that, and also when "double docking" two or more trains together in the same platform.
There is very little checking that a second (or more) train will fit into an occupied platform. The only check is if both platform tracks are occupied then the inbound train must only be occupying a single track circuit at VC530 or VC532 signals. However, this will still allow a 4-car unit into a 12-car platform occupied by 12-cars. There is no such check for trains coming from VC528. You, as the signaller, must therefore double check that the train will fit. This is true to life.
| Plat. | Length (m) | # of 20 m carriages |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | 269 | 13 |
| 10 | 248 | 12 |
| 11 | 248 | 12 |
| 12 | 248 | 12 |
| 13 | 246 | 12 |
| 14 | 247 | 12 |
| 15 | 259 | 12 |
| 16 | 251 | 12 |
| 17 | 247 | 12 |
| 18 (VC497) | 254 | 12 |
| 18 (VC499) | 318 | 15 |
| 19 (VC495) | 253 | 12 |
| 19 (VC493) | 318 | 15 |
These two sidings are only accessible from signal 521 so ensure trains are signalled towards this signal if they need to access the sidings.
A few trains a day are scheduled to stop here for crew only.
Due to the compact nature of the layout and the river underneath, there are wheel stops to prevent runaway trains leaving the sidings. These will operate automatically with a route set, but can be worked manually by switching the positions of points 251 and 252 on the Brighton Reversible line.
Note that there is no platform on the Up Brighton Fast. However, if you are operating only this panel then you have to rely on panel 2B and 2A routing the trains correctly!
| Identity | Description |
|---|---|
| BTRSPK | Movements on the Atlantic lines south (left) of Battersea Park |
| BTRSPJ | All other movements through Battersea Park station and over Battersea Pier Junction |
| VICTRIC | All movements in and around Victoria station |
Between platforms 8 and 9 at Victoria station there is a crossover enabling up trains on the Central side to head over to the South Eastern side (platforms 3 to 8 inclusive). It also allows trains leaving platforms 3 to 8 inclusive to depart onto the Down Brighton Slow.
Operation is as follows:
Press the "Request to S.E. - from 532" request button. It will flash until the South Eastern signaller sets their half of the route. However, you can set a route from signal 532 to the intermediate exit button at the boundary even without using the request facility.
Once you have set the half route to the exit arrow, the S.E. signaller will shortly afterwards set a route from the intermediate exit button into a platform. Once both halves of the route are locked and proved, signal 532 will clear to a proceed aspect.
Out of courtesy, do not operate the request or set the half route until the train is on the approach. Otherwise South Eastern will lose some flexibility in the station while the points between the two areas are locked reverse.
Press the "Request to S.E. - from 112" request button. It will flash until the South Eastern signaller sets their half of the route. However, you can set a route from signal 532 to the intermediate exit button at the boundary even without using the request facility.
Once you have set the half route to the exit arrow, the S.E. signaller will shortly afterwards set a route from the intermediate exit button into a platform. Once both halves of the route are locked and proved, signal 532 will clear to a proceed aspect.
Out of courtesy, do not operate the request or set the half route until the train is on the approach. Otherwise South Eastern will lose some flexibility in the station while the points between the two areas are locked reverse.
When South Eastern want to send a train to your panel, they will operate a slot request button. On your panel this is indicated by a white flashing light labelled "Request from S.E.". The description of the train will appear in the approach berth. When you are ready to accept the train, set a route from the intermediate entrance button to either signal 527 or 525. Your half of the route is now set and the South Eastern signaller will have an indication that their part of the route can be set.
If Victoria South Eastern is chained to Central, the first track beyond the signal on the South Eastern side will illuminate red to show a train has been signalled towards Central. When standalone this track will illuminate once the train passes the platform starter signal.
The Battersea Reversible allows trains to get from Victoria Central to Stewarts Lane and vice versa. South Eastern also use it for reversing moves which means trains may approach but then disappear again.
Press the "Request to S.E. - from 541" slot request. This will start flashing until acknowledged by South Eastern. When it turns steady you can then set the route as normal onto the Battersea Reversible (541 to VS47).
South Eastern have control of the line so they do not need permission from you to send a train towards you. However, they do have an advance request button which indicates (to Central) that a train is coming and is going to proceed towards the Up Brighton Slow. You do not need to acknowledge this. If a train approaches but the request is not lit then it means the train will reverse and disappear back onto South Eastern's panel. You do not need to do anything in this latter case.
No special slotting arrangements are provided here as the up and down lines are uni-directional and do not conflict with other lines. Trains will only appear on the Up Atlantic approach tracks if South Eastern have set a route towards Battersea Park.
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Last edited by GeoffM on 15/08/2018 at 10:24