West Hampstead

Panel 4

Introduction

Panel four covers the area from Leagrave to Sharnbrook Junction inclusive. Geographically it is the longest of the panels at 28 miles long, but only features four passenger stations. It is, however, quite busy!

Elstow Redland Sidings

Permission is required from the shunter by telephone before trains enter the sidings. Trains from the north should be held at Bedford North Junction until the permission has been given, to avoid blocking the Up Slow.

The shunter will telephone when a train is ready to leave the sidings towards the Up Slow.

Cauldwell Depot

In the later eras, Cauldwell Depot provides storage and maintenance facilities for Thameslink trains. Due to the layout, trains from the depot to the station need to reverse at signal WH601 or WH599, and in doing so block the Up Slow. Thus, trains should not be signalled from WH488 onto the Up Slow until space is available at Bedford station or you're sure nothing will be blocked by the train waiting.

Similarly, trains shouldn't be sent from Bedford station to the depot if a train is already waiting to come out.

Bedford Carriage Sidings

The shunter will call Panel 4 when (s)he is ready for a train to arrive from the station. Do not send a train from the station into the Carriage Sidings until the call has been received which will advise you into which roads (1-9 or 10-14) to send the train.

You will receive a telephone call notifying you that a train is ready. However, as in real life, there are no TD berths for the sidings themselves. Instead a sticky note can be used to remember a train if you're not ready, or interpose into the platform berths at Bedford station if you're ready for the train.

Bedford Washer

This single siding contains the carriage washer. It is capable of taking 12 cars maximum at a time. Permission is not required to send trains in, but care should be taken to ensure trains will fit if the siding is already occupied. One technique is to apply a reminder device to the exit triangle when the siding is occupied.

Bedford

Signal WH496 (Bedford platform 3) can only show a single yellow or red, because the next signal (WH492 is approach controlled for all routes .

Permissive working is allowed into Bedford platforms 1, 1A, 2, and 3 in the Down direction (from the left, south). From the north, permissive working is only allowed from the ground shunt signals - thus one cannot perform permissive working for a train direct from Sharnbrook. There is no permissive working in the Up Fast or Down Fast (platform 4).

There are direction arrows in platforms 1 to 3. These will drop out after a time interval, after which calling-on in the opposite direction will be possible.

The limit of electrification is shown as immediately to the north of Bedford South Junction for the fast lines; however, it does continue to just short of Bedford itself in reality. The limits shown are thus the usable limits since electric trains should not continue down to signal 145. Similarly, the electrification continues slightly beyond platforms 1/2/3 but again is only usable into the North Stabling Siding.

Bedford St. Johns

Track to the left of the station will flood red as trains pass, and flood white with a route set from WH494 to BS23, since this is not controlled by West Hampstead and there is no route or point indication from the adjacent box. The layout is a compromise of the slight variations over the years.

Overlap track flooded white

Bedford Goods Loop

This loop is available for through running of goods trains, and for access to the Engineer's sidings and Yard. In earlier eras the loop is not track circuited so ensure the loop is empty beforehand. The TD will have to be manually re-instated as there is not a TD berth in the loop in the earlier eras. Both track circuiting and a TD berth are available in the 2009 era.

Sharnbrook Junction

To send a Down train on the Up and Down Slow requires Leicester to give a slot . In real life West Hampstead can only request this slot by phone to Leicester PSB, with Leicester normally granting the slot as they see trains approaching without the need for a phone call. The section is quite long so it may be more efficient to send a Down train via the Down Fast - as long as it will not delay anything on that line. Keep in mind the steep gradient over Sharnbrook Summit.

In the simulation, the slot will be granted if a train is approaching on the Down Fast or the Down Slow, regardless of the timetabled routing. The slot will be taken away if the routes set at Sharnbrook Junction take the train onto the Down Fast. There is no facility to phone Leicester in the simulation.

Before 1987 the slow line was a double goods line. The lines were singled and made up to passenger standards, coinciding with the opening of Leicester PSB in 1987. Leicester PSB replaced a number of manual signalboxes on the route (both fast and slow lines) and it's not practical to simulate these on the fringe at the same time as a modern standard. Therefore, artistic license can be assumed for early 1980s eras.

Approach Tracks

On the Slow line, the rightmost track circuit (to the right of the tunnel) will show occupied wherever a train is between Wellingborough (inclusive) and Sharnbrook Tunnel (exclusive). Thus, this track could be showing occupied for a long time for both inbound and outbound trains.

On the Up Fast line, the track on the approach to WH180 signal is a combination of both the berth track for WH180 signal and the previous track for LR4 signal. Thus, if this track is occupied, pulling a route from WH178 signal will cause approach locking to become active if WH178 was showing a proceed aspect.

Beyond West Hampstead's last signal (WH167), the panel shows the next three Leicester section tracks going away. This is unusual but that's what the panel shows so this is what SimSig does too.

Line Speeds

The following gives an overview of the line speeds for Panel 4. Not all changes are noted; only the most significant. Crossovers not mentioned are rated at 15mph.

The Fast lines are generally 110mph from Leagrave to Wellingborough with the following exceptions:

100mph through Ampthill Tunnel
80mph approaching and through Wellingborough

The Slow lines are generally 90mph from Leagrave to Bedford South Junction with the following exceptions:

70-80mph through Harlington
70mph through Flitwick
75mph through Ampthill Tunnel

From Bedford South Junction to Bedford the line speed is 75mph, with 30mph through platform 3 and 50mph through platforms 1 and 2. This line speed remains towards Wellingborough with the following exceptions:

20mph to the Up Slow at Sharnbrook Junction
20mph (freight); 40mph (passenger) through Irchester

Crossovers are as follows:

40mph at Leagrave Junction
40mph at Flitwick Junction
40mph over the single lead at Bedford South Junction
50mph over the double lead at Bedford South Junction
20mph through the station crossovers south of Bedford station
40mph at Bedford North Junction
20mph at Sharnbrook Junction

West Hampstead Contents

Last edited by Steamer on 20/12/2020 at 14:14