Table of Contents
SimSig Victoria South EasternPanel 9Panel 9 controls the central section of the Chatham Main Lines along with the bottleneck at Herne Hill, the four-platformed Kent House, and Beckenham Junction. It's fairly busy and Herne Hill in particular needs careful operation to ensure trains are routed in the most appropriate order.
This location has two slightly different layouts depending on the era. The older era has a non-track circuited siding accessed from the south (right) end of the station. The modern era has a fully track circuited siding accessible from the Loughborough Junction direction only.
Herne Hill is a bottleneck because most traffic forms an X here. Trains from Loughborough Junction tend to head to Tulse Hill, and trains from Brixton tend to head towards Beckenham Junction.
Platform 2 is scheduled to be used by terminating trains from London and returning back to London. This means any up trains have to be routed via platform 1 while the terminating train recesses. Platform 1 is not the fastest route but there is no other option.
This sees connections from both the Mid-Kent line at New Beckenham and from Victoria Central via Crystal Palace and Birkbeck.
Because of the steep gradient from Herne Hill up to Tulse Hill, it is very undesirable to hold a loco-hauled train on the gradient. Therefore, a through acceptance is provided to coordinate with Victoria Central (who control Tulse Hill). The identity of the approaching train must be interposed manually into the berth under the "Through acceptance" label and then the request operated by left-clicking on the green circle. When Victoria Central have set route into (and preferably beyond) Tulse Hill, the green circle will turn solid white to indicate the train will have a clear run up the hill. You can then set route from Herne Hill starter signals (VS129/VS131/VS133) to VC757.
Track circuit overrides are provided for all platforms at Herne Hill. These allow the shunt signals VS595/VS600/VS602 to show a proceed aspect into an occupied platform. Right click on the appropriate red circle to operate the override once the route has been set.
You see some of Victoria Central's indications here, showing trains approaching from Crystal Palace. Your first signal is VS283 onto the single line. The last outbound signal towards Crystal Palace under your control is VS284, allowing you to set route to VC746.
London Bridge (who control New Beckenham) do not need a slot to send a train to you. You will see the direction arrow light up, the train description appear, and the tracks showing occupied for an inbound train.
To send a train towards New Beckenham requires use of the slot. Left-click on the green circle adjacent to signal L376 to request the slot. When it turns steady solid white you may set the route to L376. The outbound train will fall off beyond L376.
| Identity | Description |
|---|---|
| HERNEH | Herne Hill area |
| KNTHSE | Kent House area |
| BRKBCK | Birkbeck area |
| BECKJN | Beckenham Junction area plus braches |
Panel 9 connects with panel 7 and panel 6 at the north-west (left) end, and with panel 10A at the south-east (right) end. No special operation is required in any direction on any fringe.
The panel also chains with Victoria Central at Herne Hill / Tulse Hill (described above), with Victoria Central at Birkbeck (also described above), and with London Bridge at New Beckenham (also described above).
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Last edited by GeoffM on 15/09/2016 at 03:00