2012 or 1962 ? .You cant tell! Nice charismatic B&W pic
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| Posted by FSWood on May 26, 2012 | |
And here we have one of those photos made and meant for black and white.
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Graet B&W photo. Very atmospheric
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| Posted by JohnR on May 27, 2012 | |
Nice shot, great timing. Not way bills, but swapping "tokens" for the single line sections. Drivers must not enter a single line section without authority, in this case a metal token contained in a hooped pouch. Here the driver is giving up the token for the section he is leaving and simultaneously picking up the token for the next.
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Thank you for clarification. I knew they weren't way bills, but I didnt know the true term So I Americanized it. Really enjoyed my day on the NYMR. Really made my vacation. Ready to go back. Love British steam. Such beautiful engines. Works of art.
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| Posted by FSWood on May 27, 2012 | |
That token thing brings up a question of how things are handled if, say, on that day there are 5 trains one way and 2 the other: it would appear there's gotta be more than one token per section, which could be tricky to keep track of.
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| Posted by JohnR on May 28, 2012 | |
At each end of a single line section there is a signal box, containing a token machine which holds several tokens. They are electrically linked so that only one token can be removed from one of them at a time. The 2 signallers communicate via bell codes to agree from which end a train will enter the section. Once removed, another token cannot be taken out until the removed one is returned to one of the token machines. By having several tokens held at each end, an imbalance of traffic can be accommodated. There aren't many places left on the national network where you can still see this in operation; 2 I used to work through were Worcester to Evesham & Evesham to Moreton-In-Marsh.
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| Posted by FSWood on May 30, 2012 | |
Ah, thanks John. The token thing has been a mystery although the bell codes were learned about in a 1979 book with a chapter detailing operation of one Frank Roome's Lutton Branch in O gauge. Bell codes were explained with diagrams of plunger and repeater boxes, but for those of us not familiar with the token system that part was a bit vague.
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In Australia they were called staffs Same reasons for using them
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