Copyright © 1999 John Tilly
1.0
Preface:
Acknowledgements, Abbreviations
and Glossary of Terminology
1.0 Acknowledgements
The Author wishes to acknowledge the following people and organisations who have kindly assisted this project in many different ways, shapes and forms.
I am indebted to Dr Felix Schmid, MSc Course Director and my Dissertation Supervisor and Ms. Deborah Hines, Course Administrator, for their constant assistance, encouragement, criticism and guidance throughout the MSc Course. The same applies to my fellow students, many of whom have offered assistance during team exercises and more generally throughout the course; in particular, Raymond Blakey, Simon Maltby and Bernard Rochard.
My employer, Halcrow-Transmark, and, in particular, Bob Wyatt, Signalling & Telecommunications Technical Director, for his assistance, encouragement and support throughout the course, and also Alan Sturman for his assistance with gaining items from the company library during my periods of working away from my main office. Mark Brown and Miss Caroline Teo, Economists, Halcrow-Transmark for their assistance and advice in manipulating data from the road signs and signals questionnaire and the economic aspects of comparing whole life costs. Stuart Davies for advice on railway operational matters. Derek Smart for answering my questions on bridge construction and maintenance. Similarly, John Sreeves of Halcrow, Swindon, who assisted me greatly in understanding civil engineering construction costs.
David Cornall, formerly British Rail Southern Region's Level Crossing Engineer, for answering my numerous technical and other questions relating to UK level crossing practice. George Bentall, formerly British Rail Eastern Region, New Works Signal Engineer for taking time out to accompany the author looking at level crossings in East Yorkshire and discussing the issues.
John Hopkinson, HM Principal Inspecting Officer of Railways, of the HMRI Level Crossing Section who kindly agreed to meet me and discuss various issues regarding the regulatory aspects of level crossings. In addition I am indebted to Mr Paul Wilkinson of the HMRI who arranged access to the HMRI's Accident Section Library. Also, fellow students, Mike Smith and Stephen Gaskill, both of HMRI who have also assisted.
I am greatly indebted to John Talbot, a fellow member of the Signalling Record Society who has given substantial support to me and this project. This has included finding accident reports; navigating me around numerous rural crossings in the Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and local areas; his constant encouragement and enthusiasm in the quest for knowledge; his views, and thoughts on mine; proof reading and anything else I've missed.
Staff at Westinghouse Signals, Birmingham and Staff at Halcrow-Transmark, London and York who acted as guinea pigs for a test run of the questionnaire mentioned elsewhere in this dissertation.
The following people and organisations who kindly assisted with the necessary 'twisting of arms' in order to fill in several hundred questionnaires or, who allowed me to speak with their staff, pupils or clients within their respective premises for the same purpose: Sixth Form, Kingsbrook School, Deanshanger, Milton Keynes; Teresa Carroll, Milton Keynes Library; Karen Hay, Spalding Library; Insp. Greg Parker & Lincolnshire Police; Malcolm Shelmerdine; Ken Pudsey; Peter Moore; Lisa Chapman; PC Steve Skeavington & Nottinghamshire Police; Brian Hughes; Glynn Waite; David Bevan; Paul Smith; John Talbot; Martin Warburton; Chris Woolstenholmes; Pas Ferrari; Mick Jagger (No relation to a well known personality!); Marion Jones; Mark Crosby and colleagues; Karen Bassett; Steven Curtis; Michael Speed; Steve Maile; John McCrickard.
I am also indebted to Translink, Northern Ireland Railways and in particular, John Barnett, Infrastructure and Property Executive, George Elliott, Signalling Inspector, Geoff Brown, Senior Technical Officer, Mark Atkinson, Bridge Inspector and Technician Officers, Colin McVea, Robert Simpson, Glen Corbain and Sammy Steele for their assistance, access to information and permission to use NIR as a base case for this dissertation. I am particularly grateful to have had the opportunity of attending the official annual inspection of the crossings north of Killagan on the Londonderry line, and am grateful to Sgts. Jimmy Page and Adrian Watson of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Andy Huston of the DoE(NI) and NIR staff for allowing me to join the inspection party.
Staff at Microsense Ltd, Fareham, one of the UK's leading manufacturer of road traffic signal equipment who kindly discussed their products, the cost of the products and discussed the application of their products to level crossings. In particular, John Hale, Sales Manager, Dr Mark Pleydell, Special Project Development Engineer and Dave Lawrence, Senior Traffic Engineer.
Simon Whatley of Strail UK, and Rainer Horak of Gummiwerk Kraiburg Elastik GmBH, the manufacturers of Strail level crossing products who kindly entertained the author with a very pleasant meal and discussion of their products.
Mr Allan Neilson, Signal Engineer, Tranzrail, New Zealand; Paul Scvzasky Signal Engineer, RSA NSW; Alan McKenna, General Secretary, IRSE Australia. Bob Woodhead, General Secretary, IRSE, South Africa.
Mike Hoppe for permission to reproduce the photograph of an American grade crossing. The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office for permission to reproduce the level crossing order in Appendix B. Chris Dawson and Mark Crosby, fellow employees who kindly produced the mini-cad bridge drawings from my own sketches.
Robert McTavish and staff of Asset International who kindly discussed their products and allowed a factory visit (Armco bridges).
And anyone else inadvertently missed!
1.1 Author's Note
Unless otherwise stated, all illustrations and photographs within this dissertation have been produced by the author. The views expressed, and any mistakes, are the author's own and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of any organisation connected with the operation of level crossings.
1.2 Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
The illustrations of small sections of 1:50000 Ordnance Survey maps of Northern Ireland are reproduced by kind permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationary Office and are Crown Copyright. Reproduction has been authorised by permit number 1356 of 18th May 1999 issued to the author by Director & Chief Executive of the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland, Colby House, Stranmillis Court, Belfast, BT9 5BJ.
Figure 1.1: Meigh AHB LC, (pronounced 'Mike') Northern Ireland Railways, County Armagh: The mountains of Mourne in the background and a Dublin bound 'Enterprise' service, just about to cross the border into Eire. Why should the railway pay for the crossing ?
1.3 Abbreviations
ABCL Automatic Half Barrier Locally Monitored
AHB Automatic Half Barrier
AHBD Automatic Half Barrier Distant Monitored (Unique to NIR)
AOCL Automatic Open Crossing Locally Monitored
AOCR Automatic Open Crossing Remotely Monitored
ATC Another Train Coming
BR British Rail or British Railways
BRB British Railways Board
BTC British Transport Commission
CNR Canadian National Railways
CWT Constant Warning Time
DMU Diesel Multiple Unit
DoE(NI) Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland
DoT Department of Transport
DoTER Department of Transport, Environment & Regions
DVLA Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency
DWL Drivers White Light (Train Driver)
ECML East Coast Main Line
f.p.m Flashes per minute (road signals)
GNER Great North Eastern Railway
HMRI Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate
IRSE The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers
LBNGR Leighton Buzzard Narrow Gauge Railway
LC Level Crossing
LCU Local Control Unit
LUL London Underground Ltd
MCB Manually Controlled Barriers
MCBcctv Manually Controlled Barriers, with Closed Circuit Television
MCG Manually Controlled Gates
MCTMBG Manually Controlled Toe Motor Boom Gates
MoT Ministry of Transport
MSL Miniature Stop Lights (see Chapter 3, Level Crossing types)
MWL Miniature Warning Lights (See MSL)
NIR Northern Ireland Railways
NIRU Not in regular use
NSW New South Wales
NVR Nene Valley Railway
NZ New Zealand
OC Open Crossing
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OOU Out of Use
OS Ordnance Survey
OSNI Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland
PLC Programmable Logic Controller
PW Permanent Way
PWI The Permanent Way Institution
RT Railtrack plc
RHDR Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway
RIA Railway Industry Association
SPAD Signal Passed at Danger (railway signal)
SS Sheffield Supertram
TMO Trainman Operated
TMR Tyneside Metropolitan Railway (Newcastle Metro)
TRRL The Transport & Road Research Laboratory
UK United Kingdom
USA United States of America
UtV Unable to Verify (Grid reference)
UWB User Worked Barriers
UWG User Worked Gates
UWGRbS User Worked Gates, Released by Signalman
VfT Viewed from Train/s
WCML West Coast Main Line
1.4 Glossary of Terminology Used1
These definitions are shown in order to assist the reader in understanding level crossing technical and operational terminology used in the railway industry and within this dissertation. Types of UK level crossings are explained in further detail in Chapter 3.
Actual daily road vehicle user
The number of road vehicles passing over the crossing between 0600 hrs and 2400 hrs; the daily figure being averaged over a nine day period.
Acute (skew) Crossing
A road crossing a railway at an angle of less than 900 anticlockwise (see figure 1.2) .
Figure 1.2: Illustration showing the difference between 'Acute' and 'Obtuse' skew crossings; always considered in an anti-clockwise direction from road to rail.
Automatically (Controlled)
In the context of this dissertation, automatically means the operation of the level crossing by the passage of trains, over which the signalman has no control.
'Blocking back'
Road traffic tailing back onto a crossing.
Bomac2
A proprietary system of steel framed, concrete panel road decking, manufactured by Tarmac.
Constant Warning Time Devices
See Grade Crossing Predictor.
Control Point
The controlling signal box.
Crossing Length
The distance between the gates or full barriers, measured across the railway; or in the case of automatic half barrier and open crossings, the measurement across the railway from the stop line or give way sign to a point on the other side of the crossing that the rear of any vehicle would be clear of the railway or crossing equipment, usually considered to be 1m clear of the rail closest to the exit point.
Crossing speed
The approach speed of a train to a locally monitored or open crossing.
Driver's White Light
A signal that indicates to the train driver that the crossing equipment is functioning correctly. Used at AOCL, AHBD and ABCL crossings (see figure 3.2).
Duplicate Primary Signal
The Road Traffic signal located on the right hand side of the road in the direction of travel.
Grade Crossing
The American term for a level crossing. (See figure 1.3)
Figure 1.3: An eastbound Norfolk Southern train on 19th Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, crossing Cascade Street grade crossing. Note the absence of any road markings; the crossing attendant more interested in the train rather than any approaching traffic; no retro-reflective backboard on the traffic signal; no other apparent signage to warn motorists. Possibly the last main line street-running operation in the USA on the former Nickel Plate Road. Photograph reproduced by kind permission of Mike Hoppe, ERIE, USA.
Grade Crossing Predictor
The standard American method of grade crossing control equipment; Such devices rely on the characteristics of tuned loops being altered by the presence of train wheelsets. The detected alteration is processed and then determines the arrival time of the train at the grade crossing. Such devices drive audible and visual warning devices and where fitted, barrier mechanisms. There is no interlocking with signalling systems, or monitoring by train drivers or signalmen. They are also known as Motion Detectors and Constant Warning Time Devices.
Highway Authority
In the context of this dissertation, highway authority should be construed as meaning any local, parish, regional or county Council, the Highways Agency or any other body with responsibility for the road and associated infrastructure.
Level Crossing
A point on a railway where a road crosses on the level. For a description of level crossing types in use in the UK see Chapter 3.
Level Crossing Order
Each level crossing requires an 'Order' - effectively an individual Act of Parliament, that explains how the crossing will operate and what equipment is installed. The railway company produces a draft order and plans which are submitted to HM Railway Inspectorate. HMRI approves the crossing on behalf of the appropriate Minister. See Appendix B for a typical level crossing order.
Manually (Controlled)
In the context of this dissertation, manually means a level crossing operated by a signalman.
Mark 11 Barrier Machine
The current standard barrier machine used in the UK. It is an electro-hydraulic machine that is powered in the up direction and falls by gravity in the down direction.
Motion Detectors
See Grade Crossing Predictors.
Primary Signal
The Road Traffic signal located on the left hand side of the road in the direction of travel.
Obtuse (skew) Crossing
A road crossing a railway at an angle of more than 900 anticlockwise (see figure 1.2).
Omni
A proprietary system of rubber panel road decking distributed in the UK by Holdfast Level Crossings Ltd.
Strail
A proprietary system of rubber panel road decking manufactured by Gummiwerk Kraiburg Elastik GmbH, Germany.
'Strike in'
A position on the railway at which point the train starts the automatic crossing operating sequence.
'Strike out'
A position on the railway at which point the train cancels the automatic crossing operating sequence.
Supervising point
The supervising signal box.
Track Circuit
A low voltage electrical circuit using the running rails as conductors and, when clear of trains, energising a relay used in signalling and level crossing circuitry. The train's wheels short circuit the relay coil, causing the relay to de-energise, thus opening signal circuit contacts etc.
Traffic moment
The number of road vehicles multiplied by the number of trains using the crossing in a given period. This figure then determines the type of protection required.
Yodalarm
An electronic warbling device to warn pedestrians audibly of the operation of the level crossing. If a second train strikes in the warbler changes to a faster, different tone.
1
Railway Safety Principles and Guidance, Part 2, Section E, appendix e, pages 67-71, HSE/HMRI, 1996, ISBN 0 7176 0952 9. 2
The Bomac System - History and recent developments, Dr H.P. Taylor & M.S. Rayner, Permanent Way Institution, Proceedings, Volume 107, Part 1, Pages 76-100, 1989.
