On 06/08/2015 00:44, Recliner wrote:

It arrives empty, presumably from Marylebone or Wembley, at the down
platform 3 at South Ruislip. I assume the Chiltern drivers all take turns
on this service after bringing in a peak train to Marylebone, so they have
up-to-date route knowledge.

Runs empty from Wembley LMD to South Ruislip as 5V35, forms 2V35 to
Paddington, 2M30 back to West Ruislip, then 5H43 back to Marylebone,
though that's only part of the unit's diagram for the day.

The trains in question are only worked by Aylesbury drivers, and I
believe they need a Guard as well.

Cheers,

Barry

--
Barry Salter, usenet (at) southie (dot) me (dot) uk

Disclaimer: The above do not necessarily represent the views of my
employer.

Barry Salter wrote:
On 06/08/2015 00:44, Recliner wrote:

It arrives empty, presumably from Marylebone or Wembley, at the down
platform 3 at South Ruislip. I assume the Chiltern drivers all take turns
on this service after bringing in a peak train to Marylebone, so they have
up-to-date route knowledge.

Runs empty from Wembley LMD to South Ruislip as 5V35, forms 2V35 to
Paddington, 2M30 back to West Ruislip, then 5H43 back to Marylebone,
though that's only part of the unit's diagram for the day.

The trains in question are only worked by Aylesbury drivers, and I
believe they need a Guard as well.

Yes, there was a guard. All he did was to walk through the train just
before departure on each leg to check that we all knew where it was going.
Everyone did -- that's why we were on it.

On 2015\08\10 21:12, Barry Salter wrote:
On 06/08/2015 00:44, Recliner wrote:

It arrives empty, presumably from Marylebone or Wembley, at the down
platform 3 at South Ruislip. I assume the Chiltern drivers all take turns
on this service after bringing in a peak train to Marylebone, so they
have
up-to-date route knowledge.

Runs empty from Wembley LMD to South Ruislip as 5V35, forms 2V35 to
Paddington, 2M30 back to West Ruislip, then 5H43 back to Marylebone,
though that's only part of the unit's diagram for the day.

The trains in question are only worked by Aylesbury drivers, and I
believe they need a Guard as well.

What use is a diversionary route that only a fraction of the drivers
have the route knowledge for?

On Tue, 11 Aug 2015 15:33:08 +0100, Basil Jet
wrote:

On 2015\08\10 21:12, Barry Salter wrote:
On 06/08/2015 00:44, Recliner wrote:

It arrives empty, presumably from Marylebone or Wembley, at the down
platform 3 at South Ruislip. I assume the Chiltern drivers all take turns
on this service after bringing in a peak train to Marylebone, so they
have
up-to-date route knowledge.

Runs empty from Wembley LMD to South Ruislip as 5V35, forms 2V35 to
Paddington, 2M30 back to West Ruislip, then 5H43 back to Marylebone,
though that's only part of the unit's diagram for the day.

The trains in question are only worked by Aylesbury drivers, and I
believe they need a Guard as well.

What use is a diversionary route that only a fraction of the drivers
have the route knowledge for?

More use than one that nobody has knowledge for.
How big in numerical figures is the "fraction" ? Are there also e.g.
freight drivers from somewhere else who could act as pilots if
necessary ?

Basil Jet wrote:
On 2015\08\10 21:12, Barry Salter wrote:
On 06/08/2015 00:44, Recliner wrote:

It arrives empty, presumably from Marylebone or Wembley, at the down
platform 3 at South Ruislip. I assume the Chiltern drivers all take turns
on this service after bringing in a peak train to Marylebone, so they
have
up-to-date route knowledge.

Runs empty from Wembley LMD to South Ruislip as 5V35, forms 2V35 to
Paddington, 2M30 back to West Ruislip, then 5H43 back to Marylebone,
though that's only part of the unit's diagram for the day.

The trains in question are only worked by Aylesbury drivers, and I
believe they need a Guard as well.

What use is a diversionary route that only a fraction of the drivers have
the route knowledge for?


When you schedule the diversions, you roster drivers who know the route...

fGW examples include only Exeter drivers sign via Honiton, only Swansea
sign via Barry, Swansea *don't* sign via Newbury, etc.


Anna Noyd-Dryver

On 11/08/2015 15:33, Basil Jet wrote:

What use is a diversionary route that only a fraction of the drivers
have the route knowledge for?

Bearing in mind that, to keep the route on their card, a driver needs to
drive over it at *least* every six months, and Chiltern run over it
approximately 260 days a year, that gives a theoretical maximum of 130
drivers who can sign it...assuming you have a different driver every day.

Chiltern has approximately 300 drivers, so short of running two or three
trains a day to/from Paddington (which there isn't the stock for, let
alone paths), it's impossible for the entire complement to sign the route.

With the route being limited to two trains per hour each way due to the
single line, it's just as easy to change drivers at West Ruislip and
implement stepping back.

Cheers,

Barry

--
Barry Salter, usenet (at) southie (dot) me (dot) uk

Disclaimer: The above do not necessarily represent the views of my
employer.

On Wed, 12 Aug 2015 21:01:12 +0100, Barry Salter
wrote:

On 11/08/2015 15:33, Basil Jet wrote:

What use is a diversionary route that only a fraction of the drivers
have the route knowledge for?

Bearing in mind that, to keep the route on their card, a driver needs to
drive over it at *least* every six months,

Drive over it or travel in the cab ?

and Chiltern run over it
approximately 260 days a year, that gives a theoretical maximum of 130
drivers who can sign it...assuming you have a different driver every day.

Chiltern has approximately 300 drivers, so short of running two or three
trains a day to/from Paddington (which there isn't the stock for, let
alone paths), it's impossible for the entire complement to sign the route.

With the route being limited to two trains per hour each way due to the
single line, it's just as easy to change drivers at West Ruislip and
implement stepping back.

Cheers,

Barry

On 13/08/2015 00:11, Charles Ellson wrote:
On Wed, 12 Aug 2015 21:01:12 +0100, Barry Salter
wrote:

On 11/08/2015 15:33, Basil Jet wrote:

What use is a diversionary route that only a fraction of the drivers
have the route knowledge for?

Bearing in mind that, to keep the route on their card, a driver needs to
drive over it at *least* every six months,

Drive over it or travel in the cab ?

The wording in the Rule Book is: "When working a train, you must have
the necessary knowledge for the entire route over which you are to work,
or be accompanied by a competent conductor driver."

The precise details are left to individual operators, but both practical
handling and theory are assessed.

Cheers,

Barry

The May 2017 issue of Modern Railways (Page 58) says that
Chiltern's return service from Paddington in future "will instead
run non-stop to High Wycombe."

On Monday, August 10, 2015 at 9:12:21 PM UTC+1, Barry Salter wrote:
On 06/08/2015 00:44, Recliner wrote:

It arrives empty, presumably from Marylebone or Wembley, at the down
platform 3 at South Ruislip. I assume the Chiltern drivers all take turns
on this service after bringing in a peak train to Marylebone, so they have
up-to-date route knowledge.

Runs empty from Wembley LMD to South Ruislip as 5V35, forms 2V35 to
Paddington, 2M30 back to West Ruislip, then 5H43 back to Marylebone,
though that's only part of the unit's diagram for the day.

The trains in question are only worked by Aylesbury drivers, and I
believe they need a Guard as well.

Cheers,

Barry

--
Barry Salter, usenet (at) southie (dot) me (dot) uk

Disclaimer: The above do not necessarily represent the views of my
employer.

Barry

The May 2017 issue of Modern Railways (Page 58) says that
Chiltern's return service from Paddington in future "will
instead run non-stop to High Wycombe."

I was at Paddington today and I noticed the destination was
High Wycombe. I asked the staff member on guard duty if the
train still stopped at West Ruislip. The reply was no, but the
inbound journey from South Ruislip is unchanged.
Wycombe non-stop. My Freedom Pass is not valid beyond West Ruislip!N