Sky Rider wrote:
(313s were not built with DC bus lines).

Whoops. I mean that 313s have DC bus lines but they are not active while
operating on 3rd-rail networks.

Why are the platforms at St Pancras Thameslink so massive in width?

"Mr Thant" wrote in message
...
On 10 Dec, 22:33, "Jonathan Morton"
wrote:
Yes, I guess they are. On reflection, I don't think I've ever been on
one.
But they are significantly smaller than the 317s (which were Mk3-derived
IIRC).

Not really. SWT have some trains formed of both body types:
http://www.semg.org.uk/gallery/class455_02.html

The middle carriage in the first photo is identical to a 313, the
others are Mk3. I'm not certain the tunnels need special stock at all.

I remember them doing this with the 508s and it seemed very odd at the time.
Interestingly I hadn't realised that the 313s were the same size as the
508s. The point about the bus line made elsewhere in the thread does ring a
bell, though.

Several of them wiped their pantographs off on the tunnel entrance in
the early months of the GN electrification.

I think we established on a uk.t.l thread recently this couldn't have
happened.

I'm sure you're right about it being a myth - but a good story nonetheless.

Jonathan

On 10 Dec, 17:58, G wrote:

Skype for mobiles is becoming increasingly popular. The mobile
operators aren't so keen of course, though T-Mobile for one do now
allow Skype (and I presume other VOIP) on their £12.99 a month data
package.

3 is very good with offering Skype for ALL users on the new Mix &
Match tariffs. 4,000 minutes per month (not SkypeIn or SkypeOut
though) free, which isn't too shabby. You can even get a 3Skypephone
for £49.99 on prepay, although you need to top up £10 per month.
However, that's all credit to be used on other things (it's just the
top up you need to do in order to get those 4,000 minutes*). This
isn't even using Wi-Fi, but using the network (the VoIP part starts at
the network end).

Jonathan

* I believe they're actually allowing 5,000 minutes at the moment -
but I don't know if that is going to be made permanent.

On 10 Dec, 20:40, "Paul Scott" wrote:

c) I saw a 317 pull into the station. Where would that train have come
from and why would it be operating on Thameslink? I thought that they
would exclusively run 319s.

Moorgate, but don't know the details of how and why.

They seem to swap and change them too, for some reason. Recently I saw
the one and only 'proper' revinyled 317 (317 345) on the TL side - but
this morning it was back on the GN side.

Being keen to see the new station, I travelled today from there and it
was another 317 (Moorgate) train. The LCD displays were seriously
messed up, showing the first train as 0900, due 0905 and the second
train due at 0904! Obviously the second train didn't overtake, and
didn't arrive before the first one!! I think they've got some work to
do there.

Jonathan

lonelytraveller wrote:
Why are the platforms at St Pancras Thameslink so massive in width?

They're not massive, but they are quite wide. If you've ever used KCM
(particularly during the rush hour) then you'll most certainly
appreciate the platform width at SPILL.

On 10 Dec, 22:25, Rupert Candy wrote:

That's the first time I've heard that - is it definitely true?

The 317s definitely dump on the track, as you'll see quite clearly at
King's Cross. Goodness knows why any retention tanks were removed if
they used to have them, although I guess there's the issue of emptying
them to deal with. Seems like a very backwards step, so I'd love to
know the real reason.

Jonathan

"Paul Scott" wrote

I would have thought the tunnels were of 'normal' main line gauge, just
without sufficient clearance for OHLE. That was always given as one of
the
reasons the Moorgate crash was so disastrous, as the train was not
constrained by the tunnel walls, and cars were able to ride over one
another.

The Northern City line started as a proposal by the Great Northern to get to
the City while avoiding congestion between Finsbury Park and Kings Cross,
and also avoiding being in hock to the North London (trains from Broad
Street to the Northern Heights were run by the NLR, even though most of the
mileage was on GNR tracks). The intention from the start was to have through
running to Moorgate, but the GNR and the GN&C fell out over this, so the
GN&C built its own tube terminus under Finsbury Park. The GN&C tunnels were
of 16 foot diameter, i.e. large enough for main line stock, but not with
OHLE. When the Victoria Line was built the GN&C platforms at Finsbury Park
were commandeered for cross-platform interchange between the Victoria and
Piccadilly Lines (using the former Piccadilly platforms in the other
direction), though cross-platform intercahnge was arranged between the
Northern City and the Victoria at Highbury & Islington. So for several years
the Northern City terminated at Drayton Park. When the Great Northern
suburban electrification was eventually carried out running connections were
made between the main line platforms at Finsbury Park and Drayton Park
(formerly there had only been a siding connection for exchange of stock).
Voltage change is at Drayton Park, and 313s are the only units cleared for
use on the line, though presumably a future build of 378s or similar could
be used when the 313s have to be pensioned off.

Peter

"Jonathan Morton" wrote in
message ...
"Mr Thant" wrote

Several of them wiped their pantographs off on the tunnel entrance in
the early months of the GN electrification.

I think we established on a uk.t.l thread recently this couldn't have
happened.

I'm sure you're right about it being a myth - but a good story
nonetheless.

AIUI it has happened on Thameslink at Farringdon (as up trains have to be
able to leave pan up if they're going to Moorgate, but must be pan down to
go through the Smithfield Tunnel to City Thameslink and Blackfriars).

Peter

Garry Smith wrote:
"Peter Lawrence" wrote in message
...
First impressions of the Thameslink platforms at St Pancras which
opened on time this morning (after what must have been a massive
tidy-up operation).

I have to confess that I hadn't appreciated how far I'd have to
walk between the new station and the Underground. Being used
to nipping between KX TL and the Victoria Line, this morning's
hike - up out of the new station, then along the full length of
St P, and then back down to the Tube - came as an unpleasant
surprise.

For those whom it suits, Farringdon, Blackfriars, or even Kentish
Town may be a better interchange.

Even though the new station and the Underground are not directly
linked, a few signs saying "Underground this way" would be good.
Otherwise folks unfamiliar with the new station have to guess that
to get to the Underground they have to follow the "Way Out" signs.
--
Garry Smith




I paid a visit to what used to be King's Cross Thameslink today and
noticed that the concourse had been partially stripped bare although the
mural which had been covered by the countdown clock for the last 3
months is now visible again. The ticket office was closed, there were no
ticket machines available and it wasn't long before someone from FCC
asked what I was doing there. I pretended to be one of those who somehow
didn't know about the changeover of 9 December and was pointed in the
direction of StP - I couldn't be arsed to pay £1.50 for the privilege of
accessing the paid-side corridors as I was going to leave London with
FCC anyway but I did note that the corridors to the platforms (not the
corridors to the Underground) were fitted with doors.

I've also noticed that the FCC ticket machines at SPILL have blank
circular plates - I presume that they will be converted to Oyster pads
in due course (so far I've yet to discover any Oyster-compatible
machines that were not built by Cubic).