I found an interesting video on the manual block setup on Lickey Incline, the steepest Main Line gradient on the UK. This 2.65% grade stretched over two miles on the line to Birmingham and due to the under powered nature of UK locomotives, most trains, passenger included, would need help getting up. Although the line was fitted with track circuits, manual block was still employed. To ease operations, an intermediate manual block signal was provided so that two trains could climb the grade at the same time. This video details how the blocks were worked and how the helpers were dealt with.
Compare with operations on the steepest main line grade in North America, Saluda.
No comments:
Post a Comment