                            RTC GLASGOW QUEEN STREET


INTRODUCTION

   Glasgow Queen Street High Level is an important terminus for local,
Provincial, Scotrail Express and Inter-City services. Your task here on a busy
Summer Saturday in the mid-1980s is that of duty traffic controller, directing
all movements in the station area.


STATION LAYOUT AND OPERATING PRACTICE
   The compact station at Queen Street lies at the foot of the formidable
tunnelled 1 in 41 Cowlairs incline. At the time of the simulation, prior to the
introduction of full bi-directional working, the UP line was used for all
departing public services, and the down line (DN) for both arrivals and empty
coaching stock workings to and from the carriage sidings (CS) at the top of the
incline.
   The station has six main platforms, P2 - P7. Of these, the island platforms
P3 and P4 are particularly short, and as such are used exclusively by the local
d.m.u. service to Falkirk and Dunblane. Following mid-1980s operating practice
all West Highland trains (to and from Fort William and Oban) use P2, and the
remaining locomotive hauled traffic to and from Inverness is restricted to P5.
ScotRail Express push-pull services to Edinburgh and Aberdeen normally use P6
and P7 (with usually the Edinburgh shuttle in P6), but can operate from P2 or
P5 if necessary. There are two early-morning Inter-City 125 HST workings
necessitating special control arrangements:- they can only be handled in P7,
and because of their length they then block all movements to the Eastern
platforms (P5 and P6). Arrivals to P4 normally use the crossover from the
approach to P5, but with either an HST in P7 or a departure locomotive attached
to an Inverness train in P5 then the crossover in the tunnel mouth will
automatically be used to provide an alternative routing.
   There is a locomotive stabling siding in the short bay (LB) on the site of
what was platform one, and locomotives may be shunted to and from the platforms
via the hold positions (HW and HE) on the UP and DN lines respectively. Only
Class 37/4 locomotives are allowed onto West Highland line trains and stock in
P2, and Class 47/4 locomotives onto Inverness trains and stock in P5. With
additional locomotive activity for both an augmented Inverness service and a
special 1050 working to Fort William, locomotives from Eastfield depot arrive
on ECS workings ex-Cowlairs rather than as light engines, and only on release
become available for their departure workings. The Class 37/4 locomotive on the
1100 arrival from Oban is normally shunt released to work back on the 1220
departure, but is today scheduled for maintenance at Eastfield and will be
directed by loco control onto an ECS working to Cowlairs. Class 47/4
locomotives which work the push pull services have their running numbers
prefixed by a * to indicate that they may not be detached from their stock and
driving trailers. Because of the problems of handling HSTs, the Scotrail
Express services to Aberdeen at 0725 and to Edinburgh at 0830 are normally
handled in P2. The Edinburgh shuttles have very short turnarounds, and should
be accorded high priority.
  Throughout locomotives and multiple units are identified by their TOPs
reporting numbers, Class 101s being the diesel multiple units used for local
services and Class 254s InterCity 125 High Speed Train sets.


TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM

   An overview of the traffic situation is given on two display screens on your
console (with the Z key used to switch from one to the other). On the first you
are informed of pending arrivals and can monitor all movements over the
approach trackwork, whilst on the second there is a scrolling list of
departures and details are given on the occupancy of platforms, the locomotive
bay and the two locomotive held positions.
   Movements are initiated on the first screen by pressing the SPACE BAR, and
in response to the prompts setting a route by entering the appropriate
abbreviations of the input and exit points on the simplified mimic trackplan.
The three general rules are :
1/ Once a route is set it will remain set until the movement occurs, and if a
locomotive is put on a train it must depart with that train.
2/ Routes for arrivals from the down (DN) line can only be set once you have
been informed that the train concerned is passing Cowlairs. You are not
penalized for mainline arrivals being checked on approach, but only for being
held at the approach signals. Empty stock from the carriage sidings (CS) should
be brought into the station platforms at your convenience when the stock is
ready.
3/ Routes for public departures can be set up to five minutes before time, but
the movement will not occur until the advertized time (or perhaps slightly
later if there is any delay). All departures must be sent out to UP, except
empty stock workings to Cowlairs carriage sidings which travel 'wrong line' on
the down line and must be specified to CS. An intelligent signalman is assumed
at Cowlairs Junction who will if necessary automatically check departing trains
if there is a conflict with an arrival from the West Highland line.
   Routes set up are indicated in red on the mimic trackplan, with segments
reverting to yellow as the movement progresses. Invalid routes or routes which
conflict with those already set are denoted by a buzzer and an appropriate
warning caption.
   To aid the setting of routes the first screen contains coded information
from the second about both the occupancy of the platforms and the status of
departure workings. The former is indicated by a coloured square after the
platform label (red denoting that no further traffic can be sent in, yellow
that a departure locomotive is required and a blank that the platform is empty
and available for use), whilst the latter is given by the platform designation
after the departure time (a straight platform number indicating that a train
needs no further attention before despatch at the appropriate time, a platform
number in brackets indicating that a train is in but not yet ready, and no
platform number indicating that stock for the working is not yet in).

   Your shift runs from 0615 to 1330, and in this time you will have to deal
with around 40 departing trains. The timetable pattern is near regular each
hour, and operation is normally straightforward if trains are running to time.
If however there are late arrivals, or delayed departures, you will find your
skill taxed to the limit to keep things moving smoothly.  Good luck!
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