Depotmaster Old Oak Common

Introduction

Diesel locomotives are provided by the depot for both passenger and freight duties and there are extensive facilities for maintenance and repair work as well as for the servicing and stabling of locomotives between workings.

Figure 1: Depot Layout

Locomotives arriving on depot appear first in the ARRIVAL SIDINGS list on your monitor, with their running numbers prefixed with either a '.', '*' or '#' to indicate the type of attention required (these and other symbols being as defined in Table 1).

Prefix	Status
Blank	Available
V	Available for more than 6 hours. Allocate to traffic as soon as possible.
.	Requires fuel and basic check over only
*	Requires (or undergoing) A examination
#	Requires (or undergoing in factory) B examination
+	Due for release from service/maintenance in less than 30 minutes
!	Not to be moved. Heavy repair

You now have control of a locomotive and can direct its movements around the depot by entering in response to the prompts on your console the locomotive number (e.g. 47501) and then the two digit abbreviated code of the location you wish the locomotive to move to. From the Arrival Sidings this must be one of S1, S2 or S3, and in general must be an adjacent location to the current location of the locomotive on the depot plan.

When you have finished all movement directives in a particular time slot, time can be updated in five minute increments by pressing the RETURN or ENTER key directly in response to the locomotive prompt (this may happen automatically if you request more movements in a single interval than can be coped with by the shed ferry crews).

From the Arrival Sidings locomotives must go to the SERVICE SHED. Scheduled A examinations, regular services taking between one and a half and two and a half hours and due approximately every 50 engine hours, are carried out here- but if not booked for this locomotives just have their fuel tanks topped up and are given a basic check-over lasting some 20-25 minutes.

There are three shed roads, although only two will initially be available until the full complement of day-shift fitters comes on duty some time after 0600 hrs. Each of the shed roads holds up to two locomotives and is operated here on a first-in first-out basis, with exit restricted to the turntable (in reality locomotives returning directly to traffic can move back out of the service shed to the departure lines the way they came in but we assume that local operating difficulties are temporarily preventing this). Careful stacking of locomotives in the service shed is important as you will be penalized for moving up a locomotive still receiving attention and there is no provision for releasing a locomotive trapped behind one still being worked on. Estimated availability times for locomotives in the Service Shed can be obtained by entering the loco number on your console and then a '?' in response to the move prompt. If it is desirable to speed the work up, some re-direction of effort is possible up to three times per shift by typing MEN in response to the move prompt- you will however be penalized for this and should only resort to the facility when desperate to get a locomotive back into traffic quickly.

Whilst in the Service Shed locomotives undergoing an A examination retain their '*' prefixes until work is within 30 minutes of completion, when this changes to the '+' displayed by locomotives in for a check-over and refuelling.

On completion of work prefixes become either a blank, denoting that a locomotive is available for traffic, or revert to a '#' for those locomotives requiring a more thorough B examination.

After their initial check-over in the Service Shed, locomotives requiring a B exam must be directed via the turntable to the arrivals line in the FACTORY YARD and then into a vacant FACTORY ROAD. The examination takes up to 12 hours to complete, although there is a MEN facility similar to that of the Service Shed if it is deemed necessary to speed up the work. Again a '+'prefix is displayed if there is less than 30 minutes to release, and when a locomotive becomes available it may be moved into the Yard and then back to the main depot via the turntable.

Available locomotives not immediately required for traffic move via the TURNTABLE for stabling in one of the twenty TURNTABLE STORAGE ROADS (split into TN and TS lists on your console) or to the DEPARTURE HOLDING SIDINGS. The latter comprises two lines each holding up to two locomotives, but one of the lines (D1) is reserved for heavy duty Railfreight locomotives of class 47/0 and 56 since these are often booked for a fairly rapid return to traffic after taking on fuel at Old Oak. Careful planning is again important here in organizing movements in that once a locomotive is directed onto the turntable then, to allow for rotation, it may not be moved off again until after the next time increment.

Class	Numbers	Engine Power (hp)	Electric Train Heating
31/1	31101-31327	1470	No
31/4	31401-31469	1470	Yes
47/0	47001-47299	2580	No
47/4	47401-47628	2580	Yes
50	50001-50050	2700	Yes
56	56001-56135	3250	No

Class 50 locomotives restricted to low speed local workings (whilst awaiting rectification of defects) are designated by a class designation of 5O rather than 50 so that a typical number of a restricted locomotive would be 5O023 rather than 50023.

Additional types which may be receiving attention in the Factory are HST power cars (number series 43xxx) and class 08 shunters, a number of which are allocated to Old Oak for pilot and shunting duties in local yards.

Rostered Duties - Passenger and Parcels

In addition to booked workings unscheduled events may of course occur from time to time and you may be asked by Control at short notice to provide a locomotive for a breakdown train or to replace a failed mainline passenger locomotive. These requests appear in the list of workings with a **** priority and should be satisfied at the earliest possible opportunity. MLP replacement for a failed mainline passenger locomotive should be a class 50 or 47/4, although a class 47/0 may substitute if desperate.

Rostered Duties - Railfreight

Rostered Duties - Local

Original software for the BBC B by Ashley Greenup computer games.