The Electrical Volunteers Report Sunday 05-11-2017.

[asbibby]

Guy Fawkes day today so all the Guys from the electrical department turned out today on the DMU's only day. I was joined by Len, John, Jonathan and Clive, after a swift brew i was off to Tate Towers for an ELR medical, no problem there.

We recovered the mobile tower scaffold from the cold and extremely wet beer cellar and found out that the next train up to Heywood was coming into platform two. We had located all the Christmas lights for Heywood Station and the necessary equipment to install them on the Station lamp posts.
Unfortunately when the 105 DMU arrived the guards van area was not big enough to fit all the lights and the mobile tower scaffold, so that idea was abandoned till next week when the larger guards vans are employed.

Clive and Len then caught the next DMU up to Ramsbottom Station to check out the newly installed electronics powering the Station clock, the result was that the clock had lost three seconds in the week, Clive will keep a check on the new electronics to ensure accuracy.

We all had a bit of lunch with a fresh brew and after it was back to repairing a water heater which Clive had obtained during the week a new thermostat switch, this was fitted and then PAT tested.
The PAT tester has developed a fault on it and will have to be sent away for repair and recalibration.

A large nine inch angle grinder was then looked at the problem we were told that it did not work at all.
The fuse was checked and when plugged into the mains it immediately tripped a circuit breaker in our workshop.
Once stripped down it was found that the motor was short circuit and the grinder condemned as too expensive to repair.

The mobile tower scaffold was then wiped down and cleaned before filing and grinding off some of the plastic joining components which slot into each other. The scaffold is subject to being stored in an extremely damp atmosphere in the beer cellar and it seems to have expanded the plastic somewhat, making it difficult to assemble and dismantle hence the filing and grinding. It now fits together much better and should make easier to erect.

One final brew was had with the best Jam Roll that M & S could provide us with courtesy of Len.

Back next week for Christmas lights installations somewhere on the ELR probably Rawtenstall Station after it was reported to us that one of the Station lamp globes had come adrift.

[charterboy]

Unfortunately when the 105 DMU arrived the guards van area was not big enough to fit all the lights and the mobile tower scaffold, so that idea was abandoned till next week when the larger guards vans are employed.
t.

DMU's on the diesel diagrams in the forthcoming weeks, so only the steam service with the mk1s and the larger luggage area

[malc]

Unfortunately when the 105 DMU arrived the guards van area was not big enough to fit all the lights and the mobile tower scaffold, so that idea was abandoned till next week when the larger guards vans are employed.
t.

DMU's on the diesel diagrams in the forthcoming weeks, so only the steam service with the mk1s and the larger luggage area

I assume, with only one loco-hauled set in use the “luggage are” will be in the wheelchairs-accessible carriage - the mobile tower scaffold isn’t an ideal travelling companion for any wheelchair-bound passengers!

[asbibby]

Unfortunately when the 105 DMU arrived the guards van area was not big enough to fit all the lights and the mobile tower scaffold, so that idea was abandoned till next week when the larger guards vans are employed.
t.

DMU's on the diesel diagrams in the forthcoming weeks, so only the steam service with the mk1s and the larger luggage area

I assume, with only one loco-hauled set in use the “luggage are” will be in the wheelchairs-accessible carriage - the mobile tower scaffold isn’t an ideal travelling companion for any wheelchair-bound passengers!

Suits us, it is a pain putting up and taking down the Christmas lights at Ramsbottom, Rawtenstall & Heywood, no mobile tower scaffold transportation equals no Christmas lights.

[mouldyjamontoast]

Suits us, it is a pain putting up and taking down the Christmas lights at Ramsbottom, Rawtenstall & Heywood, no mobile tower scaffold transportation equals no Christmas lights.

I know it would cost £££, but has replacing the strings with multi colour LED clusters been looked into?

I am assuming the existing light strings are removed at the end of the festive season, as a string of multi coloured lights aren't really needed and they also provide easy target practice for the local yobs to throw stones at. If the light strings were LED clusters, they could then potentially stay up all year and add to the station lighting capacity, especially if a lighting controller is able to specify white/coloured display.

From personal experience, the current very bright white LED lights installed in the station lamp globes aren't a patch on what was there before (tungsten or otherwise), as the cone of light/beam angle doesn't dissipate far enough, while also being excessively bright if you happen to look at the LED light in the globe.

From the perspective of the Guard, this creates three issues!

1. It leaves (sometimes large) dark patches between each lamp post, making platform observation difficult between posts. This can be bad at Summerseat and can be particularly problematic on the UP platform (1) at Ramsbottom, due to the lack of street lighting, compared to the DOWN platform (2) where Tesco, Aldi etc. are all providing additional light
2. As there are dark areas of the platform which are not sufficiently lit, this further complicates the safe checking of door handles at stations in darkness, to ensure they are correctly closed, potentially delaying trains
3. The lamp globes aren't frosted/sand-blasted, so each lamp post acts as a potential distraction to the Guard when working - Arriving or departing stations is particularly bad in the dark, due to the increased height of the coach when observing the platform, as the eye is often unintentionally drawn to the very bright LED when passing/approaching each lamp post, which can leave what I can only describe as a temporary blind spot (similar to looking at the sun)

Note this isn't as much of an issue at Bury on platform 2, as the striplights supplement the amount of light to make up for the shortcomings of the current LED bulbs fitted.
However, if the striplights are not turned on, or at Summerseat, Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall this is a much different story.

To give a bit of context to the above, checking door handles in the dark can be difficult and it often requires much closer inspection to ensure a door is closed.
However, I often find myself now having to resort to walking the length of the train, checking each door handle with a torch at Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall when working in the dark.

While I would have had to walk down part of the train to visually check door handles at night before the old platform lights were replaced with LED, I certainly didn't need the use of a torch, with the platform lights turned on.