Not a good start to the year

[whole diary]

[willc]

Long Swing Link bogies are banned from third-rail electrified areas, full stop, as they can foul the live rail.

As suggested above, the speed limits would be for clearance past platforms etc. SWT^▸ (South West Trains)'s class 450 and 455 trains have 20-metre coaches, so don't stick out at the ends on curves so much, whereas a 23-metre Mk3 probably only just squeezes through places like the Chertsey line platforms at Virginia Water, which are on a tight curve.

[paul7575]

The online sectional appendix makes a distinction between Mk3 coaching stock, and HST^▸ (High Speed Train) sets.  The former have significantly less restrictions than the latter, which implies, (and this has been discussed in another forum), that the restrictive equipment is on the power cars - and it is thought to be the access ladders, which are outboard of their bogies.

Here's the link:

http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/baseline%20capability/gauge%20capability,%20route%20availability/wessex%20route/table%20d3_gauge%20capability_coaching%20stock_wessex%20route.pdf

...the top of page 4 covering Clapham Jn to Reading is a good example.  You'll also see that certain routes are shown as OK for Mk3s but not HSTs, and so must have been cleared since the document was produced, as we know from previous discussions here.

Paul

[willc]

Probably is the steps on power car bogies, but even so, i wouldn't want to take a chance on stepboards clouting some of those platforms either, given the LSWR^▸ (London South Western Railway)'s penchant for sharp curves on its suburban network, including at stations, which I don't imagine would be allowed to built in such places these days.