"Meldrew of Meldreth" wrote in message
.uk...
In article , Terry Harper
writes

Back in my day in Oxford, and I doubt that Cambridge was different, there
were lectures at 9 and 10 on most days Monday-Saturday, but attendance
was
not compulsory

Indeed, not compulsory, but in the later years with some specialist
lectures being given to a handful of familiar students they were
effectively compulsory.

(although desirable, as questions in finals were mostly based
on the lecture course over three years. A certain amount of attendance at
the laboratories was also required, but could usually be fitted in
between
11 and 1 before lunch. Afternoons would often be devoted to sport, games
or
the pleasures of punting

My experience of Engineering at Cambridge was lectures 9-1 Mon-Fri and
9-12 Saturday; plus two or three afternoons of labs, and at least one
5pm lecture. The labs were just collecting experimental results, too;
you could easily spend another two hours writing up and crunching the
numbers - this being before electronic calculators, let alone PCs.

Yes, it was necessary to spend at least two afternoons a week in the lab,
particularly in Physical Chemistry where there was a list of experiments to
complete during the half-term session, before you switched labs. I was
warned off the river by my tutor, because of lack of attendance at the labs.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/

In article , Terry Harper
writes
I was warned off the river by my tutor, because of lack of attendance
at the labs.

I only went punting once in my three years - on the famous day that
David Hamilton's Radio One roadshow hit town. It was just too difficult.
Only a few colleges, on the river, had their own punts (for free hire to
students), and I don't recall a lot of commercial hiring then (but it
would have been a very indulgent expense). Only a very few students had
their own punts.

Or by "the river", do you mean competitive rowing?
--
"now, the thing you type on and the window you stare out of are the same thing"

"Meldrew of Meldreth" wrote in message
.uk...
In article , Terry Harper
writes
I was warned off the river by my tutor, because of lack of attendance
at the labs.

I only went punting once in my three years - on the famous day that
David Hamilton's Radio One roadshow hit town. It was just too difficult.
Only a few colleges, on the river, had their own punts (for free hire to
students), and I don't recall a lot of commercial hiring then (but it
would have been a very indulgent expense). Only a very few students had
their own punts.

Or by "the river", do you mean competitive rowing?

Coxing the long-distance eight.

As regards punting, we had a JCR punt scheme, where the JCR hired a number
of punts for the summer term, one or two mat each of three locations, and
you put your name down when you wanted one. After summer balls it was a
do-it-yourself job.

Did a bit of punting from the wrong end of the boat in Cambridge in 1964,
when on a course there.
--
Terry Harper, Web Co-ordinator, The Omnibus Society
75th Anniversary 2004, see http://www.omnibussoc.org/75th.htm
E-mail:
URL: http://www.terry.harper.btinternet.co.uk/

So just for fun I did this trip on the 10.45 cruiser kings Cross-Cambridge this
morning -

By chance, it was held up behind a slow train for 5 minutes, and yet arrived on
time, this _despite_ a stop outside kings cross (bottleneck: simply
because of 4 tracks from 11 platforms to get out) and coming into cambridge
(bottleneck: due to only 1 stupid platform for 3 trains requiring extreme caution
in correct use of semaphors for 2 sets of points), AND a stop at hitchin (as
northbound trains to cambridge cross the fast line, there's always a good chance
that there's some southbound GNER in the way...)

On the topic of ENgland's longest platform - someone tried to sing its praises
as oh so friendly to disabled people (no bridge or underpass or lift to
negotiate to get to the other platform) - well as a person still on crutches
after my bike accident, I can tell you that if you have to navigate from
platform 4 to 1 on the uncertain surface (and lets say that for some unusual
reason it is slightly damp too), it is not at all friendly to disabled people
at all.

Anyhow:

I would say that if the slow train (which the driver told us was not according
to schedule) had not been there, the cruiser could have been in cambridge in 40
minutes, (I checked the times on each section, but cannot speak for the speed of
the train). If the other bottlenecks were not there, the journey would have taken
approx 38 minutes. Admittedly, the 2 or 3 other bottlenecks wouldbe expensive to
remove and make safe alternatives.

I have no idea about the theory, but this was an empirical result

(actually I've been on the cruiser one or two times when its taken 42 minutes
platform to platform outside of busy times....)

oh, I dont suppose now is the time to complain about the lack of safe places to
put bikes (someones bike fell over as we went around the curve after hitchin - i
--
Jon Crowcroft

I wrote:
The bit of the working timetable for Cruisers that I've been able to
find gives:

KX depart XX15
Finsbury Park pass XX18.5
Alexandra Palace pass XX20 0.5 pathing allowance
Potters Bar pass XX25.5
WGC pass XX30
Woolmer Green pass XX32
Stevenage pass XX34
Hitchin pass XX37
Letchworth pass XX40
Royston pass XX47 2 engineering allowance
Cambridge arrive XX01 1.5 engineering allowance

The reverse timetable is:

Cambridge depart XX15
Royston pass XX27.5
Letchworth pass XX34.5
Hitchin pass XX37
Stevenage pass XX41
Woolmer Green pass XX43
WGC pass XX45
Potters Bar pass XX50
Alexandra Palace pass XX54.5 1 pathing allowance
Finsbury Park pass XX57 0.5 pathing allowance
KX arrive XX64 2 engineering allowance

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is:

I wrote a table, which showed the actual booked speed from Royston to
Cambridge as averaging 56mph. I then said:

The 2 minutes difference between D and E out of King's Cross is to
allow for the train to accelerate, so we should expect the same at
Cambridge. That leaves 4 minutes lost between Royston and Cambridge in
13 miles.

Sorry, that should be 2.5 minutes (compared with a 100mph journey
throughout). The other 1.5 is allowance for engineering work.

So the current actual booked speed is 74mph north of Royston, not
including deceleration allowance.

Overall, the timetabled 46 minutes consists of:
- 2 minutes accelerating
- 2 minutes decelerating
- 3 minutes for pathing and engineering work
- 39 minutes at speed (compared with 34 at 100mph).

Making an average "full" speed of 87.5mph.

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is:

In message , at 13:29:48 on Tue, 4
Jan 2005, Terry Harper remarked:
As regards punting, we had a JCR punt scheme, where the JCR hired a number
of punts for the summer term, one or two mat each of three locations, and
you put your name down when you wanted one.

IIRC there are fewer "riverside" colleges in Oxford, than Cambridge, so
perhaps there's more incentive to organise things like that.

Did a bit of punting from the wrong end of the boat in Cambridge in 1964,
when on a course there.

Oxford folk get plenty of training for punting at the wrong end, when
out on the Isis!
--
Roland Perry

In message , at 13:30:34 on Tue, 4
Jan 2005, Jon Crowcroft remarked:

On the topic of ENgland's longest platform

That's at Gloucester, Manchester or Colchester, depending on who you
ask...

--
Roland Perry

In article , Jon Crowcroft
writes
By chance, it was held up behind a slow train for 5 minutes, and yet arrived on
time, this _despite_ a stop outside kings cross (bottleneck: simply
because of 4 tracks from 11 platforms to get out)

4 from 11 is about the right ratio (design standards suggest at least 2
platforms for each line entering a terminus).

Trains should be timed not to intersect; the Rules of the Plan specify
minimum margins for crossing movements in the timetable.

It's unusual to be stopped on departure; most trains depart on B or D
roads (which become the Down Fast and Slow respectively after Gasworks
Tunnel).

and coming into cambridge
(bottleneck: due to only 1 stupid platform for 3 trains requiring
extreme caution
in correct use of semaphors for 2 sets of points),

For some reason I first read that as "metaphors".

I'm not sure of your point here. If there were 3 trains in the platform,
you'd have been coupling up to one of the others, hence the dead slow
running. If not, do you mean that you had to wait for one to depart
before you could enter?

They're not semaphores in either the programming or railway senses.

Each set of points can be in one of three states: needed normal (one of
the positions), needed reverse (the other), or free (not currently
needed by anything). The signaller at Cambridge selects a route (by
pressing two buttons). The signalling logic has a list of points and
positions that that route requires, plus a list of routes that are
incompatible even though they don't conflict in their points
requirements (usually routes in the opposite direction over the same
track). If any of the points are already needed in the other position,
the route is left unset. Otherwise all those points are set to "needed"
(causing them to move if they're currently wrong). One the train passes
over each set they move back to "free" (unless another route is also
holding them).

[Clearing the signal requires other tests to be met as well; for
example, all the points must be detected as locked in the correct
position.]

At Cambridge this is done by a network of relays; current to energise
one relay passes through contacts on all those defining the appropriate
conditions.

AND a stop at hitchin (as
northbound trains to cambridge cross the fast line, there's always a
good chance
that there's some southbound GNER in the way...)

When trains are running to time, there won't be. Either the GNER was
late, you were early, or you arrived during the "pathing allowance" -
basically a scheduled delay to let another train through.

I would say that if the slow train (which the driver told us was not according
to schedule) had not been there, the cruiser could have been in cambridge in 40
minutes,

It's allowed 43 for the journey, of which 30 seconds at each end - IIRC
- is for station duties. So 42.

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Please reply to the Reply-To address, which is:

In message , Clive D. W. Feather
writes
Otherwise all those points are set to "needed" (causing them to move if
they're currently wrong). One the train passes over each set they move
back to "free" (unless another route is also holding them)
What's the chances that the points freed at Poters Bar, whist the train
was going over them, allowing the first part of the train in the right
direct and the second part by the point being able to move?
--
Clive.