                                 R.T.C Penzance

1. Introduction
   ------------
   Penzance is the south-western terminus of the West of England mainline from
Paddington, and in this simulation, set on a Summer Saturday in 1984, you are
the Duty Traffic Assistant in the control room on Penzance station faced with
the task of directing all train movements in the area during the day. You have
to deal with arriving locomotives and stock, the assignment of locomotives to
their next duty, and above all must strive to get the scheduled departures off
on time. The situation is complicated by additional holiday workings, late
running trains, locomotives needing fuel or attention, and a shortage of
platform space at peak times, and to make matters worse your every instruction
is being monitored by Regional Control at Paddington as part of an efficiency
study.


2. The Penzance layout
   -------------------
   The main features of the railways in the Penzance area are shown
schematically in Figure 1. (Please refer to the image file rtcpenza.png.)
   The approach is along the shore of Mount's Bay from Marazion, and there is
a potential bottleneck here in that the line is singled for a distance of about
1.5 miles as it runs from Longrock to the beginnings of the station complex at
the base of Chyandour Cliff. An adjacent line serves the coaching stock yard at
Ponsandane and the new service depot for High Speed Trains (HSTs) at Longrock,
and there is an additional loop at Eastern Green used by empty coaching stock
(ecs) en route to the station.
   The terminus at Penzance has three main covered platforms, with an outside
subsidiary platform used primarily for parcels traffic, relief trains and stock
with a long turnaround time. Alongside are the 'flower bays', which take their
name from the heavy springtime traffic from the Scillies but which in summer
are used as the principal locomotive stabling area following the severance of
the lines to the old diesel fuelling depot adjacent (locomotives now having to
trip to the old HST depot at Longrock for fuel or attention). The bay area is
controlled by manually operated points from the bay head reception and
departure line, which itself has what is effectively a locomotive headshunt in
the form of sidings alongside the seawall.


3. The screen display and movement control
   ---------------------------------------
   The locations of all locomotives and available stock in the Penzance area
are shown on a movement control console, with a display which is automatically
updated once a minute. Details of the next arrival are given near the top of
the screen, and there is also a reminder of the times and destinations of the
next three departures.
   To obtain a status report on a locomotive or to direct a movement you must
first obtain control by pressing the space bar, and then in response to a
prompt enter the number of the locomotive or HST set concerned. A report on the
condition of the locomotive will then be given at the bottom of the screen. You
may return to the simulation at this stage without penalty by pressing the
return key, or may alternatively indicate a movement by entering the two letter
code of the desired new location. This should in general be adjacent to the
present location (see Figure 1, the main exception being certain through
movements past the Ponsandane line hold position), and of course have space to
accept the new locomotive. Inadmissible movements or movements which conflict
with previously initiated directives are signified by a buzzer, and these will
contribute penalty points to your end of shift assessment.


4. Notes on specific locations
   ----------------------------
 PY   Ponsandane Yard
   Only the shunter (08644) is allowed to marshal train formations in the yard
and to work in and out with coaching stock. You will be notified when the
shunter is required for duties in the yard, and should endeavour to return it
there at the first available opportunity.
   To move the next available stock out of the yard, ensure that the ecs loop
is empty, and with the shunter available type the destination code EL (If the
shunter is at work in the yard it must first be summoned by re-entering as the
next location the yard code PY).
   To move the shunter alone out of the yard type PL to move to the Ponsandane
line hold position, or EL to back onto stock already in the ecs loop.

 LD   Longrock Depot
   HSTs are cleaned and serviced here overnight in a new purpose built shed.
Locomotives should be sent to the depot only when they require fuel,
examination or the rectification of defects, and with the depot capacity being
limited to just four units they should be returned to the bay area for stabling
or assignment to other duties as soon as practicable when they become available
after attention.
   Whilst HSTs and locomotives are on the depot their status is indicated by
the following codes:
      a   available                r   receiving attention
      e   Class A examination      s   stabled for the night
      f   being fuelled

   Locomotives leaving the depot may travel as light engines to the Ponsandane
line held position (PL), or aHernatively may back onto waiting stock, in the
ecs loop (EL).
   HSTs running empty from the depot to the station area can similarly travel
via either PL or EL provided that the desired line is completely clear of other
traffic.

 PL   Ponsandane Line
   The Ponsandane line is the service line linking the station complex to
Longrock depot and Ponsandane yard. At the western end of the line there is a
locomotive hold position, and this is used by locomotives and HSTs running from
the depot to the station, by the shunter moving from the yard to the station or
manoeuvring around stock in the ecs loop, and by locomotives shuttling between
the platforms and the bay head. The hold position need not be specified as an
intermediate destinatlon if the final destination is either LD, PY or EL from
the station area, or one of the platforms from the ecs loop.

 EL   Empty coaching stock loop
   After being pulled into the loop from Ponsandane yard by the shunter, empty
stock must be backed from here into its departure platform.
   This can be achieved by running the shunter around first (type RR with PL
clear), or by the shunter leaving stock in the loop (type PL to move on to
other duties) to either itself return later from Ponsandane yard or allow a
locomotive released from Longrock depot to come onto what will be its departure
stock and back it into the station.
   Stock already in a station platform from an incoming train may be
temporarily moved to the ecs loop by the shunter provided there is more than 20
minutes to its scheduled departure time, this manoeuvre allowing the original
train locomotive trapped at the buffers to be released early if so desired.
   The loop may also be used by HSTs running between Longrock depot and the
station as an alternative to going via the PL hold position.

 P1-4   The Station Platforms
   Mainline arrivals can be directed into one of the four terminus platforms as
soon as you receive notification that the train concerned is approaching
Longrock (If no action is taken the train will be held at the signals east of
the single track section awaiting further instructions). Trains which are
locomotive hauled may use a platform with a locomotive from an earlier arrival
still trapped at the buffers, but HSTs require a completely free platform so
that they can be coupled to electrical shore lines near the buffer stops,
enabling their power car engines to be shut down (Platform 4 is not equipped
with this facility and thus should not be used by HSTs scheduled for a
subsequent departure working). Locomotive hauled trains will automatically have
the train engine uncoupled, and when this has been done either the shunter or
the locomotive for the departure working may be attached to the other end of
the train. No attempt should however be made to move recently arrived stock
until sufficient time has been allowed for unloading (typically 10 minutes for
standard passenger trains and upto 30 minutes for other workings).

   Empty stock arriving from the ecs loop propelled by the shunter will have
08644 uncoupled, but any other locomotive will be retained as the departure
engine. In each case upto two locomotives can be trapped at the buffer stops by
the coaching stock, but HSTs coming into a platform from Longrock depot to form
the next HST working from Penzance require a completely empty platform (and as
mentioned above, preferably not P4). Locomotives are attached to the stock of
their next working by directing them into the platform from either the
Ponsandane line hold position or the seawall sidings as appropriate. A prime
rule of operation is that once a locomotive is attached to the departure end of
a train it must depart with that train. This applies to the shunter as well as
mainline locomotives, so if 08644 is coupled to ecs its next movement must be
to Ponsandane Yard with that stock, and if it is coupled to stock for a
departure working. 08644 can only move the stock to the ecs loop for temporary
stabling and eventual return to the platform area.

   Departures should be directed out of the platforms at the appropriate time
by specifying ML as the next location. A high priority should be given to
getting departures away on time, but this of course may not be possible if the
train is still loading or if an incoming train is occupying the single track
section from Longrock.

   Locomotlves may be moved from the buffer end of platforms by re-entering the
platform location (P1-4) as a direction movement, and then the onward
destination in a subsequent movement.

 Locomotive Stabling Areas

 BH   Bay Head
 This is the throat of the bays, where locomotives pause for signals out of the
bay area or for manual points to be operated into and between the bays. The
capacity of the throat is two locomotives, and if desired locomotives may be
moved from one slot to tbe other by re-entering the BH code.
 B1,B2,BE   Flower Bays and the Bay End
 These locations are the principal stabling points for locomotives between
duties. Motorail stock is also parked at the end of either B1 or B2 during the
day (see next section).
 SW   Sea Wall Sidings
 In this simulation these lines are only used as headshunt for the
bay head, where locomotives may be temporarily parked on a last one in / first
one out basis.


5. The timetable and stock working
   -------------------------------
   Your turn of duty is a double shift from 0500 hrs in the morning to 2100 hrs
in the evening, at which time you hand over to the night supervisor to deal
with the few remaining late night arrivals. The schedule of arrivals and
departures during your shift is given in Table 1, where an asterisk denotes an
additional or relief working.
   Stock for departures originating from Penzance should be brought down from
Ponsandane with adequate time allowed for passenger loading (the departure time
of coaching stock being labelled in Ponsandane yard, whilst HSTs are
automatically assigned to the next HST departure when they arrive in the
platforms). The next working of incoming stock is shown a few minutes after the
train arrives in a platform, although this information is of course also given
earlier in the next arrival slot.
   One working requiring special handling is the overnight motorail service
from Paddington, which because of traffic demand is diagrammed to run as a
separate train rather than the more normal practice of coming down with the
newspapers and returning as part of the Night Riviera. When the train arrives
it should be directed into one of the platforms as usual. The shunter should be
attached after the train locomotive has uncoupled, and the vans may then be
moved to the end of either B1 or B2 for unloading by typing the appropriate
location code with PL, BH and the chosen bay clear of other traffic. The
motorail vans are left in the bay during the day ready for loading for the
return working in the evening, and may have locomotives stabled along with
them. Towards departure time the selected train locomotive should be put next
to the motorail stock and then coupled up by typing the special code HR.
Departure is directly from the bay at the appointed time using the ML code as
usual.

6. Locomotive types and their use
   ------------------------------
   Individual locomotives are referred to by their British Rail running
numbers, which are a coded classification with the first two- (or in the case
of HSTs, three-) digits giving the locomotive class and the remaining three
digits the number within the class (with sometimes the most significant of
these denoting a particular subclass). The following types appear in the
simulation :

 Class O8   Standard shunter        350hp  (max speed 15mph)
There is just a single shunter based at Penzance, and this acts as both yard
and station pilot. During the summer of 1984 the shunter was 08644 and was
adorned with unofficial 'Debbie' nameplates, rumoured to refer to the
ladyfriend of one of the shunting stafr.

 Class 45 and 46  Mainline locos   2500hp  (max speed 90mph)
Introduced between 1960 and 1963, these locomotives are derived from the
original 'Peak' class. They are all Midland and Eastern region engines which
reach the south-west on through holiday workings. During 1984 the 45/1 subclass
were the commonest of the Peaks on these trains, with indeed Class 46s quite
rare as the class was run down prior to withdrawal at the end of the year. The
locomotives should be diagrammed to return home on the through workings to the
midlands and north, and only in the most exceptional cicumstances should a Peak
be allocated to a Paddington train.

 Class 47   Mainline locomotives   2580hp  (max speed 95mph)
 The veritable workhorses of British Rail, the 47/4 subclass (numbers
47401-617) are the standard mainline passenger locomotives of the whole system.
The 47/0 subclass (47001-299) are designated as mixed traffic locomotives, and
are often pressed into summer passenger service on reliefs and holiday
workings. Most are un-named, although some of the Western regions allocation
are named after famous GWR personalities such as Brunel, Churchward and Gooch.

 Class 50   Mainline locomotives   2700hp  (max Speed 100mph)
 The pride of the Western region, these locomotives were named after famous
Royal Navy warships after their transfer from the Midland region in the mid
1970s. The locomotives have recently undergone a major programme of
refurbishment at Doncaster works, and as the top rank locomotives are allocated
whenever possible on all non-HST services from Penzance to Paddington. 50007
was somewhat of a novelty in 1984, being repainted in imitation GWR livery and
renamed 'Sir Edward Elgar' in preparation for the GWR 150 year celebrations.

 Class 253   High Speed Trains     4500hp  (max speed 125mph)
 The units working to Penzance are the standard Western region sets with a
power car at each end of a seven coach formation. Although the high speed of
the units can only be utilized at the Paddington end of the line, these trains
have improved enormously the standard of service on the whole of the West of
England mainline. Split into three groups, 253001-18 and 253028-40 are used on
internal Western region services, whilst 253041-55 are used on inter-regional
workings to the north east and north west.

   The home maintenance depots of the locomotives in the simulation are given
after the locomotive number in the status message using the following standard
codes :
  Western Region                   Other Regions
   BR  Bristol                       BS  Bescot (Birmingham)
   CF  Cardiff                       CD  Crewe
   LA  Laira (Plymouth)              GD  Gateshead (Newcastle)
   OC  Old Oak Common (London)       HA  Haymarket (Edinburgh)
   PZ  Penzance                      IM  Immingham
   WR  Western Region HST depots     TO  Toton (Nottingham)
       at Old Oak, Laira and St.
       Phillip's Marsh (Bristol)

   You have a relatively free hand in allocating locomotives to trains, but
only in exceptional circumstances should a locomotive requiring fuel or
attention be dispatched on a departure working. You should keep in mind the
comments on locomotive usage made earlier, and if possible give locomotives at
least an hour turnaround at Penzance. In addition you should try to allocate
non-Western region locomotives to the following workings which are diagrammed
for through haulage to their destinations (other services to the north changing
motive power at Birmingham) :
   0646 Newquay ecs (for a working to the NE)
   0853 Newcastle
   1125 Manchester
   1600 Derby

   From time to time an emergency message may be received from Regional Control
requesting the dispatch of a locomotive, either for use at another depot or to
assist a failed train down the line. Such requests should be complied with as
soon as possible.

7. Getting started
   ---------------
BBC microcomputer
The program is loaded by typing CHAIN"" (note users with disc or Econet
interfaces should first return to the cassette filing system by typing *TAPE
and Page=&E00).
COMMODORE microcomputer
The program is loaded by pressing the SHIFT and RUN/STOP keys together.
SPECTRUM microcomputer
The program is loaded by typing LOAD"pz"
AMSTRAD microcomputer
The program is loaded by typing CHAIN "PZ"

   The simulation starts a few minutes before the nominal commencement of your
shift with an HST waiting in PL to come into the platforms, the shunter in BH
(but requested for working in PY), a Class 50 hauled passenger train in P4 soon
to depart, three HSTs stabled at LD, and three locomotives parked ln the bay
area (with the one in BE requiring fuel).
   An initial sequence of movements might be :
   HST in PL           direct to P1
   08644               direct to PY (now PL is clear)
   Loco in P4          direct to ML at departure time
   Loco in BE          direct to BH, and then to LD
   Arriving loco       direct to P3 as approaches Longrock

   At the end of your turn of duty you will be given a rating of your
performance on a scale up to excellent. If you wish to finish your shift early
the simulation may be terminated by pressing either the ESCAPE key on the BBC
or the Q key (for quit) on the Spectrum or Commodore, but if only a temporary
respite is required we recommend freezing the action on a status report or
movement command directive.


           Appendix
           Listing of locomotives which may appear in the simulation
           ---------------------------------------------------------

           08644   45124   47029   47522   50016   50046   253034
                   45125   47076   47534   50017   50047   253035
                   45126   47078   47537   50018   50048   253036
           45046   45127   47079   47556   50019   50049   253037
           45057   45128   47086   47557   50020   50050   253038
                   45129   47091   47558   50021           253039
                   45130   47096   47559   50022   253001  253040
           45101   45131   47104   47560   50023   253002  253041
           45102   45132   47123   47588   50024   253003  253042
           45103   45133   47159   47599   50025   253004  253043
           45104   45134   47186   47600   50026   253005  253044
           45105   45135   47273   47601   50027   253006  253045
           45106   45136           47602   50028   253007  253046
           45107   45137   47406   47608   50029   253008  253047
           45108   45138   47421           50030   253009  253048
           45109   45139   47435   50001   50031   253010  253049
           45110   45140   47451   50002   50032   253011  253050
           45111   45141   47459   50003   50033   253012  253051
           45112   45142   47474   50004   50034   253013  253052
           45113   45143   47500   50005   50035   253014  253053
           45114   45144   47501   50006   50036   253015  253054
           45115   45145   47502   50007   50037   253016  253055
           45116   45146   47507   50008   50038   253017
           45117   45147   47508   50009   50039   253018
           45118   45148   47509   50010   50040   253028
           45119   45149   47510   50011   50041   253029
           45120   45150   47511   50012   50042   253030
           45121           47512   50013   50043   253031
           45122   46026   47513   50014   50044   253032
           45123   46052   47514   50015   50045   253033

        TABLE 1 : PENZANCE TRAFFIC WORKINGS (SUMMER SATURDAY 0500-2100)
        ---------------------------------------------------------------

                                    ARRIVALS

  Due       Train                          Next Working

  0527     *1915 ex York                   0646 departure (ecs Newquay)
  0544      Plymouth (parcels)             ecs Ponsandane
  0625      Paddington (mail)              ecs Ponsandane
  0654      Paddington (newspapers)        ecs Ponsandane
  0710     *Paddington (motorail)          Bays for unloading
  0748      Night Riviera (sleeper)        ecs Ponsandane
  0805      2357 ex Paddington             0932 departure (Paddington)
  0843      2217 ex Manchester             1125 departure (Manchester)
  0901      2315 ex Liverpool              1035 departure (Leeds)
  1029      0825 ex Plymouth               1105 departure (Paddington)
  1133      Paddington (parcels)           ecs Ponsandane
  1200      0630 ex Worcester (HST)        1235 departure (Paddington)
  1243     *0751 ex Bristol (ecs)          1415 departure (Wolverhampton)
  1307      0745 ex Paddington (HST)       1340 departure (Paddington)
  1317     *0621 ex Wolverhampton          1520 departure (Wolverhampton)
  1358      0845 ex Paddington (HST)       1448 departure (Paddington)
  1433      0750 ex Swansea                1540 departure (Paddington)
  1456      0717 ex Derby                  1600 departure (Derby)
  1528      0940 ex Paddington             1615 departure (Paddington)
  1548      1045 ex Paddington (HST)       1700 departure (Paddington)
  1642      Cornish Riviera (HST)          ecs Longrock Depot
  1709      0914 ex Brighton               ecs Ponsandane
  1753      0936 ex Liverpool              ecs Ponsandane
  1804      1245 ex Paddington (HST)       ecs Longrock Depot
  1824      0921 ex Leeds                  ecs Ponsandane
  1919     *1330 ex Paddington (relief)    ecs Ponsandane
  1929      1210 ex Liverpool (HST)        2013 departure (ecs Plymouth Laira)
  1946      0922 ex Newcastle              ecs Ponsandane
  2010      1345 ex Paddington             ecs Ponsandane
  2042      1445 ex Paddington             ecs Ponsandane
  2101      1545 ex Paddington (HST)       ecs Longrock Depot

       * Denotes additional train to the normal working timetable

                                   DEPARTURES

  Time      Destination                    Stock from

  0505      Plymouth                       Ponsandane Yard
  0628      Paddington (HST)               Longrock Depot
  0646    +*Newquay (ecs)                  0527 arrival
  0725      Paddington (HST)               Longrock Depot
  0740      Glasgow                        Ponsandane Yard
  0835      Paddington (HST)               Longrock Depot
  0853     +Newcastle                      Ponsandane Yard
  0910      Leeds                          Ponsandane Yard
  0932      Paddington                     0805 arrival
  1000      Liverpool                      Ponsandane Yard
  1020      Paddington (HST)               Longrock Depot
  1035      Leeds                          0901 arrival
  1050      Brighton                       Ponsandane Yard
  1105      Paddington                     1029 arrival
  1125     +Manchester                     0843 arrival
  1235      Paddington (HST)               1200 arrival
  1340      Paddington (HST)               1307 arrival
  1350      Bristol (parcels)              Ponsandane Yard
  1415     *Wolverhampton (relief)         1243 arrival
  1436      Paddington (relief)            Ponsandane Yard
  1448      Paddington (HST)               1358 arrival
  1520     *Wolverhampton                  1317 arrival
  1540      Paddington                     1433 arrival
  1600     +Derby                          1456 arrival
  1615      Paddington                     1528 arrival
  1700      Paddington (HST)               1548 arrival
  1815      Plymouth                       Ponsandane Yard
  1921     *Paddington (motorail)          Loading in bays
  2013      Plymouth Laira (HST ecs)       1929 arrival
  2030     *Paddington (relief)            Ponsandane Yard
  2045      Night Riviera (sleeper)        Ponsandane Yard

       * Denotes additional train to the normal working timetable
       + Denotes trains diagrammed for non-WR motive power
