Introduction

The Master Cutler is the Inter-City Executive express from Sheffield which is used by South Yorkshire businessmen to commute to London for a day's work in the Capital City. The service was inaugurated in 1947 over the Great Central Line between Sheffield Victoria and Marylebone, and on the demise of this route ran for a period with Pullman stock via Retford and the East Coast main line before moving to its present route over the Midland line to St Pancras. The train identifies closely with the City of Sheffield, and indeed there is a tradition that the Master Cutler himself has an annual cab ride on the locomotive to London.

Inter-City 125 (High Speed Train) sets were introduced onto the Midland line in 1982, taking over the Master Cutler and other principal services from the Peak (Class 45) locomotives which had put in stalwart work on the route for over twenty years. In this simulation, set at the time of the changeover, you can drive both locomotives and HSTs between St Pancras and Leicester, with a choice of either the northbound Master Cutler or an early morning stopping train destined for Nottingham. Both trains present a challenge to driving skill, whether it be to keep the prestigious Master Cutler running to time or coping with the frequent station calls of the Nottingham stopping service.

Display Format

The simulation is presented as a two part display on the television screen: the upper section giving information a driver would have from visual observations and his background knowledge of the route, and the lower section being a monitor of the locomotive controls and performance.

The Route And Line Speed Restrictions

The main features of the Midland main-line between St Pancras and Leicester are shown in Appendix 1, from where the undulating nature of the route is readily apparent. The 7.5 miles of 1 in 176 uphill gradient out to St Albans and the steep climbs up Sharnbrook, Desborough and Kibworth banks provide a stiff test for northbound trains, particularly as speed restrictions at many of the major towns along the route preclude taking a fast run at the banks. Track improvements associated with the introduction of HSTs have resulted in an easing of some of the traditional speed restrictions, but manual signalling still restricts the overall line speed to 90mph north of Sharnbrook and severe restrictions remain at Wellingborough, Market Harborough and on the approaches to Leicester.

In addition to the normal speed restrictions, you may also encounter temporary restrictions due to engineering work on the track between Market Harborough and Leicester. Details of such 'permanent way slacks' (pws) will be given at the start of the simulation, and a reminder will also be given during your run as you approach these and other restrictions in the permitted line speed (this 'advance warning' commencing 1.5 miles before a reduction of the line speed of more than 20mph, and one mile before all other reductions).

Schedules And Train Formations

The schedules of the Master Cutler (with reporting number 1E58) and the Nottingham train (1D02) are given in Appendix 2, with separate columns for HST and locomotive haulage since both departure and running times were altered with the introduction of HSTs in October 1982. On all schedules, the initial section to Hendon is particularly tightly timed, and since it also seems to have been the intention to raise the line speeds out of St Pancras sooner than was actually implemented you will probably find loco-hauled trains running about a minute late at Hendon, although it should be possible to get back on-time by St Albans. The overall objective is to arrive *on-time* at Leicester, and both late running and early arrivals will be penalised in the driver assessment at the end of the simulation, the latter for having unnecessarily 'thrashed' the locomotive only for the new crew relieving you at Leicester to have to stand waiting in the platform until the scheduled departure time.

The locomotive hauled Master Cutler normally had a load of eight coaches, whilst the Nottingham stopping service was scheduled for the more usual Midland Line loading of nine vehicles, all assumed to be of Mk 2 air-conditioned stock. An extra coach may however be added to each train to cope with additional passenger demand. The HST sets are standard 7 coach formations of the type in service on the Western region.

Motive Power

The main characteristics of the three types of motive power available in the simulation are given below:

* For details of power cars allocated to individual sets, see Modern Railways Pictorial Profile:1 High Speed Trains. Publ. Ian Allan (1983)

+ From 2 power cars

The HSTs used on the Midland line were transferred from the Western region after a policy decision to upgrade what had become rather the Cinderella route of the Inter-City system. For maintenance purposes the units are based at Neville Hill depot in Leeds, although HSTs which turn round overnight in London are serviced at Bounds Green depot on the East Coast line out of Kings Cross. Although the high speed potential of the HSTs cannot be fully exploited on the Midland route, the enhanced acceleration and braking capabilities of the units can be utilised by a skilled driver to keep his train running near continuously at the limit of the permitted line speed.

The Peak (Class 45) locomotives were first introduced on the Midland line in the early 1960s, and were the mainstay of the route for the next 20 years. They are popular with drivers, and have a reputation as steady, reliable and solid performers. After the introduction of electrically-heated and air-conditioned coaching stock in the late 1970s, passenger duties on the Midland line were almost exclusively in the hands of the 45/1 subclass based at Toton. The name of the class derives from the original ten pilot scheme locomotives (later to become BR Class 44) named after the highest peaks in England and Wales, although a number of Class 45 locomotives in fact carry names of famous army regiments.

Class 47 locomotives were never as popular as the Peaks with Midland drivers, although they did make occasional forays on the Master Cutler service. The locomotives available in the simulation are Toton's two named Class 47/4s, 47444 (University of Nottingham) and 47480 (Robin Hood).

Locomotive Controls

For simplicity, all locomotives in the simulation have been given a standardised controller with five power settings (1-5) rather than the differing notch systems of the originals. The braking system is similar but position 5 is for emergency only, the maximum application in normal service being position 4.

For BBC:
Press the > key to increase speed.
Press the < key to decrease speed.
Press X and Z respectively for Brakes.

Use the space bar (BBC only) for the horn; a short press for one note and longer for two tone hone.

For Commodore and Spectrum 48K:
Press P to increase speed.
Press O to decrease speed.
Press X and Z respectively for Brakes.

Driving Technique

The tractive characteristics of the different locomotive classes are realistically reproduced in the simulation and as such it is necessary to become familiar with the individual handling responses.

The HSTs are probably the easiest of the locomotives to drive with their modern control system to co-ordinate the output of the power cars at each end of the formation. The full engine power is not available until above 30mph, but if too high a controller setting is selected at lower speed, all that happens is an automatic current limiting system comes into operation. Engine failures occur from time to time, and if you experience an engine shutdown on a run, you should continue as best you can on the reduced power of the remaining engine.

The Peak and Class 47 locomotives have generators rather than alternators to provide current to the traction motors, and care must be taken to avoid an overload on starting off. The controller must thus be eased back gently from notch one, and not opened up fully (notch 5) until the speed exceeds about 14mph. Warning of high generator current will be given on the status indicators when the current exceeds 3,360 amps on a Peak and 3,000 amps on a Class 47 (the continuous ratings of the two types being 2,670 and 2,130 amps respectively). Such high generator currents should only be sustained for short periods to avoid overheating the traction motors, and any further notching up of the controller is likely to activate the overload trips set at 4,200 and 3,750 amps respectively. At speed, there is field diversion to maintain generator efficiency and notification will be given when this occurs even though no action is required on the part of the driver.

Signalling And Braking

Signalling on the line is mixed, but at the time of the simulation (which was beore the Leicester re-signalling scheme) could be well represented by four colour light multiple aspect signalling (MAS) between St Pancras and Irchester South, and semaphore signals (SS) between Irchester and Leicester. The distance between the colur light signals is set in anticipation of a higher running speed over the route, and as such there should be no problem in braking to a halt in the distance between the first signal at warning (double yellow) and the signal at danger (red). Things are however somewhat tighter under the manually controlled semaphore signals, where there is only a single distant signal at caution before a home signal at danger, and you may need to brake hard for much of the mile or so between the signals to bring your train to a halt.

If a signal is at danger you should bring your train to a stop within 35 yards of the signal in order to obtain telephone instructions from control about the situation. Similarly in stations you should draw up in the platform within 35 yards of the starter signal in order to be correctly positioned for passenger loading.

As you approach a signal at caution or danger, you will receive a visual A.W.S. (Automatic Warning System) indication on the instrument panel and, in the case of BBC owners an audible warning also. This must be cancelled within six seconds by pressing Space Bar (BBC) or 0 (Spectrum/Commodore). If this is not done, as on the original, there will be an automatic application of the emergency brake.

Getting Started

BBC
The program is loaded by typing CHAIN"". (Note users with disc or econet interfaces should first return to cassette filing system by typing *TAPE and PAGE=&E00).

Commodore 64
The program is loaded by pressing SHIFT key and RUN STOP keys together.

Spectrum 48K
The program is loaded by typing LOAD"" (ENTER)

The required *input parameters* are:

Train selection:
Type E for the Master Cutler express or S for the Nottingham stopping train.

Train formation and locomotive number:
For an HST-type a set number between 253019 an 253027. For a loco-hauled train, type either the number of a Peak (45101-45150) or one of the two Class 47 locomotives available (47444 or 47480). The appropriate schedule will be selected automatically.

Details of your train, locomotive condition and speed restrictions will be given as "Roster Board" information, and the computer will make its random selection of signal checks and other out of course events for your run.

The simulation begins two minutes before the scheduled departure time with your train ready in the platform at St Pancras with engines idling. Wait for the starting signal to be set and the guard's clearance (which may of course be delayed if there are late passengers or loading is not complete) and then away you go...

If you want a break during the run, the simulation can be suspended by pressing the H key (for Hold), with action restarted by pressing the R key. Otherwise, good driving on your journey North.

A Reminder Of The Line Manager's Standing Instruction

When trains are running late, drivers must endeavour to make up time with due regard to all speed restrictions and the braking capability of the train.

Bibliography For Further Reading

HSTs Come To The Midland, Article by B. Perren, Modern Railways, p557-560, December 1982

Diesel Enthusiast's Pocket Guide (Vol 4 L.M. Region South), M. Oakley, Publ. Bradford Barton ISBN 0 85153 405 8

British Rail Main Line Gradient Profile, Publ. Ian Allan, ISBN 0 7110 0875 2

BR 125 High Speed Trains, R. Tiller & M. Oakley, Publ. Bradford Barton, ISBN 0 85153 387 6

BR Sulzer Classes 44, 45 and 46, J. A. Walker, Publ. Bradford Barton, ISBN 0 85153 2934

Modern Railways Pictorial Profile: 3 The Peaks, C.J.Marsden, Publ. Ian Allan, ISSN 0264 - 3642

Class 47 Diesels, A.T.H. Tayloer et al. Publ. Ian Allan, ISBN 0 7110 0915 5

Appendix 1: Route Information

Appendix 2: Schedule