Another popular question for those offering some pre-event work for the Signet Exam Workshop weekend. There were some reasonable portions of some attempts, but none of those received were better than mediocre overall. I think that some would have scraped a Pass but many would have been a Near Miss or worse.
Some mod3 questions can be quite challenging particularly in recent years, but the subject of this somewhat older one is very conventional mainstream and so the quality of the answers obtained was particularly worrying- most of it is pretty "bog-standard" stuff. Whereas some people did have a half decent idea of what Approach Locking and Route Locking was all about, quite a few did not; concerning that some contemplating sitting the exam in a few months don't seem to have the knowledge that 30 years ago I would have expected the better installers and maintainers to have had.
Hence whereas I attempted to take a combination of two of the better answers received and combine them, I think that by the time I had finished there was very little of either of them left unchanged and it would probably have been better if I had just started with a blank sheet of paper; it would certainly have been quicker!
Anyway I have attached what I ended up with; it is definitely too long to have written as much as the equivalent 3 full type-written pages within 30 minutes. There was a little more I felt like including in some parts, but I was determined not to go onto a further page. However as it stands I do think that it would achieve a very high score in the various sections; what I can't see is how to cut some 33% of the content and still achieve the vast majority of the marks. Perhaps a little could be trimmed from the initial section without losing much and I suppose that the additional track-bob protection might not have been needed if the section without it had "max'ed out" on the available marks for that middle section, but I feel that if I cut more then I'd not be getting the marks.
I therefore think that is what might have been supposed to be difficult for the question- not an easy once to answer in the time available and thus deceptively simple........
However this didn't seem to be challenge facing most who attempted- more a matter of not having a very clear idea of the basic principles or possibly being unable to express clearly what they did know. Some attempts did not read well at all; if as a reader one persevered and gave the benefit of the doubt could convince oneself to award some marks but as a set did they seem to be decent attempts at a professional level exam?- I am afraid they did not.
A typical one started: "
The need of route locking after it has been issued the movement authority is a vital stuff and it ensure a safe condition for train who is now proceeding at given speed.
Now, suppose we provide an authority to signal controller to un-lock the route whenever he wants and change the route or direction of train movement while a train is moving on any set route or approaching a set route. When a signaller accidently or internally changes a route while a train in moving this gives the aspect of train being changed and warns the drives if he could see the change in aspect to reduce the speed instantaneously which might be not possible for train to brake for safe train movement. Route locking on the contrary ensures that no other train movement is in the set and locked route and every asset is operating fine.
Making allowances for the English not being that of a native speaker and the odd typo, by giving it a second reading does permit the extraction of some relevant content, but it is hard work. It also takes a long time in a roundabout way to make a point; doesn't seem to be directly answering the question and not everything written is actually correct; doesn't make the case for passing the candidate as competent very strong.
Question 9
Discuss why it is important that a route remains locked for a train after it has been issued a movement authority. [6 marks]
Describe either for a lineside signalling system, or for a continuous transmission cab signalling system, the conditions to be met before a route can be released. For each condition listed, provide a brief explanation of why it is required and the risks if it is omitted. [11 marks]
Describe TWO situations where equipment failure might result in a route remaining locked after a train has passed. For both situations, describe operational procedures which could allow trains to continue to run and describe technical features which would either mitigate the effect of the failure or assist in the release of the route. [8 marks]
Some mod3 questions can be quite challenging particularly in recent years, but the subject of this somewhat older one is very conventional mainstream and so the quality of the answers obtained was particularly worrying- most of it is pretty "bog-standard" stuff. Whereas some people did have a half decent idea of what Approach Locking and Route Locking was all about, quite a few did not; concerning that some contemplating sitting the exam in a few months don't seem to have the knowledge that 30 years ago I would have expected the better installers and maintainers to have had.
Hence whereas I attempted to take a combination of two of the better answers received and combine them, I think that by the time I had finished there was very little of either of them left unchanged and it would probably have been better if I had just started with a blank sheet of paper; it would certainly have been quicker!
Anyway I have attached what I ended up with; it is definitely too long to have written as much as the equivalent 3 full type-written pages within 30 minutes. There was a little more I felt like including in some parts, but I was determined not to go onto a further page. However as it stands I do think that it would achieve a very high score in the various sections; what I can't see is how to cut some 33% of the content and still achieve the vast majority of the marks. Perhaps a little could be trimmed from the initial section without losing much and I suppose that the additional track-bob protection might not have been needed if the section without it had "max'ed out" on the available marks for that middle section, but I feel that if I cut more then I'd not be getting the marks.
I therefore think that is what might have been supposed to be difficult for the question- not an easy once to answer in the time available and thus deceptively simple........
However this didn't seem to be challenge facing most who attempted- more a matter of not having a very clear idea of the basic principles or possibly being unable to express clearly what they did know. Some attempts did not read well at all; if as a reader one persevered and gave the benefit of the doubt could convince oneself to award some marks but as a set did they seem to be decent attempts at a professional level exam?- I am afraid they did not.
A typical one started: "
The need of route locking after it has been issued the movement authority is a vital stuff and it ensure a safe condition for train who is now proceeding at given speed.
Now, suppose we provide an authority to signal controller to un-lock the route whenever he wants and change the route or direction of train movement while a train is moving on any set route or approaching a set route. When a signaller accidently or internally changes a route while a train in moving this gives the aspect of train being changed and warns the drives if he could see the change in aspect to reduce the speed instantaneously which might be not possible for train to brake for safe train movement. Route locking on the contrary ensures that no other train movement is in the set and locked route and every asset is operating fine.
Making allowances for the English not being that of a native speaker and the odd typo, by giving it a second reading does permit the extraction of some relevant content, but it is hard work. It also takes a long time in a roundabout way to make a point; doesn't seem to be directly answering the question and not everything written is actually correct; doesn't make the case for passing the candidate as competent very strong.
Question 9
Discuss why it is important that a route remains locked for a train after it has been issued a movement authority. [6 marks]
Describe either for a lineside signalling system, or for a continuous transmission cab signalling system, the conditions to be met before a route can be released. For each condition listed, provide a brief explanation of why it is required and the risks if it is omitted. [11 marks]
Describe TWO situations where equipment failure might result in a route remaining locked after a train has passed. For both situations, describe operational procedures which could allow trains to continue to run and describe technical features which would either mitigate the effect of the failure or assist in the release of the route. [8 marks]
PJW