Jump straight in: Click Here or choose different screens from the menu above. The Desk screens (and the shunters panel on the Northumberland Park Depot Lever Frame screen) are live and should work like the original. A fairly recent version of browser is required - Firefox and Chrome are recommended.
The information is overlaid on original diagrams wherever possible. The levers and programme machines are animated and annotated to assist in their understanding - some physical details are omitted for clarity.
The simulator is designed to work with the museum display screens which have a resolution of 1280 x 1024 or more. Use the zoom function on your browser if you cannot see the whole screen.
The simulator can be restarted at any time in the timetable (to the nearest five minutes). This resets eveything to a snapshot taken at that time on a day with perfect running, and resets any routing decisions previously made. You can find this option in the About screen, along with my personal thank yous to those who have kindly supported me during the project.
Everyone using the simulator is operating the same equipment. It is possible for more than one person to control a desk at the same time.
The Debugging Desk allows IMR "Site" control and control of the simulator itself. You should not need to touch this.
The "Relays in Coincidence" lamps in the frame diagrams extinguish if the simulator is paused (and PAUSE button flashes).
The conversion of bookwiring to software includes, as far as possible, every lever contact, every relay, every Programme Machine and all associated digital and mechanical logic of the original line. Trains run autonomously, responding to the Automatic Train Operation (ATO) code fed to the track (the ATO code is derived from information about the occupation of the track ahead). The transcoding to software is via equivalent logic statements documented in an Excel spreadsheet, allowing inspection by non-programmers, but also allowing future programmers to import the logic into their own simulator.
Any information in the simulator can be externalised, and this allows us to illuminate the original control room panel and desks (as far as soldering work has progressed!)
A few shortcuts have been taken. A lack of real trains and the use of software means that, for instance, proving relays and duplicate lever bands are not required.
Some sequence may run slightly faster (train restarts on 270 code) or more slowly (lever movements) than the original. This is done to ensure that simulated equipment (which may be pneumatic or mechanical, as well as electronic) operates in the correct order. The levers run at half speed to aid visibilty of actuation.
There are a number of outstanding bugs (Victoria has an known issue with its auto-release) and minor transcoding errors to fix. Paul would welcome any bug reports.
I firstly must admit I do not work in the railway industry at all, let alone the niche area of railway signalling; I work in IT for broadcast and have limited programming skills. My hobby is the technical side of railways and thus my connection to railway preservation. I was sadly unable to acquire any bookwiring until after the Victoria line had been upgraded, so I never saw first-hand how it operated, other than as a passenger.
As a trustee of the now closed Electric Railway Museum I was lucky enough to acquire many artefacts from Brixton IMR and included was a copy of the bookwiring. After many, many late nights pouring over the diagrams and re-drawing them out on paper, I came to understand what an incredible system Dell and his staff had put together, and I thought I could build a reasonable Automatic Train Operation and Programme Machine demonstrator for the museum.
A chance conversation led to the discovery that the entire decommissioned control room from Cobourg Street near Euston Station was extant and potentially available. This was acquired at the end of 2014 and spent over six months in my granny flat whilst I cleaned it. I then acquired the bookwiring for the rest of the line and realised very quickly that a simple demonstrator would not do Dell's legacy justice. This simulator project was born....