SECTIONAL APPENDIX - Sunderland
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General and History
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Sunderland, with its harbour on the mouth of the river Wear, was connected to the railways as early as 1836 when the Durham & Sunderland Railway Company completed its line which approached the town from the South along the coast. The next railway to reach Sunderland was the Newcastle & Darlington Railway, which in 1853 completed the line from Durham to Sunderland via Penshaw.
In 1879, the North Eastern Railway Company built the direct line from Ryhope Grange Junction, south of Sunderland, through the town and over the river to Monkwearmouth and on to Newcastle. A new station, then known as Sunderland Central, was built as part of this route, which is the present station. It was built in a cutting running north to south with retaining walls on either side.
The simulation has been created from drawings dated 1929, but not much was changed until an extensive rebuild around 1965. A further extensive rebuild took place around 2002 when the Newcastle Metro system was extended to Sunderland and South Hylton (on the former Penshaw branch).
The branch to Penshaw and on to Durham was closed in 1964, but was reopened as far as South Hylton when the Newcastle Metro system took over local services from Newcastle to Sunderland. The main line is still used by National Rail services between Newcastle and Middlesbrough along the coast.

Signalling
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The simulation shows the signalling as it was from 1929 until the rebuilding around 1965.

Adaptations
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Signal 20 was added as the simulation requires a single exit signal. It is placed at the location of the Fawcett Street Junction distant signal, with which it is combined.

The Middle Sidings had two exits, each with a signal (43 and 44), for the simulation, this has been reduced to a single exit with only one signal.

Signal 50 and 48 were repeated a bit further to the south, as a viaduct accross the lines just in front of these signals obstructed the view. The repeated signals were known as 50 (2nd) and 48 (2nd), but are not included in the simulation.

Signals 56, 57 and 58 have been added at the southern end of the East Sidings to comply with the rules of the simulation program. The manually operated crossover between No.1 and No.2 East Sidings has been allocated to lever 54 (all these levers were spare). Signal 51 was moved to No.1 East Sidings, protecting switches 52 and 54, its original location was along cross-over 52, just in front of an additional safety switch.

Stopping locations
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All four platforms are stopping locations for both passenger and freight trains.

No.1 and No.2 East Sidings are allocated to location "East Sidings" such that moves of empty stock to and from these sidings can be properly timed.

An additional location has beed set up on the Down Main, just ahead of signal 2, known as "Signal 2". This location is only intended to be used for light engine moves at the north end of the station, such that these moves can be properly timed. The "platform" at this location can only hold a single engine.
Note that if an untimed train (described as 5Z**) is moved through this location, it will stop at this "platform", a "PROCEED" command must be issued to move the train onward and pull clear of signal 2.

Local instructions
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As mentioned above, light engine moves at the north end of the station are usually timed at location at "signal 2", so a "shunt" command should not be set for signal 2.
However, empty stock moves are not timed at location "signal 2", and for these moves a shunt command for signal 2 has to be set.
Note that light engine and empty stock moves to and from the Middle Sidings and West Sidings to locations other than the station itself, often have to reverse in the station. These reversals in the station are usually timed so a "shunt" command must not be used. For moves from platforms 1 and 2 to the West Sidings which require reversal in platform 3 or 4, these reversals can not be timed so a "shunt" command has to be set for such moves; when required, this will be indicated in the train notes.

Please note that shunt signals 26 or 30 must be cleared before a route can be set from signal 60,61,62,63,64,66,67, or 69, as applicable.
 
When a train is to reverse at both signals 24 and 22, and a shunt command is required, it is not always possible to issue such a command as there are no intermediate signals. In that situation, use the "stop" command which will stop the train at the required signal.

Note that there are two set of distant signals 9 and 10; one set is combined with signals 64 and 66, the other set is combined with signals 67 and 69. When either signal 9 or 10 is set, slotting ensures only the correct actual signal is cleared. Because it is not possible to duplicate labels, the 'labels' for signal 9 and 10 are actually plain text, and operating the signal through clicking on the label is not possible for these two signals.

Sunderland Shed
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The loco shed at Sunderland was located near the South Docks yard. It could be reached from the station via either Fawcett Street Junction or Villette Road. In the standard timetable, light engine moves are all routed through Fawcett Street Junction.
Note that empty stock was often stored on sidings at Villette Road, and engines for these trains, or coming off these trains, usually made their way to and from the shed directly from Villette Road.

Notes on shunting
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The 'Shunt' command must be used if a train is to reverse at a particular signal. It is good practice to issue the shunt command before clearing the last signal which leads to the location where the train is to reverse, this in order to avoid 'overshoot' when the shunt command is issued too late for the engine to brake in time, which will result in the engine running passed the reversal point up to the next signal.
The 'Shunt' command can be issued for a train waiting to depart as issuing this command does not effect the timed departure of this train. However, the shunt command must NOT be used for a signal which is beyond a booked station stop before the train has come to a stand for that specific station stop. Setting the shunt command before the train has stopped will cancel out the station stop, and will lead to an error on missed station stop.

When coaches must be attached to another train, this is best done using the following procedure.
Shunt the coaches up to the waiting train as instructed. If the move is a 'timed' move, wait with further actions until the train has terminated and has been redescribed to a "Z" headcode.
When terminated, detach the shunt engine. Next, select the 'main' train, and use the "couple" command on this train to attach the coaches. Do NOT use the "couple" command on the coaches which are to be attached, as this may inadvertently couple these coaches back onto the shunt engine.

Fringe boxes
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The fringe boxes for Sunderland are :
Monkwearmouth, at 37 chain.
Villette Road, at 1m 77 chain.
Fawcett Street Jn, at 30 chain.

Section lengths
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The list below details the lengths of platforms and sidings etc.
The length is defined in units, each unit equals an engine, a passenger coach, or 3 wagons.

All platforms                                           :  9 units
No.1 East Sidings (between sigs. 48 and 51)             :  5 units
No.1 East Sidings (beyond signal 57)                    :  2 units
No.2 East Sidings (between sigs. 50 and 56)             :  6 units
No.2 East Sidings (beyond signal 58)                    :  2 units
Wallside (between signal 32 and clear of points 34)     :  3 units
Up main, between sigs. 53 and 18 (for reversals)        : 19 units
Down Main, between sigs. 2 and 11 (for reversals)       :  9 units

Sidings
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All three sidings, i.e. Middle Siding and West Siding 1 and 2, are dead-ended,so train are usually propelled into the siding and pulled out; if a train is pulled into a siding, the engine cannot exit from the siding until the train itself has exited, or the train must be propelled out of the siding using the same engine.
Note that West Siding 1 and 2 are not connected.

Speed Restrictions
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All lines in the station area are restricted to 20 mph.
Most switches and crossovers are restricted to 15 mph.
Access to sidings are restricted to 5 mph.

Train Reporting Numbers
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Train reporting numbers only came into use in later years, and also changed over the years. See timetable information for details.

Opening Picture
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The opening picture shows V2 class 2-6-2 60886 on an ECS working from Newcastle to York in May 1964. It is shown passing the junction at the south end of the station.
The low signals to the left of the engine are the exit signals for the Middle Sidings. The high signals just beyond are signals 64-66 etc., the home signals on the Down Branch. The two signals visible underneath the bracket are signals 35 and 36 on the West Sidings, and the reverse distant mounted on the bracket post is the Fawcett Street distant on the Up Branch.
Beyond, and to the right of these signals, but barely visible through the smoke of the engine are signals 67-69 etc., the home signals on the Down Main.
To the right of the engine are the East Sidings, with shunt signal 51 next to the engine. Note that the spur at the southern end of No.1 East Sidings, beyond cross-over 52, has been lifted. The signals in the distance in front of the viaduct are 50 (2nd) and 48 (2nd).
Note the first two coaches on the train which are vintage restaurant cars of some interest.
The picture was obtained through Colour-Rail (www.colourrail.com).

Acknowledgements
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Thanks to PC-Rail test team for their help in testing this simulation, and as ever to John Dennis for sorting out the very special program requirements for this particular simulation.
