Mock 2018 exam

[tfly86]

Morning,

Good to see the table, your answers for part a) look correct. Another thing to add might be a primer for the Newtonian calcs for the examiner's benefit.

Your part b) HT3 and HT4 calcs use the headway minimum braking distance rather than the maximum PSR 160km/h braking distance. I calculated 85 seconds for 3 aspect and 69 seconds for 4 aspect using a braking distance of 1235m.

The calculation principles and diagrams are good as ever so well done.

The poster above offers good advice about calculating part c after some layout details.

The best way (in my view) to reduce your calculation time is just practice and knowing your answer structure.

With regard to the design rules, standard practice seems to be stating high level assumptions on the paper (for example- "assume all train detection is axle counters, treadles not shown", etc). If you were applying ETCS principles which require long explanation on the paper this may be a big constraint in the exam. You could denote specific areas requiring clarification or practices used on the paper next to the effected area with a brief note.

Thanks everyone for the replies,
The advice is great, and will come in handy for cutting these times down. Next two weeks is all about that, getting those exams skills nailed down.
For the design rules, I think I will reference ETCS reference designs,  transpennine design- but also state (max 10) key design rules. These will be prepared beforehand, and might just be the first thing I do before starting the layout. This should help the examiner, and also myself whilst doing the layout to make sure I stick to principles, and don't miss anything out.

Thanks again.

TF