197411 – Clare – Train Describer Systems

It is the purpose of this paper to review the development of Train Describer systems, consider how they have become an aid to controlling and regulating the flow of rail traffic and to examine how a present day Train Describer system performs the various functions it is called upon to carry out. The computer based Train Describer has realised that many other ancillary functions, in addition to its primary requirement of train describing, are possible, and therefore, or though necessarily dealt with in brief, the paper looks at some of the ancillary functions in respect to what a computer based Train Describer of the future could possibly comprise of. The contents of the paper is largely based on the British Railways Train Describer systems, with which the author is most familiar, but it is my belief that the basic system functions dealt with in the paper are true for other Train Describer systems.

It is appreciated that to this continent Train Describers is a relatively new concept and hence the paper bears this in mind and it is hoped that it will serve as an introduction to other recently published papers on Train Describers which have dealt with Train Describer operation in greater detail.