Stations worked only in one direction?

[Montague]

Something I notice when looking at signal diagrams for local stations along double track lines is that a lot of them have just a single cross over and, as far as I can see, no facilities for doing a simple run around.

 

Looking at Hexham West (NER, http://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/lner/E145.gif), just to take an example, the goods yard is on the down side with a trailing point for access. I can not understand how this station can be worked (and by worked I mean for a goods train to access the goods sidings) by an up train.

 

Should I understand this as that the station was only worked by a pick up goods in one direction?

 

 

[Xerces Fobe2]

The long gone station and loop at Wembley Stadium was an example of a passenger station which was used for events with where all trains traveling anti clockwise around the loop. How short sighted in the 1960''s to close this unusual and very useful station rather than expanding it of even linking up to the Underground.

 

XF

[colin penfold]

Many goods sidings are only worked in one direction Montague, to simplify track layouts, reduce costs and in many cases to avoid facing points.

 

To add to the passenger stations - as I recollect from my youth Kempton Park was worked by down trains (only) in the morning and up trains (only) in the afternoon, but both were only on race days.

[Joseph_Pestell]

To go back to OP, yes, it was quite usual for goods yards only to be served by the pick-up goods train travelling in one direction. The wagons would continue to the nearest marshalling yard/exchange sidings where they would be remarshalled into trains for their onward journey.

 

This saved a lot of time on shunting but at the expense of very long transit times for even short journeys.

 

Some other yards would be shunted by horse, by gravity, or even men using pinch bars. So all the train locomotive would need to do was leave the wagon somewhere in the goods yard - so no need to run round the train. Of course, this is not a process which we can reproduce on a model!

 

Yet another variant is chain shunting where the loco is on a parallel track to the wagon. Not easy to replicate in scales below 0.

[bbishop]

How about York Road? Also there is still a staff halt at Durnsford Road, on the up fast (I think). Can't remember the name, the nameboard has gone; but the last time I passed, the halt was still there.

Bill

[Oldddudders]

Then there's Dorchester South, as was.

[Fat Controller]

If there was a requirement to shunt an up goods at Hexam, it could have run around via Hexham East.  The distance between the boxes must have been short as #1 is slotted with East's down starter and also has two slots with East's down distants. This is theoretical, as Hexham was probably scheduled to be shunted by down trains only. 

 

In previous conversations with 'The Stationmaster' of this parish, it was practice to send the loco away to the next box, to crossover and return, if this could not be performed at the local box. 

 

At Hexham, any terminating passenger or freight train would have to stop in the block section between East and West boxes.  There are signalling regulations to cover this, as the loco leaves the train in mid-section to go away, run around and return from the other end of the section still occupied by the train.

The yard in the plan was the coal yard, which would have been served by west-bound trains, the coal having come from pits around Newcastle.

East Box (which still exists) had somewhat more pointwork; I only knew it in later BR days, but I doubt that BR would have added points. Immediately east of the platform ends was a trailing crossover, used to reverse terminating trains from the east. There was then a Down Goods Loop; at the eastern end of that, virtually under East Box, was the facing entrance to the goods loop, with connections off the loop to the main goods yard. Immediately next to the connection to the loop was a second trailing crossover, allowing trains from the goods yard to work back to the Newcastle area. Treating the two boxes as one entity (which they are nowadays), the operational possibilities are much greater than the diagram from East Box suggests. I suspect the plan shown is fairly late; weren't there junctions for the Allendale line, and the Border Counties line just west of the station, as well as a siding for a Ministry of Supply depot?

[Oldddudders]

The Express Dairy siding at Morden South was worked in the "to Sutton" direction, there being no crossover there. The loco then took the empty tanks on to St Helier, where there were runround facilities, before taking them back to Wimbledon.

[The Stationmaster]

The long gone station and loop at Wembley Stadium was an example of a passenger station which was used for events with where all trains traveling anti clockwise around the loop. How short sighted in the 1960''s to close this unusual and very useful station rather than expanding it of even linking up to the Underground.

 

XF

 

Clockwise, not anti-clockwise, see

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/60183-wembley-stadium-station/

[Montague]

I am, as usual, overwhelmed with the number and quality of response. Thank you very much!

[Fat Controller]

There was an example, near Caerphilly, of two halts, separated by a field. One was served only by east-bound trains, and one by westbound.

[jamie92208]

Giggleswick was also like that and the lime works sidings were only worked by the afternoon pick up goods heading in the up direction.  I often used to see it when walking round the back half of what was meant to be a cross country run. 

 

Jamie

[edcayton]

The Lafarge siding at Stevenage is still worked in this way. The loaded up train reverses into the siding, unloads and continues South to Welwyn Garden City, where it can run round and find its way to the down line and continue North.

 

Ed

[caradoc]

Freight terminals or sidings worked in one direction were extremely common, and still exist today; For example, the cement terminal at Viewpark, near Uddingston, Scotland, can only be served by Up trains. Passenger stations served in one direction only were much, much rarer, although others have given some good examples.

[Happy Hippo]

There was an example, near Caerphilly, of two halts, separated by a field. One was served only by east-bound trains, and one by westbound.

That was the ex B&M branch from Caerphilly to Machen.

 

The line was doubles both to ease traffic congestion and to make an easier grade for eastbound trains.

 

So up trains stopped at Waterloo Halt and down trains stopping at Fountain Bridge Halt.

 

They were opposite platforms to each other and were given different titles to stop passengers going to the wrong platform.

 

There were also two halts on the up line on the TVR coming out of Cardiff.  they were only worked in one direction by auto trains.

 

So you could catch a train nearer to Cardiff, but due to the out and return nature of the working, those getting on nearer to Cardiff, actually spent longer on the train!

 

Regards

 

Richard

[beast66606]

The Liverpool loop section of the Wirral lines has Moorfields, Lime Street and Liverpool Central which are unidirectional, single, platforms. James Street (where the loop starts / finishes) has one unidirectional platform on the start of the loop, the Wirral bound platform at the end of the loop has a "matching" platform which is used when terminating trains are required (when the loop is closed for whatever reason) - these two were the original Mersey platforms, altered in function in 1977 when the loop opened.

[big jim]

Freight terminals or sidings worked in one direction were extremely common, and still exist today; For example, the cement terminal at Viewpark, near Uddingston, Scotland, can only be served by Up trains. Passenger stations served in one direction only were much, much rarer, although others have given some good examples.

Slightly o/t a biggie freight wise is ratcliffe power station that can only be accessed and departed from the north, even when the line for the fluash was in from the south you couldnt access the coal hoppers from them

 

Slightly spurious but the line between heaton norris and guide bridge is only served in one direction once a week!

 

while i think about it frodsham jn to halton jn is only served one way as its only signalled one way and the cross over at frodsham has been removed

[Metr0Land]

Wasn't Ribblehead station only served in one direction for a number of years?

[colin penfold]

That was the ex B&M branch from Caerphilly to Machen.

 

The line was doubles both to ease traffic congestion and to make an easier grade for eastbound trains.

 

So up trains stopped at Waterloo Halt and down trains stopping at Fountain Bridge Halt.

 

They were opposite platforms to each other and were given different titles to stop passengers going to the wrong platform.

 

There were also two halts on the up line on the TVR coming out of Cardiff.  they were only worked in one direction by auto trains.

 

So you could catch a train nearer to Cardiff, but due to the out and return nature of the working, those getting on nearer to Cardiff, actually spent longer on the train!

 

Regards

 

Richard

 

 

Similarly due to the odd stopping patterns it's sometimes quicker at Salhouse, Norfolk for Norwich bound passenger join a train heading for Sheringham and change at North Walsham, to head back through Salhouse without stopping and arrive at Norwich much quicker than by sitting an waiting for a Norwich bound train. It's actually advertised that way on the station timetable

[big jim]

Wasn't Ribblehead station only served in one direction for a number of years?

The "virtual quarry" yard is certainly only served from the south, when i did my hours with colas i worked a log train from there towards chirk, with a light loco from the north you had to run all the way down to settle jn to change ends then run back to collect the train, depart northbound to ais gil and run round again to go south!!

 

Not much fun in driving rain

[RANGERS]

The long gone station and loop at Wembley Stadium was an example of a passenger station which was used for events with where all trains traveling anti clockwise around the loop. How short sighted in the 1960''s to close this unusual and very useful station rather than expanding it of even linking up to the Underground.

XF

There are numerous examples of stations, even whole routes which were worked in one direction, the S&D, Waverley, Derby - Manchester et al, all of which were worked in the down (hill) direction only, part of the great scheme of things to justify their ultimate fate.

[RJS1977]

The long gone station and loop at Wembley Stadium was an example of a passenger station which was used for events with where all trains traveling anti clockwise around the loop. How short sighted in the 1960''s to close this unusual and very useful station rather than expanding it of even linking up to the Underground.

 

XF

Oddly enough, I was only looking at a map of that yesterday!

[bodmin16]

Terminal 4 on London Underground

[bodmin16]

Coleslogget Halt on the Bodmin and wenford railway.

[colin penfold]

Silly of me to miss one close to home - Kelling Heath on the NNR during steam operations