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For fitting the trap-point, the track between turnouts 5 and 8 was lifted, having soaked the ballast with warm soapy water first to release it. A slot was cut for the point motor actuating rod and new hole for the wire dropper drilled: The trap point was created by cutting back an EM Gauge B6 PECO Turnout, which was then fitted together with a short length of connecting track in the gap. The hole for the signal base was capped with card and the ballast reapplied: In the original scheme the point rodding was modelled for the turnout 8 and its point lock. As this area is now classified as sidings, I removed the point lock details from turnout 8 and repurposed the lock's rodding to "operate" the new trap point. The red drawing pin is where the (as yet to be constructed) shunting signal will be placed.

Having now had time to digest all of the constructive feedback in this thread, together with reference to the Modern Signalling Handbook by Stanley Hall (4th Edition, Ian Allan Publishing) as well as advice from the gentleman demonstrating Signalling Design last weekend at Warley, I have now redesigned the signalling scheme for Achnabroad: The centre road has now been designated a siding with a trap point inserted to protect the main passenger road. This has resulted in the removal of its starter signal 6 which is now repurposed as an advanced starter. The position of the shunting signal in the grain siding has been moved to just short of the toe of the trap point, and will be interlocked with it to allow shunting movements on to the passenger road accordingly. The bracket signal has corrected to reflect the correct priority, and the now redundant point locking lever for points 8 will now be used in conjunction with points 10 which are on the main platform road, so as to protect the passenger trains which pass over them. As before the points and signals are electrically interlocked using the secondary switches incorporated into the DCC Concepts levers: interlocking.pdf

Thanks for the kind words! Currently it is set by default for the goods yard, but I agree setting it for the passenger road would make more sense...

That would work - although reading the "REGULATIONS FOR WORKING CALLANDER & OBAN RAILWAY BETWEEN OBAN & DALMALLY, BY TRAIN TABLET" ( http://www.oban-line.info/instr/misc/ttregs.html ) local practice might indeed allow otherwise. "NOTE. - Any Engine-driver may proceed with his Engine out on to the single Line at any end of any Tablet Station as far as is necessary for shunting purposes at the Station, without being in possession of a Train Tablet, when the Signalman, or other official in charge of the Signals, has given verbal instructions to do so." That was in 1880 though - if such practice would be allowed 90 years later, which is the time that my scene is set, I would be surprised.

Thanks to everybody for the feedback and constructive criticism! The initial idea was that vehicles in the goods yard and grain unloading siding would remain contained there with no possibility of interfering with the passenger road unless both points 8 were set in their favour, which can only occur if 5 is set for the centre road, i.e against the passenger road. However this does not take care of the end section of centre road past the release cross over which is effectively a siding - which I hadn't considered. However to remedy this is not so easy. Whilst lifting and replacing laid and ballasted track is a possible if not an attractive prospect, there is a problem with the would be location of the trap point motor. In order to maintain clearance with the passenger road in the event of trapping a vehicle, this would have to be just to the left of the signal (as seen in this view) which is exactly where one of the baseboard frame cross members is. Best laid plans etc.

Indeed - Parkside Chassis kits are cheaper too - and the wheels are better profile so only need regauging for EM, unlike the Dapol wheelsets which need to be replaced. However the glue has set and the paint has dried on these ones...

Hi Andrew, Thanks for your feedback and queries! My first thought regarding answering them was to hide behind local practice, but having read your comments I think that the scheme can and should be improved: Signal 9 should definitely be yellow as per your explanation. Fortunately I haven't built it yet. Signal 9 does however need to remain interlocked with Turnout 5, for the simple reason that the distance between it and Turnout 5 is so short that for any meaningful shunting to take place, Turnout 5 would need to passed, and would therefore need to be set to straight. Regarding Signal 6 (and 2 for that matter), my interpretation of the rule was that it could be passed at danger for the purposes of shunting, so long as the shunting train did not leave the station limits - as per some sort of local practice. However looking at this again, a better practice would be to clear the signal, without having issued a tablet/token to the driver, thereby allowing a shunting move within station limits but not allowing entry into the single line block section (i.e. no further than signals 1 & 3). This would be quite easy to implement by changing the circuit so that signal 6 is no longer dependant on a straight setting of turnout 8. That assumes of course that signals can be cleared without issuing of tokens...

And finally Station Building based on Acocks Green and South Yardley on the former GWR main line from Paddington into Birmingham Card structure with Scalescenes Brickwork and Slates

Rescued from the same defunct layout: Booking Office based on the Benson Road entrance of Soho and Winson Green Station on the former GWR main line from Snow Hill to Wolverhampton. Card structure with Scalescenes Brickwork and Slates

And from a scenic point of view, the council have been round to finish the verge and paint some white lines on the road past the station...

For the lever frame I constructed a wooden box using an assortment of ready-made wooden trays 120mm x 120mm x 20mm, some 10mm x 10mm wooden strip and some 3mm and 5 mm plywood sheet which I obtained from a craft shop. The trays formed two ends between which a frame made up from the wooden strip was mounted with a sheet of 5mm Plywood forming the back. (The pilot holes for the screws used to secure the levers, control board and wiring harnesses were drilled before assembly.) The whole lot was painted and then the components mounted. Starting with the Cobalt Alpha Encoder Unit which is fitted to the underside of the two upper strips which will also hold the levers: Then the levers with their wiring harnesses pre-assembled, are mounted above the encoder, and the wiring harnesses secured to each side the lower strip (with those for the levers with even numbers above, and odd numbers below): Then they were connected as per the wiring diagram previously described (which turned out to be not as nice and neat as the diagram had led me to believe...): Number 12 Lever is spare so it has been used to switch the yard and building lighting on and off, hence it's harness on the extreme left is not connected to the encoder but to two connectors for the lighting circuit. Finally a second piece of 5mm ply was screwed to the front of the box and a piece of 3mm ply with a cut out for the levers to the top and it was hung on the side of the layout using two hinges, The gap on the right is deliberate, with levers 12 (spare) together with 4 and 7 (points locks) not being connect to the encoder, I have 3 spare slots in the encoder, so I have allowed for another 3 levers to be mounted should future extensions to the layout demand.

Note: the signal scheme has since been reworked and is re-described in a later post... In the current issues of both BRM and Model Rail two of the featured layout articles focus on those layouts signalling, in particular their lever frames. So in an attempt to be topical here is a description of the Lever Frame and Interlocking that I have devised for Achnabroad. According to the information at the excellent Callandar and Oban Railway Signalling Archive (http://www.oban-line.info/ba1.html ), the track layout is not dissimilar to that at Ballachulish , so I have used the signal box diagram & lever arrangement for that station as a basis for the signal controls for my layout. Here is the signal box diagram for the layout: Note that some of the diagram is not yet modelled - the Ground Signals 9 and 11 are still unmade kits and the Approach Signals 1 and 3 together with the Fixed Distant will be a feature when / if the layout gets extended. However they are included in the lever frame so that I can simulate the interlocking correctly. The interlocking is designed so that routes can only be set (i.e. points changed) if all the signals are on (set to danger), and the points are also interlocked with each other so that only plausible routes can be set. For example: Release Crossover 10 can only be set if both Turnouts 5 and 8 are set straight. Throat Turnout 5 can only be set if the release crossover 10 is set straight. Turnouts 8 to the sidings move together and can only be set if Throat Turnout 5 is straight (which means that Release Crossover 10 is also set straight) Turnouts 5 and 8 can only be set if their respective locking levers 4 and 7 are released. Signals can only be released when appropriate routes are set, and cannot be release in conflict with one another: Shunting Signal 11 can only be released if Throat Turnout 5 is set to straight and if Release Crossover 10 has been set to crossover (which means therefore that all other signals are on). Shunting Signal 9 can only be released if Throat Turnout 5 is set to straight and if Turnouts 8 have been set for the Sidings (which means therefore all other signals are on) Starting Signal 2 or Approach Signal 1 can only be released if Release Crossover 10 is straight, Throat Turnout 5 is set to Turnout and its Locking Lever 4 is locked. The two signals 1 and 2 are also mutually exclusive so that only one be off at a time. Starting Signal 6 or Approach Signal 3 can only be released if Release Crossover 10 is straight, Throat Turnout 5 is straight, Sidings Access 8 are straight and their respective Locking Levers 4 and 7 are locked. The two signals 3 and 6 are also mutually exclusive so that only one be off at a time. The levers are the DCC Concepts Cobalt Levers. Each lever contains 3 switches, a passing contact switch for the turnout / signal operation and two on-on (single pole double throw) switches which are used for the interlocking. They are wired up according to the following diagram, which shows two circuits, one for the signals and one for the points: The interlocking circuit for the points is represented by the circles with grey edges and the one for the signals represented by the circles with black edges. The fill colours depend on the associated levers purpose: - Red for Signal Levers, Black for Points and Blue for the Points Locks. If the correct combination of lever settings is set, the circuit through to the relevant passing contact switch is made and its lever can operate the required point or turnout. The passing contact switches are represented by the squares at the end of each circuit. Hope that all makes sense 🙂.

Rescued from a now defunct layout:- A fire station inspired by and based on elements of the Old Fire Station in Hockley, Birmingham. Structure built from card. Brickwork generated using the Beckenham and West Wickham Model Railway Club's Brick Generating Program (see Beckenham and West Wickham MRC (bwwmrc.co.uk)) - Brick colour taken from photograph of the original in Hockley. Stonework and Roof Slates from Scalescenes Crest created by mounting a photograph of the original on card and cutting round the edge with a scalpel. Fire Engine not scratchbuilt 🙂 but the Birmingham Fire Brigade Leyland TLM from Oxford.

The wagons have been painted using first a rattle can for priming both the bodies and chassis. The chassis were then painted black also using a rattle can, and the bodies were brush painted using Revell Acrylic 85 Brown for the sides and Revell Acrylic 374 Grey for the roofs. Patches of Revell Acrylic Gloss Varnish were applied to act as a base for the transfers. Once the transfers were applied, the vans were then treated to a coat of Revell Acrylic Matt Varnish, brush painted, to create a key for the weathering washes. As can be seen the brown is quite bright, (particularly if, as in the first picture, the lighting is wrong...) but as a base for weathering it will do: Once dry, the sides were then treated to a coat of Humbrol Enamel Dark Brown Wash and the roofs to a coat of Humbrol Enamel Black Wash, applied with a brush and then manipulated / wiped away with cotton swabs. They were left to dry overnight and then the whole van body was treated to a coat of Humbrol Enamel Dark Grey wash, again applied with a brush and then manipulated / wiped away with cotton swabs. They were left to dry overnight again and then the chassis was treated to a coat of Humbrol Enamel Sand Wash applied with a brush. This time however the wash was manipulated using a large dry brush in vertical strokes (relative to the van), which resulted in a patina of the sand wash being left on the lower part of the van sides. Finally the whole van was treated to a mix of AMMO Europe Earth and AMMO Track Rust weathering powders. Here they are together with their half-siblings that were made from the original kits...

Thanks! Although it was cold (0.5mm thick styrene sheet forms quite nicely cold I have found), it wasn't tight rolled around the screwdriver, but formed over it. As they say a picture paints a thousand words: Using a screwdriver with 7mm 1/4" ish diameter shaft and 0.5mm styrene sheet: I positioned the sheet with approximately 15mm on one-side of the screwdriver and pressed with my fingers and thumbs either side of the screwdriver shaft until I felt the styrene give: I then moved the sheet a bit further say 10mm over the screwdriver and pressed again and again and again until it had formed a curve: I found the radius of the curve to be a bit more convex than required for the roof profile but the masking tape to hold it in place over the wagon ends helped guarantee the form when it was glued to the wagon body. Hope this helps! Regards, Richard.

Riveting at the ends of the sides was applied using a toothed wheel (somewhat haphazardly alas - one of the runs has doubled up) and the vertical external frames applied using Evergreen Styrene T Profile: The roof was formed by rolling some 0.5mm sheet round the shaft of a screwdriver: ... and then attached to the body, together with styrene strip which was used to for the roof ends and diagonal framing. Load label boards were fitted using the additional ones that came with the sprues holding additional ends and doors, and the end vents were fabricated from styrene sheet and strip. The assembly was then treated so a rub down with wet and dry to prepare it for painting.

In order to secure the van body to the chassis M2 Nuts and bolts are used, for which 2mm diameter holes were drilled in both the chassis and the van body base using a pin vice. The position of the holes is determined by the centre bore of the Kadee coupling box, which will also be fixed by these nuts and bolts. The M2 nuts are encapsualted in a styrene sheet "sandwich" ... .... which is then mounted to the inside of the van base ... ... such that the couplings chassis and body can be bolted together:

Two of the Parkside Van kits, PC07A (12 ton Goods Van, Plank Sides) and PC08A (12 ton Goods Van, Plywood Sides) are supplied with two options of doors and buffer beams. Because the buffer beams are integrated ito the van ends, this means that at the end of the build, there are two spare ends and two extra door mouldings leftover from each kit: Throwing these “redundant” parts away would be absolute heresy, so I have used them to make some additional vans up, using two Dapol 10ft Chassis (WCHAA10) as a base. The Dapol Chassis also comes with buffer beams, so I decided to remove the buffer beams from the van ends using a sharp knife as this seemed easier: Then it was a matter of cutting some sides and bases from Evergreen 1mm Styrene Sheet and assemblig them to build up the van body:

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement, TT100! That's a good idea, I might give that a try ... Regards Richard

It is scratch built using 1.5mm dia styrene rod for the posts and 0.5mm thick styrene sheet for the board and base. Richard.

Hi Mark, thank you for the kind words! Regarding the signs, I started by purchasing the "Station Signs and Posters Set S06 (Scottish Region)" as a download from Scalescenes: https://scalescenes.com/product/r001a-station-signs-and-posterboards/ I used this for the posters and timetables etc. I was also going to use it for the station name boards and associated signs, but I found the blue that Scalescenes used in the download to be too light for my liking, so after a bit of a search I found this on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scottish_Region_of_British_Railways_totem_Redvers.png Using a sample of this blue (which is RGB Red 0, Green 140, Blue 233) and the Font "Trebuchet MS" (Bold setting) I then concocted my own signs in MS PowerPoint, which I then printed out and attached to the buildings and signposts. Hope this is of help! Richard.

Here they are in a train, waiting for the signal to leave Achnabroad, behind a pristine* D8123: (* Although for a first attempt I am happy with the wagons, I am still daunted by the idea of weathering something expensive like a locomotive!)

Followed by some wagons... BR Shock Absorbing Open Wagon (diagram 1/050) BR 13T Wooden Open Wagon (diagram 1/039) And finally a 7 Plank Open Wagon assembled from a Dapol Body and matching chassis:

I have been trying out rolling stock construction, painting and weathering using some of the Parkside range of kits. My guess was if I build some stock from kits, (re-)gauging it to EM should be straightforward. In fact the only bit of mofication was to pull each wheel on the supplied axles 1mm outwards, which using my wheel pulling / pressing tool was quite straigtforward. The wheels that come with these kits have quite narrow profiles so they are quite easy to adapt. Furthermore since they cost no more than £12 each, prospect of making a hash of the weathering was not quite as daunting as it would have been with an RTR model which these days are approaching three times that amount... First some Vans: (apologies for the "Ready-Brek" Glow - an unintentional result of the focus stacking :-() BR 12T Pallet Van (diagram 1/211) BR 12T Van Plywood Sides (diagram 1/213) BR 12T Van Plank SIdes (diagram 1/208)

Although quite how a N registered lorry managed to arrive here at the same time as the green diesels, I don't know...