Modern branch line rail type.

[TravisM]

I’m creating a modern branch line micro layout kind of based on Marlow, which will double as a test track and programming track.  I’m thinking of using Peco’s bullhead rail on the layout as something different, but is it still used in the real world?

[Mike_Walker]

The entire Marlow branch was relaid in November 2020 and is now flat bottom CWR on concrete sleepers throughout.

 

Means I can't hear the Donkey from the house anymore especially as they've also upgraded most of the foot crossings and removed the Whistle boards too!

[TravisM]

8 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

The entire Marlow branch was relaid in November 2020 and is now flat bottom CWR on concrete sleepers throughout.

 

Means I can't hear the Donkey from the house anymore especially as they've also upgraded most of the foot crossings and removed the Whistle boards too!

As I model between 2018 and 2019, it will fit in just nicely .  As your local to the station, can I ask, is the platform length two cars or will a three car set squeeze in?

[steve1]

Will you be including our old clubhouse in the layout? 

 

steve

[iands]

2 hours ago, jools1959 said:

As I model between 2018 and 2019, it will fit in just nicely .  As your local to the station, can I ask, is the platform length two cars or will a three car set squeeze in?

Hi @jools1959,

The 2019 Sectional Appendix quotes the platform length at Marlow as 54 metres, or 59 yards if you prefer.

Hope this helps.

[Mike_Walker]

3 hours ago, jools1959 said:

As I model between 2018 and 2019, it will fit in just nicely .  As your local to the station, can I ask, is the platform length two cars or will a three car set squeeze in?

In that case it was still bullhead but I'm not sure if it was on wood or concrete sleepers.  We used to have quite a bit of bullhead on concrete on the branch some of it had even been welded into quite long lengths.

 

Only 2 car Class 165s are permitted to work to Marlow.  The limiting factor is the space between the BE2A points and stop block at Bourne End.  As mentioned above, the "operational length" as specified in the Sectional Appendix is 54m but the actual platform is longer.  Scaling off Google Earth it's around 66m between the tops of the ramps.  The operational length takes into account things like stopping a safe distance from the stop block - drivers are not expected to kiss them (with their trains, not literally ) plus, as at Marlow, the position of the DOO mirrors and is always less than actual length.  Apart from 165s the only other type that has visited Marlow this century is Network Rail's 950001.  Now there's a challenge for you, but it only comes out to play at night!  

 

Incidentally, in my last post I gave the impression the branch was laid on concrete sleepers through out, whilst these are used within Marlow station and under the various crossings, pressed steel sleepers are used on the plain line sections.  Speaking at the time to the chap in charge of the relaying, he explained concrete was used where trains were braking/accelerating as they are more stable, likewise if used under crossings they require less subsequent maintenance and disturbance of the crossing.  He also said some of the rail they took out dated back to the 1930's but that was probably second hand as there was quite a bit of relaying done in the 1950's.

[Trog]

22 minutes ago, Mike_Walker said:

Incidentally, in my last post I gave the impression the branch was laid on concrete sleepers through out, whilst these are used within Marlow station and under the various crossings, pressed steel sleepers are used on the plain line sections.  Speaking at the time to the chap in charge of the relaying, he explained concrete was used where trains were braking/accelerating as they are more stable, likewise if used under crossings they require less subsequent maintenance and disturbance of the crossing.  He also said some of the rail they took out dated back to the 1930's but that was probably second hand as there was quite a bit of relaying done in the 1950's.

 

Fitting steel sleepers when relaying ordinary plain line track on branch lines is a cost saving measure, as while steel sleepers cost more than concrete. The fact that they are hollow and sit on top of the ballast means that if the existing worn out track is sitting on half way decent ballast, the  existing ballast can be scarified to break up the beds, dozed level and the new steel track laid on top of it. Thus reusing the old crib ballast which is generally in a better condition than the deeper ballast as the top layer of what is now the ballast bed. This saves the cost and time input of a full reballast allowing more to be done in a given amount of time  giving a double cost saving in that you are doing less work and so spending less on trains and materials while still  getting more track relaid per shift for that effort. This more than pays for the extra cost of the steel sleepers over concrete, there is a slight downside in the height of summer, in that the steel track is a little less resistant to heat stress so your hot weather precautions kick in a few degrees lower than the would for concrete. But this temperature will probably still be higher than the ratty old bullhead that got taken out, so a not a great problem.

 

I would suspect that concrete sleepers were used in the stations as the ballast may have been in a worse condition there and that there may also have been concerns about the spades on the ends of the steel sleepers hitting the platform footings.  There has also been a tendency in recent years to use shallow depth concrete sleepers in platforms so as to avoid having to dig as deep, out of a fear of under mining the platforms even where the previous track was full depth concrete showing that BR had managed to do it successfully.

 

Some of the modular level crossing systems are also shaped to fit particular types of concrete sleeper, so that would be one reason why the sleepers change to concrete at the crossings. Also steel sleepers cost more than concrete so if you are going to reballast fully to remove detritus from under the crossing surface, and install the cill beams that edge the crossings concrete is cheaper option. With public roads there is also the matter of road salt, this is a big problem as in the damp under a crossing surface corrosion runs rampant. Both paints and aluminium coatings have been applied to rails in recent years but the protection offered appears to be limited. I have seen flatbottom rails with most of the rail foot gone in just a few years. Using steel sleepers under such a crossing would just be adding another such problem, which can be avoided by using concrete sleepers with sheradised rail clips instead.

[Mike_Walker]

Here are a few views of the relaying.

 

 

At Vineyards Crossing, Little Marlow.  As noted above, laid on the old base awaiting new ballast.

 

 

Which is now being tamped into position.

 

 

The finished job with 165123 at Spade Oak on reopening day 30 November.  Note the "01" route number which reflects that the Marlow  Branch is the most important part of the present GWR network.  A local joke, Mark Hopwood is a Marlovian by upbringing!

 

Incidentally, you can add Freightliner 66s with autoballasters to the list they got as far as Marlow during this work after some complex shunting at Bourne End.

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by Mike_Walker

[Mike_Walker]

Just had a dig through the archives of the Marlow & District Railway Society (I'm newsletter editor) and dug out the following which might interest some.

 

 

Marlow station where much progress had been made with the new track laid and the initial ballasting completed. Note the single panel of brand-new chaired bullhead leading up to the stop blocks.

 

 

 

Fresh ballast being dropped near Fieldhouse Lane Crossing, Marlow on Sunday 22 November 2020. This was brought in on five JJA Autoballaster hoppers which were top-and-tailed by a pair of Freightliner Class 66s, 66507 facing Bourne End and 66520, Marlow. 

 

 

Having finished ballasting there was the small matter of getting the train off the branch – it was far too long to fit in platform 1. One of our members, Peter Robins, went down to Bourne End station at midnight on Sunday to record the shunt. First, the train was divided outside the station on the Marlow branch after which 66507 brought the first three hoppers into the station.

 

 

Even with this shortened train, 66507 had to go right up to almost “kiss” the top blocks at the end of the platform which left the wheels of the last Autoballaster about 6” clear of the point blades. Peter reported the process was closely monitored by Freightliner staff.

 

 

66507 then propelled its three Autoballasters out towards the river bridge before returning into platform 2. Peter had planned a shot for 66507 coming into the Up platform from under the canopy which was well lit but for some reason the driver stopped short as per the shots. What a surprise, he had to move it forward again when the rest of the train came.

 

 

66520 was then able to propel the remaining two Autoballasters into platform 1 before making the same shunt across to platform 2 where the two halves were recoupled ready to make the slow return to Maidenhead – there is a 10mph speed restriction on locomotive-hauled trains over the whole branch.

Of course, this procedure had also been done in reverse when the train arrived early on Sunday.

Edited April 4, 2022 by Mike_Walker

[Trog]

The bullhead panel is sensible as that means that you can weld the joint where the flat bottom and bullhead rails meet. (A closer view will probably show that the first two sleepers under the flat bottom rail are also hardwoods as you should not change the sleeper type within two sleepers of a rail joint.) So avoiding the risk of some poor having to find a pair of new flat bottom to worn bullhead lift and junction fishplates at 3am on a rainy February morning when the things decide to break. The plates between the buffer and the new bullhead panel can then just be a worn to new set with the appropriate step for the difference in rail head wear. Which being less exotic would be easier to find in a hurry, and being that near to the buffer a straight pair would do short term in an emergency as they should not often get run on. Especially as the most likely reason for that set to get broken is a train hitting the stops, and a driver who has just been taking the pee out a a colleague, for hitting the stops is likely to be on the alert not to fall into the same error.

 

Not sure why they have installed the adjustment switch though as it will do nothing that the rails just ending at the buffer would not do anyway. Just seems to be an expensive maintenance liability to my mind.

[Compound2632]

21 hours ago, Mike_Walker said:

Note the single panel of brand-new chaired bullhead leading up to the stop blocks.

 

Genuinely brand new as in, there's someone out there casting new chairs?

[Fat Controller]

39 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Genuinely brand new as in, there's someone out there casting new chairs?

'British Steel' Scunthorpe rolls it for LU, and possibly NR

[The Stationmaster]

42 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

Genuinely brand new as in, there's someone out there casting new chairs?

Definitely new looking chairs about - i.e. 'new' as in not previously used and looking like recent castings.  We have hada considerable amount of spot re-sleepering at out local terminus but apart from an adjacent section relaid with steel sleepers some years back the section in the platform and immediately approaching it is still the bullhead rail laid in years ago and now with a mixture of GWR and modern chairs.

 

I don't know what has happened to the mile or so long stretch of concrete sleepers with bullhead rail that was o laid back in the mid 1950s but I know that some spot re-sleepering has taken place near one end of it.  The bay platform at the other end of the branch has recently been relaid with flat bottom rail on new sleepers.

[Trog]

I think that the S1/ AS1 type of chairs reach their 100th anniversary next year certainly I think that 1923 is the oldest date I have seen on them.