East end of Slough Station - track plan

[Martino]

I’m about to launch into 4mm/00 modeling again after probably 55 years, having been doing 15mm in the garden for the past 15 years.  My plan is to do a section of the GW main line that I could see from the playing field and classrooms of my school during the early/mid ‘60s.  That would be the east end of Slough station. In fact you couldn’t see the station from the school just the main and relief lines plus the sidings etc.

Thing is, I can’t find a track plan of that piece of railway.   Can anyone point me in the right direction?  

 

It’s essentially the bit in this awful photo taken by my teenage self back in the day.

 

Many thanks in advance.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Martino
I don’t know my west from my east!

[Flying Pig]

Slough West (dated 1952) on the Signalling Record Society site, with links to adjacent boxes

 

https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/gwa/S40.htm

[Martino]

26 minutes ago, Flying Pig said:

Slough West (dated 1952) on the Signalling Record Society site, with links to adjacent boxes

 

https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/html/gwa/S40.htm

Thank you very much Simon.  Of course, as soon as I re-read my post I realized that I meant the EAST end of Slough station!  Your suggestion is very useful as it has the adjacent box’s diagrams.  Dolphin is helpful as is Slough Middle. Regrettably the S-R-S don’t have the box between them, Slough East, so it’s back to the drawing board.   Many thanks again.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Martino

[Nick Holliday]

Is this the right place? Unfortunately the 1934 edition is the latest on the NLS website.

[The Stationmaster]

11 hours ago, Martino said:

Thank you very much Simon.  Of course, as soon as I re-read my post I realized that I meant the EAST end of Slough station!  Your suggestion is very useful as it has the adjacent box’s diagrams.  Dolphin is helpful as is Slough Middle. Regrettably the S-R-S don’t have the box between them, Slough East, so it’s back to the drawing board.   Many thanks again.

They don't have the Sough East diagram - which might possibly be down to the fact that I've got the original although I don't know what happened the office copies 👀

 

Howevert the $64,000 question is what date do you have in mind.  The central section of Slough resignalling - covering the station - was commissioned on the weekend of 12-14 October 1963 - see below.  This involved hardly any alterations to the track layout at Slough East but subsequently there were other changes - the signle slip in the Up Main was a persistent source of problems with the detection sometimes dropping out when trains passed over it - that was solved in the latter half of the 1960s by doing away with it and leaving only Relief Line access to the Middle East Sidings.  Aldin's Siding , alongside the Down Main lasted much longer and was used for parcels traffic as the Parcels Office was at that end of the station building on the Down Main platform.  I have a couple of photos taken in 1963 before resignalling but they don't show everything at that end.  

 

The Down Loop from Dolphin had gone some time preciously but I don't know when.

 

[Martino]

Thank you very much Nick and Stationmaster. That’s perfect info in both cases.  Looking at a period between Sept ‘63 and around ‘66.  That’s corresponds with my early years at Licensed Victualler’s School (shown on the map) and before all Steam was gone, and everything was painted blue!

 

Once again, very many thanks.  

[Martino]

7 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

They don't have the Sough East diagram - which might possibly be down to the fact that I've got the original although I don't know what happened the office copies 👀

 

Howevert the $64,000 question is what date do you have in mind.  The central section of Slough resignalling - covering the station - was commissioned on the weekend of 12-14 October 1963 - see below.  This involved hardly any alterations to the track layout at Slough East but subsequently there were other changes - the signle slip in the Up Main was a persistent source of problems with the detection sometimes dropping out when trains passed over it - that was solved in the latter half of the 1960s by doing away with it and leaving only Relief Line access to the Middle East Sidings.  Aldin's Siding , alongside the Down Main lasted much longer and was used for parcels traffic as the Parcels Office was at that end of the station building on the Down Main platform.  I have a couple of photos taken in 1963 before resignalling but they don't show everything at that end.  

 

The Down Loop from Dolphin had gone some time preciously but I don't know when.

 

My memories are of DMUs being stabled in the east end sidings. There was inevitably a 61XX shunting parcels vans in the two sidings leading to the parcels bay.  Mostly Warships, Westerns, Hymeks and Brush 4s on the main line expresses, some slowing to call at Slough on the down main.  Blue pullmans of course.  Later in the 60’s Warships double heading on the Cornish Riviera and Royal Train movements. A steady stream of DMUs on the relief lines, the parcels railcar with steam hauled freights (Various GW locos, black 5s and 8Fs, plus 9Fs. , along with Hymeks.   One afternoon during a boring English lesson (the English room was in a corner of the building and had windows all around two sides) a big loco was parked on the parcels/down main sidings. I could only see the tender and the loco safety valves were lifting.  After school I wend down to the fence and it was a 9F.  I noted in my book that it was 92220, although I noted ‘looked black’.  I’d like to think I recorded it accurately but after nearly 60 years I somehow doubt it!

The Dolphin loop was gone during my time there.

Edited April 11, 2023 by Martino