NorthHighlander

Hi Forum... and CME and Bottlewasher in particular.. I'm sorry to hear that you have had difficulty in contacting us. Which email address have you been using? Try sales@protocab.com, please. I am always very pleased to hear from you on the telephone, details on our website. If you still have problems with contacting us, please come back ASAP. Our worry is that emails might be being diverted elsewhere and we would be none the wiser, despite all sorts of security routines. Best regards and hope to hear from you Tony Hagon Director Acc+Ess Limited

The two steam coal cranes at 75A were almost certainly Grafton 5ton jobbies. I am currently drawing them up on CAD to produce a pair for my Brighton MPD layout.

Help folks....! I have spent a couple of days installing stretcher bars (rectangular flexible bar type) on a double slip on the Penhafod Upper layout. By chance, I came across Mike Bryant's document at: https://www.scalefour.org/members/stores/info-sources/DN143OU.pdf which says that the GWR only employed loose heel switches on double slips ('compounds') and that all loose heel switches have round stretcher bars installed in the web of the rail. I have two choices: 1. find a photograph of a GWR double slip that has B or C switches (and would have been in place in the late 1950s) that proves the exception 2. remove the rectangular stretcher bars and the Ambis brackets and replace with round bars (and careful and tedious drilling of the rail webs) :< What should I do? Tony

Hello Mike.... Many thanks for this additional info... in fact, this assists the creation of the layout as an exhibition model. In reality, the fiddle yard has a 'bridge' between the traverser and the tunnel mouth which can be wired to emulate a treadle for a train standing at the outer home. As mentioned before, signal 1 actually exists and is the indication for a train in the fiddle yard to proceed up the branch (remembering that the signalmen and drivers are separate people on this layout!). The bridge is actually a cassette that enables a loco to be replaced from the other end of the train so the presence of the cassette can short the two aluminium angles to indicate in the signalbox. It will also be possible for visitors to see the train leaving the tunnel and approaching the inner homes so bringing the train almost to a halt before proceeding to the respective road. Justifies slow running, but the severe curve at the top of the gradient will require a maximum speed limit (I had planned to install a '10' board in both directions). I'm struggling a bit to understand why the route would have to be set for an unoccupied platform in order to bring a train up for the Goods Loops, why not the unoccupied respective Goods Loop? Also does this mean the signalman can't accept a train if both platforms are occupied? I like the idea of Special Instructions, after all, aren't we trying to provide as close fidelity to the prototype as we can?? Excellent stuff, many thanks again.. TH

Maybe it's me, but I think there is a disconnect between the very first post in this thread and the later images of the round stretcher bar passing through the web of the blade and stock rails, which has not, in my opinion, been clarified. The drawing from the GWSG book shows, not a flexible bar stretcher passing under the rails, but the round rod passing through them. The actual drive rod to the lever is attached to the tip of the switch blade and, I believe, attached to a detection bar on the ground signal?

I do! And it can be a right pain if you've already installed the switch as I had!

.....sorry, please ignore last request, I have found the thread on RMWeb! http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/122322-gwr-type-b-single-tongue-catch-point/

True to his word, Grovenor has checked my workings on the pulling sequence and locking table (and many errors found!) so here is the amended document with Keith's amendments, for which I am very grateful... (fun will start when the dog table is created!). Penhafod Pulling Sequence and locking table.pdf (at version 3.1.2) I finished off the trap point from the engine spur today, but I remember that because I was building the Brighton layout (now on ice because of a difficulty finding a suitable turntable and point motors) I had lent my copy of GWR Switch and Crossing Practices to a pal... can anyone point me at an image of the rodding arrangement for a single bladed trap, please? Regards Tony

I've just read my entry earlier today and one sentence stands out... "Thanks to the StationMaster, I would have got these completely wrong in my first version." I didn't of course mean that... what I meant to say was 'I got the colours completely wrong in my first version and thanks to the StationMaster for correcting me'. Sorry, StationMaster!!

Grovenor reminds me that I didn't take up his kind offer to review the locking now that the east end of the double slip is set normal to the engine spur. I have asked Keith if he would kindly review my corrections so I'll be interested to see if I got it right... here is the revised version (3.1.1): Penhafod Pulling Sequence and locking table.pdf

...sorry, uploaded the wrong version of the Pulling Sequence and Locking Table doc, here is the correct version, with acknowledgements to Keith for his help in creating the locking table. Penhafod Pulling Sequence and locking table.pdf

For completeness and to summarise the comments made in previous replies, here are the 'final' (bound to be some errors subsequently discovered!) signalbox diagram and pulling sequence and locking table documents. (document deleted, see below) If you are interested in how I drew the signalbox diagram, I used paint.net. I referred to an image of Worcester Goods found on the web from a Google search on GWR Signal Box Diagrams. This gives you a variety of drawing eras. I wanted an old drawing. Create a new drawing on paint. net, I used the default page size. Using the LINE tool, draw the track layout using a black line 2px wide (the default on my system). You can adjust the curve of each line by moving the points along the line. You COULD use the spline tool, but I find this to be too inflexible for my purposes. You can zoom the image in and out to fit the screen. When you have a rough layout to your satisfaction, click Add Layer. Name this layer something like 'Track layout'. At the top right hand corner of the screen there is an icon for Layers, select it to bring up the Layers window. Both the layers are shown and should be ticked. BUT, and this is important, click on the Track layout layer (or whatever you've called it) to make this the working layer, otherwise anything you do from now onwards will overwrite the rough layout you made. Work out which of the tracks are siding, running lines and goods only lines. Thanks to the StationMaster, I would have got these completely wrong in my first version. Start with the running lines, so using the colour picker tool, select a grey line that approximates to the grey on the (Worcester Goods) image. Now overdraw the visible track line for what would be the running line. I can't tell you how long to draw the line, that depends on your track layout, but typically a straight line attached to a curved line would be two lines, dragging the points on the second line to the required curve. It's easier to do that to explain, but for a curve you draw a straight line to the extents of the curve and then drag the inner points to the required curve. If you get it wrong you can UNDO the line (Edit-Undo). NOW, important, once you have got the line in the right position DON'T click Enter. With the points on the line highlighted, go to the menu bar and change the line width. I selected 20px. You now have the track shown as a respectably thick line (which would have been water coloured with a paint brush at Reading). When you've finished the running lines, click Enter and now change the colour to a light blue for the sidings (if you do this with the previous line still selected, that will change to blue - much swearing ensues). Continue until you're ready to do the goods lines, with the colour now a sort of watery orange. I haven't found a way of getting the various colour densities that resulted from the Reading designer over painting each line, only because life is too short! When you have finished the track layout toyour satisfaction, you can add the track boundaries, selecting not the black colour but, say, 60% black colour. CHANGE THE LINE WIDTH to 2px.... Now draw the edges of each track to the outside of the thick coloured lines. Points and crossings would continue the thin lines through the thick coloured lines. Now add a layer. Call is something line 'Signals' and again select the layer as the working layer. SInce it is likely that you will draw several signals, I draw them once and then select the drawing, copy and paste for as many similar signals as needed. If you have a bracket signal, say, just select the top part of the post and arm and copy that, adding the bracket to it accordingly. It is easier to switch off the other layers when you do the copy and paste and switch on the Track layout layer to select and move the signal to the required place. You can select the signal and there is a small curved line with two arrows which, if you move the mouse over it, enable you to rotate the selection as required. DON'T put the signal and point level numbers on this layer. Add another layer, call it e.g. 'Lever numbers' and, selecting it as the working layer with all other layers (except the very first default layer) visible, add the numbers for the signals. The default Windows fonts aren't suitable, and I found and downloaded a close enough font called 'Bryant'. I use 26pt for the signal numbers in red. I wanted an old drawing where the point numbers are shown over the heel of the point in a yellow, grey edged circle. I created a new layer for the point number circles and another layer for the point numbers themselves. The reason for having point and signal numbers on their own layers is for the inevitable changes you'll be making to the diagram as you get the expertise from the StationMaster and Grovenor and others... I place the station platform and other fixed items such as the signal box on the Track layout layer because they are unlikely to change. Remember to SAVE the document frequently and do backups of each version (either locally or on something like Dropbox which has its own version control). You'll save the document as a .pdn file for further editing, but if you SAVE AS and select .png or .jpg (I prefer the former), the layers will all be flattened to form a single document. You still have the .pdn file but DON'T flatten the layers in that file. That's it, really... any questions, just ask.. Tony Hagon

Thanks for the further update, SM..... one point to clarify: the layout is based on the late 1950s, before the great cull and after the introduction of DMUs to the Valleys. The confusion about '1978' is because that's when the layout was started! Re the questions about the colliery: no, there are no sighting difficulties or gradients, there is a straight and clear run from the sidings to Goods Loop South. However, there is a potential for shunting movements independent of the sidings. The NCB sidings are operated by NCB locos which have running powers within station limits. However, I agree that signal 7 is probably superfluous and can be replaced by a stop board. I assume that the authority to proceed in that case is given by the signalman? It is possible for a conflicting propelling movement from Goods Loop South to the NCB sidings at the same time that an NCB brings a train out of the colliery, but I would expect that, because the sidings are owned by the NCB, any such propelling movement would have to be authorised, as you said, by the NCB yard shunter. I shall investigate track circuit locking and whether, for modelling purposes, it would be more attractive to attempt locking bars on the double slips. Because all the trackwork is dumb and the train axles and wheelsets can be solid, we could have working track circuits. I'll update the track diagram and locking table before posting here for reference.... thanks again TH

..sorry, I'm having problems adding the files. I'll try again later..