clachnaharry

That spur behind the signal box could be extended to your gas works (or creamery). Have it coming off the run round loop and crossing the main line via a diamond, (and then you could shunt it whilst the passenger train occupies te platform) perhaps? It will fill the empty corner. I'm rather hoping that Mr Harlequin will produce something spendid!

A variation of Lambourne would fit that area and orientation very nicely - with different curvature.

The factory complex looks very interesting, but we now have a goods yard with very little road access to the sidings. Can the factory access line and the 2 goods sidings be curved a bit to allow this to be improved?

The shortening of the loop is mainly due to your moving the loco release crossovera long way back along the platform. What is your intention there?

Why have you shortened the run-round loop so much? It looks like it is now only a couple of coaches long.

I thought the 5 non towed array 23s were based there.

Portsmouth looked deserted yesterday. I could only see two Type 45s, one Type 23, one River and two Hunts. No RFA at all. I guess it means most of the navy is deployed.

I like the final variation of the original plan. The mill siding crossing the yard siding adds interest and looks authentic because it is the only way that the goods yard and mill access can be squeezed into that area, and most importantly there is no fouling of the passenger line with all the expensive signalling and trapping implications. On the new variation, the crossing looks contrived.

How is the passenger line protected from unauthorised movements across the crossing?

This arrangement looks unlikely to me. Crossing the passenger road means that traps and signalling in each direction would be required, They would just have accessed the mill from a siding straight off the main single line in the other direction to avoid all that faff.

I don't see the need for calling on arm 21. Calling on arm 22 makes sense for signalling trains down trains into the up loop to access the yard. Signal 20, however, has no function whatsoever as far as I can see. What is elevated disc 6 for?

Single track, no engine shed, no turntable looks like a BLT to me!

Does this mean that there are times when there are 2 trains on the branch then?

But why would that be necessary?

When travelling on the train from Slough to Windsor and Eton yesterday, I noticed that the track layout had been simplified since I last made that journey a few years ago. The East Loop line has been removed and main line connection now connects directly to the Bay Line. However, part of the East Loop has been retained as a single ended siding connected at the Slough end. This siding is obviously used regularly as the rails are shiny, but what is it actually used for? As far as I am aware, none of the other Thames Valley branch junctions have this feature.

True, but that would require the engine to run wrong road through the up main platform. Would that be a signalled move, or would the signalman authorise it with flags?

For this scenario, then the up branch train must have terminated in the Branch Bay (and now forms the down branch train). that then means that the northermost loop siding has to be kept clear of wagons and used as the Branch Bay run round loop. Is that really the intention?

I love the idea of a slip coach but I think I am missing something on the operation. I though that down branch trains could only enter the branch via the down main platform road. How does that work if the slip coach is occupying the line?

I think that looks very good. The only thing that still jars a little with me is the double slip on the main line. What is the facing connection actually for? It makes sense as a single slip providing a trailing crossover, but the facing connection seems to increase complexity without providing anything particularly useful.

Without wishing to stray into politices. I really would like to see an example of our probable future prime ministers modelling skills...

I think the sheer amount of infrastructure required - two points, a facing point lock, diamond crossing and all the associated signalling would make that arrangement unlikely, unless the dock was very heavily used. It would be much cheaper to shunt the dock via the goods shed (using other wagons as reach wagons if engines are not permitted to enter), pinch bar, or good old Dobbin. I think the branch pick up siding greatly adds to the operational interest. As wall as its intended function, it is a great place to drop off a wagon with the coal supply for the signalman. (Was that a feature on GW lines?)

I'm not really keen on this particular plan. The junction and branch greatly increase the track complexity and seem to be forcing compromises without really adding any operational interest. There are no facilities for wagon exchange or run round, so the branch trains can only pass through the station. On that basis, the junction may as well be off stage further up the line. I preferred your earlier plan based on Hungerford which had facilities for recessing trains etc.

I think that works pretty well. The track layout is a mirror image of Wallingford. You would need traps between the top siding and loop points and at the platform end of loop, but otherwise, I would say that's good to go.

There are a few instances where a line continued beyond the passenger terminus as a freight only extension. The line to Laxley mill on the Mid Suffolk light railway springs to mind.as does Stourbridge goods, the Peterhead harbour branch and even a surviving example in Coombe Junction/Moorswater.

There was a daily vacuum braked freight to Obain in 1980. I spent a few days camping on the loch at the opposite side to the hotel, and I saw it run every day. Sometimes a mix of MCVs and vans, sometimes mainly oil tanks, The return working was sometime after midnight, so I heard, but never saw it.