trapoint

I was a little bit disappointed that Hornby chose not to release a new version of one their TT locomotives from the sixties as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations this year . Of course there are many good reasons why they did not but a new retooled version of a Britannia or class 31 would have been nice with fine scale wheels . What do you think ? .

Has any one used the Tillig bedded track it looks chunky I also would like to find a track that will take Tri-ang stock. Do kato make HOm track ?

The semaphores were due to go a couple of weeks ago but most of the project has been delayed by almost a year as you will soon read in the railway press . Reedham junction signal box recently closed and the line to Yarmouth via Berney Arms will stayed closed until next year ! Some work has been done at Brundall but the big one at Lowestoft that will see the demise of all the steam age track layout and semaphores will have to wait until the winter.

Oh well looks like I will have to cannibalize the remainder from my American "S" scale layout that I am unlikely to sell. However I will look around Alley pally show this Sunday but not hopeful.

Further to the above I have now found two caboose industries point throws that I purchased many years ago from Victors . They work well but I will need more having looked on their website they make one with a adapter for Peco points . Where can I buy them in the UK ?

That was very interesting to read . All we need now is more photos. I feel sure lots more pictures were taken of goods trains on the underground but they have yet to surface they may be in private collections and the owners just forget they have them. Also it was not just the use of Distant signal discs that made the signalling interesting. But in some places the operation of points and signals in conjunction with goods trains could be complex. For most locations a ground frame would be Ok but with more complex track layouts sometimes more was needed. On the central a brand new signal box was built for the task at South Woodford and they extended the one at Leyton each had Two lever frames a full sized one for points and shunt signals used by BR goods trains and a miniature Westinghouse frame for colour light signals and power operated points used by the underground. I am not sure if Two signalmen were needed ? On the ground as far as goods trains were concerned point locks were required not just on facing points but trailing as well and maybe in the goods yard if the points were worked from the box and far greater use was made of trap points as well one for each siding. Mixing the two signalling systems was not always easy.

I am both a member of both Bishops Stortford railway society ( where I used to store the layout ) and Harlow model railway club both of which are not suitable for the task . Joining a third club would not be a good idea and I live a fair distance from Chelmsford anyway. Although I have no doubt both them and Mid- Essex club could do a very fine job of restoring the layout. As for the work involved - Baseboards and fiddle yards will need some attention, Track will need renewing the hand made stuff on there is now showing its age the new peco bullhead track will do fine and of course rewiring. Buildings and structures have been knocked or broken here and there over the years ( More so recently ! ) so repairing or replacing these is a must. And the scenery needs sprucing up and some big elm trees are needed ! Although the layout is safe for now possession is nine tenths of the law as they say and I really would like to store it somewhere else before things get complicated in that area even if the restoration is done elsewhere.

No that one was a special very compact version built by a local chap for his own use at home and was not intended for exhibition use. I went to that same show that day as well and I remember him declining invites to shows. This made me realise that I could have a winner on my hands except his was about 5x1 in feet mine is 20x3 and if the Ongar bit is ever found another 8 feet ! Also at that Shenfield show was a layout of Wooton station on the Brill branch I thought that was very good but not seen that around recently.

I was member of Ongar & District MRC during the last 12 years of its life . During the seventies the club built a 00 fine scale layout of both Blake Hall and Ongar stations set in GER days. By todays standards it looks crude but was fine in its day can any one remember seeing it ? By the time I joined in the early nineties the Ongar half of the layout the had been donated to some charity maybe ORPS ? Can anyone tell me if it still survives or know where it might have gone? As for the Blake hall section that went to few shows on its own before it was retired in the late nineties. When the club disbanded in 2001 ( A sad loss ) I became the owner of the layout I stored it for a number of years then in 2013 I I gave it a make over and converted it to a LT layout not that hard really and took it to Chelmsford exhibition the following year where there was a lot of interest shown by the public. Before I can take it on the road it needs a major overhaul and so It will need somewhere to be worked upon by a team of skilled modellers with a combined interest in LNER/ LT it will also need funding. So if anybody out there can help with either of the above please write in,

With the re -signalling of the Gilberdyke area now completed attention by us is likely to focus on the lines to Yarmouth & Lowestoft in East Anglia. The new signalling is due to be brought in to use at the end of March ( Unless it is delayed ! ) . Work starts very soon on track remodelling at Lowestoft and Brundall as well as finishing the work at Reedham junction . The new signalling will be somewhat basic with more Two aspect signals then three . Five Level crossings will be provided with barriers and CCTV and another at Oulton Broad north with CCTV. Several others will be provided with Miniature Stop Lamps. I went up there last October to take a few photos thinking I might well go back this March but I may not now so I hope those of you who live local will take plenty of photos and post them on here both of the old and new stuff.

Last Saturday I picked up a second hand copy of volume 3 of R H Clarkes selected great western stations for £12 50 . It seems Mr Clarke died while writing the third volume And Mr potts had to finish it off . I am now on the lookout for volume 4. As an aside as far as I am aware no books on LNER track plans were ever printed which is a great pity. But I do own a book on track plans of the stour valley line between Marks Tey and Shelford. There was also a second book covering other GER branch lines in that sort of area but I have never seen one of them on a second hand stall yet ! .

It is great to talk about TT scale and continental modelling . What I would like to know is there a society somewhere perhaps across the channel for us TT (2.5mm ) modellers ? Rather like the British 3mm society.

I recently purchased a original Tri-ang Hornby R758 green Hymek of 1967 vintage from a toy fair boxed. Although it is in fair condition for its age something looked odd about it . I thought they were all green but it turns out according to Pat Hammond in his book they did have a yellow panel which was stuck on the front with two white dots for lamps. They are absent on this loco . What can I do ? Are replacements available or will I have to pay somebody to paint it instead like the original.

In the seventies Wrenn once made universal metal point levers which were held down by two shrews . I would like to know if there are any companies out there that make something like them today in that style ? I could use the ones made by caboose industries but these are made of plastic so not very robust are there any others ?

If my memory serves me right these signals were made in America then shipped here. Having two heads one above the other is very common in the US and fixing them to the side of the post is also common out there this meant the signal was permissive or if the heads were in line with post it was a interlocked signal ( controlled over here ). I am not sure why the LNER wanted this type between Gidea park and Shenfield as the ones out to Chelmsford and Southend Victoria were a different design.

Just what I needed something to relieve the boredom over xmas. This is a real challenge but it could be done but it might not be found on the prototype . You do not say what gauge you are working in but it looks like "00" If it was "N" it would be easy. If I was building this layout I also would think about putting signals on it as well. So lets see ? The stand alone siding on the left could be used for work mans trains if a narrow platform was provided in which case a R/G starter signal would be needed and a R/Y home signal could be squeezed in If the layout was a foot longer. Position light shunt signals could be used at the exit from all three sidings the trick here would be to build a dummy road over bridge covering the buffer stops then nobody would know what the track layout was like on the other side . Sometimes in real life one shunt signal is put in the middle of the fork of the two tracks in this case the person in charge of shunting gives the right of way to the train which is to leave first when the signal clears. As for movements from the fiddle yard into the three sidings a fixed red signal could be used with a shunt signal underneath the main aspect just before the points I have seen this kind of signal in real life . I hope this is of use to you if I come up with other ideas I will let you know.

Where would we be without flickr! These photos show most of what you need to know . The signal gantry would not be hard to make notice it once spanned the run round loop as well that was provided with third rail along with a few others in the goods yard ( Now the car park ) a photo of which can be found on another site. The Bachmann box looks fine for the job. The goods yard appears to have closed circa 1968 and the run round loop a bit later.

I have had no luck finding a photo of the signal box so far but one may well turn up either of the original or the 1959/60 replacement talking of which this closed 42 years yesterday ! The plate layers hut might be the box but unlikely. However it might have looked something like one being of a late design and brick built.

Yes you are right . I was however just trying to keep things as simple as possible so that readers could understand the way it worked in laymans terms. It did cross my mind what would happen if a train was already parked in platform two I was not sure if the calling-on signal would work without the signalman being present but as you say it could ! During the peak hours the signal cabin was manned and use was made of platform one so there was plenty of lever pulling not to mention when the goods train arrived ! There was nothing high-tech about it though the technology had been around for some time indeed Bank station on the waterloo& city line could work like this and Watford junction bay platforms were later worked like this after 1967 to name just two. After the goods yard and run round loop had been removed at Bromley North I am not sure how often the signal cabin was manned it was still there in the mid seventies even after London bridge power box controlled the rest of the line but it later closed for good and London bridge then worked the station and very likely with auto working built in as well.

I have followed this story with some interest. I must say that Bromley North was not signalled the same way as most other termini might be. The reason why signal 22 and Sundridge park down starter were plated as semi- automatic is because when the line was re-signalled in 1962 a feature was built into the system there so that during parts of the day the signal cabin there could switch out ( Close). So unless two passenger trains were at the terminus together or a goods train was shunting the goods yard it remained closed. The two signals concerned and points 11 & 18 (Which had electric motors) were automatic. And so during most of the day all passenger trains used platform two point 9 was left set for that route before the signalman closed the box. A train would go past Sundridge park starter which had been showing green and would go back to red as it was passed and would stay that way until the train had departed from the terminus completely. The train would enter the platform and activate the track circuits and a time out would start then points 11 and 18 would change buy themselves and set a route to the up line and then signal 22 would clear. After the train had gone the points and signals would reset themselves ready for the next one. So unless you want to copy this system you do not need semi-automatic plates on your signals.

I have done this myself. However if you planning to use fine scale track then SMP make a cheap plastic sleeper point kit . I seem to recall the assembly instructions explaining how two make a catch point . This could be used with the new Peco bull head track. Another thing to remember is that the single bladed version was favoured by some companies / regions while others used the double bladed type . The Peco catch points are very likely based on a southern railway design and may be the wrong type for your layout ( If this kind of thing bothers you ! ) Do not forget to add point roding or a dummy electric point motor if it is a trap point or Slotted joint.

The searchlight signals at Hanwell were still there in May 1974 along with those at Acton and might have survived into the Eighties they were just re-controlled from Old oak common and given new numbers with an "OO" prefix. I do not know the date of their actual demise but were very likely to have been replaced before Slough New IECC took over the area. They look a bit like Westinghouse signal heads but the feathers route indicators look like something out of Reading but I could be wrong.

Interesting video pity its a bit short but it shows briefly the searchlight signals in that area . Yes you are right it was done in stages the first in 1953 followed nearly two years later with a extension in 1955 not sure why they chose searchlight signals for that stretch of line perhaps the signal engineer for that project may have had something to do with earlier ones at Paddington ? The LNER had a lot of them in North east London before the war and after war the ER put a whole lot more in I know the southern did have a few in South London not sure where or how many?

My mistake I really should have said Cardiff which was completed in January 1934 together with Paddington and Bristol were these were really the only colour light schemes of any size completed before WW2 and indeed for some years after the war on the WR but as these were all on busy main lines and we need not consider them any further. From 1960 onwards the WR which had lagged behind for some years suddenly were in the fore front with several new colour light schemes under way as the stationmaster correctly says most of the early signals were built " In House " at Reading . The ones shown in the photos might be a bit tricky to copy because they were very compact or flat behind the bulbs but on the model these can be very large to house the LEDS. The design and appearance of colour light signals changed over the years even on the WR with different types of post , The top of the signal above the top aspect could be flat or half moon shaped , the hoods above the lenses can vary in length as well not to mention the position of the white diamonds & Automatic plates. All I can say is choose a signal design you have seen from photos ( Both front and back ) which is not to hard to copy or change also shop around for other makes of model colour light signals.

It would be fair to say that those signals used around Paddington, Bristol, Newport ( south Wales ) installed in the 1930s were unique to the great western railway in those areas . Re-signalling on the WR with colour light signals did not really start big time until the 1960s anyway. Those mentioned above were amongst the first to go being non standard and like the southern the WR did not make use of searchlight signal heads either on other parts of the system. Early WR signals looked something like the "Eckon " model signals but without that curious stepped or forward facing bracket the heads sit upon the only place I have seen that kind of signal is at Bow junction in East London and is not typical of the ER either. And so the best place to start would be a " eckon or Berko signal and then gather together as many photos of WR signals from the sixties as you can and start kit bashing !