Regularity

One of the forgotten aspects of the revolutionary impact of rock and roll in the 50s, was that people stopped wearing hats - apart from anything else, a hat would destroy a carefully coiffured quiff.

Usually Up to junction, and Down back home. On cross country routes, there is less clarity. In theory, up could be towards the (most) major station, but unless it was a terminus, that could result in trains from opposite directions both being described as up! I am sure a decision would have been made to choose one over the other.

It depends on a lot of things, as you say. In theory, the simple fact that the points have been thrown is a pretty clear indication as to what is going on, and the interlocking - including of and by block instruments - will prevent any adverse movements. But signals, probably ground signals based on GE and M&GN practice - would prevent the points being thrown during a movement.If there is an outer home to protect the station, there might not even be a ground disc for entry into the yard, the home signal serving to indicate a clear indication and lock the points, but I think that would be unlikely. On the LSWR, the usually used pull-push levers for the paired ground signals. They stood in the middle of the quadrant when normal, and you pulled for one direction and pushed for the other. Economical, a simple way to prevent both being pulled at once, but it must have added a little complication to the interlocking at times.

If your layout was set 30 years earlier, scotch blocks would have been more likely, but operationally they are a pain as there would be a padlock kept in the charge of the signalman, which means trips back and forth, whereas the single (or double, or full turnout) can be operated from the same lever in the frame as that which operates the turnout fo access to the siding(s). The sky here is a not unattractive sepia shade. As I had dozed off, it was a bit of a surprise when I awoke!

Notice that the stop is arranged such that wagons rolling against it will force it closed, and not open. Some countries and possibly companies had arrangements where the block flipped over, with a pivot parallel to and outside the rail.

Also, looking at the Cromer photo, notice that real track was not always smooth - a few kinks in the platform road - and the number of closely-spaced chair supporting the crossing vee, suggesting interlaced sleepers here rather than the more typical GER use of full timbering under the crossing. Edit: might not be. It could be a large bolt passing through the knuckles, and the spacing block between them, keeping everything correctly spaced. These sorts of picture are an absolute goldmine of information about track and signalling.

The picture of Cromer is what you should use as the basis for your location. Interesting in that there is a single blade, and a check rail on the other side - a bit like the Peco version. Friction in the back-to-back department would prevent runaway rolling stock from actually leaving the rails, but not sure about an engine under power - that would possibly rise up and derail. As for Marks Tey, I am not sure what is there exactly, but I do no think it to be a trap point, as the turnout (no 53 crossover with no 54 FPL) leading into the down passenger loop will do very nicely there. This is supported by the signalling diagram available: https://www.signalbox.org/diagrams.php?id=1028 As you say, the purpose of the trap points is to derail something running away so that it does not foul the path of a running line, and these are used where there is not an operational need for a crossover to a headshunt, etc. A sand trap would be used where speeds might be higher, to reduce the momentum and hence impact on the stop blocks. (Not buffer stops, I have been told by railwaymen!)

Quite common all over. As well as being capable of operation as a single unit, it makes maximum use of available space: it’s not just modellers who like to do this! Incidentally, it is this sort of thing which makes making your own track such a good thing. Don: Started making my own track when 15, completely abandoned Peco when 16.

It’ Not just predictive text that causes problems with the forum software for iPads, you know...

Limited edition hand made live steam: Scale is listed as 1:11.3, so I presume this is 5” gauge?

Easy way to come away with empty pockets: go with empty pockets! Thanks for the reports.

Technically that’s not filing, but grinding. Oops. Sorry. Wrong thread... Technically that’s not filing, but grinding. Oops. Sorry. Wrong thread...

If it inspires you, then why not? I always return to a late 70s “coffee table” book, the “Encyclopaedia of Model Railways”. Mine is under the imprint of Marks and Spencer’s, but I think it was available without “The St. Michael...” prefix to the title. This had input from, inter alia, CJF and David Jenkinson, but has some lovely exploded diagrams showing one how to go about building things. General editor was Terry Allen, and copies are available cheaply on-line. Plus, it introduced me to Robert Hegge’s wonderful 1:48 interurbans, but that is for a different part of the forum...

I get that all of the Tim...

Well, if your first attempt is the traps, you can see how you on with fixing point blades, and not gave to worry about crossing vees! Joking aside, I commend the advice of Ian Futers in the mid 70s (I think for “Saughtree”) which is to basically accept that the first half dozen might be rubbish and throw them away. (You can unsolder the rails and re-use most of it, so only the point blades and/or crossing vees will be trashed: cost of throwing away 6 turnouts is about two one-yard lengths of rail, plus some time.) When filing blades and vees, it is easier if you have some form of clamp to hold the rail down firmly, but apart from some scrap wood for this purposes, you only really need a first-cut flat hand file (6” should do - fnarr, fnarr!) for most of the work and a flat needle file to finish off. But you do want to get the end of a blade to a knife edge, if possible. One late friend used to prod the end of his fingers with the blade tip, and if he didn’t draw blood, it wasn’t sharp enough! (Extreme Railway Modelling!) When filing, if you can clamp one end of the rail and file along, rather than across, the rail (laid on its side), then you will get a smoother and straighter outcome. Also worth cutting a groove into your scrap wood piece with a hack saw, so that you you file the head only on the inside of the blade, and then flip the rail over to put the foot of the inside face into the groove, and then can file the outside face which mates with the adjacent stock rail flat with no difficulty.

I agree with your reasoning, but did you mean “character” and not “caricature”?

If it helps, when facing this conundrum, Trevor Nunn of “East Lynn and Nunnstanton” fame has working traps, but non-working ground signals, on the simple basis that you really can see the former, but not the latter. If it’s good enough for him, then I reckon it’s good guidance for us lesser mortals!

Is that some form of notching up in an obscure form of valve gear?

Wasn’t Micro-trains originally the N-gauge part of Kadee?

Might be the photography or the lighting, but I suspect it is a bit on the bright side.

Real Railways have them, often operated as a pair, like a crossover, so forgetting should not be an issue. Why add them? Because it adds to the verisimilitude of operation. I’ve said it before, and no doubt will say it again, but I find a 00 layout using Peco track and points, including catch and trap points, correctly signalled and operated to be more authentic than a P4 layout which has all that except for the catch point, or a catch point which doesn’t work. There is always a cutoff point with detailing, standards, etc, but when it is possible to get closer to the prototype with little effort, then why not?

Why dummy? Why not working?

I was not being serious: Argos got the point, as it turned out...

The top “dressing” was probably not ballast, per se, but a thin layer of much finer stones or even shingle to protect the wood. I think this has been covered already, but it is worth reiterating as modelling it may turn out to be simple. Ballast “normally” to the sleeper tops, but don’t worry particularly about the size/colour of the stones: any cheap, fairly coarse ballast will do. When this is nicely set, and all the detail painting, etc, is done, apply the top coat using something carefully selected for size, shape and colour. Could be fine granite, aquarium sand, or cinders/ash. Worth splashing out on the best materials for this!

And this is a problem because...?