Mike_Walker

I feel you are possibly mis-understanding the purpose of this list which is primarily to act as an index to the photos on this excellent thread whereas the SRS list is a record of surviving signal boxes. The references are purely for information and allowing the tracking of "wandering" 'Boxes.

In production already apparently.

4585 with the 3.28pm Wadebridge to Bodmin Road leaving Boscarne Junction passing 30585 with the freight from Wenford in August 1954. 30193 (which will become 30236 in due course) takes the SR line at Boscarne Junction with a Padstow to Bodmin North train.

I wouldn't place too much reliance on what the RMT says. It is notoriously militant and appears to live on a different planet for much of the time. The view taken by some of the most senior management in the industry that I know well is that it is simply too soon to know what the railways and patronage will look like post-Covid. The general view is that it would not be wise to rush into major changes at this stage but to wait and see how things work out. On the other hand, the Treasury is growing increasingly uneasy at the sums of money currently being spent on the railways and may as a result bring pressure on the DfT to impose cuts which we might all come to regret in future.

July 1962 and D6325 slows for the token exchange at Boscarne Junction with a Wadebridge to Bodmin Road train. The "community" of Boscarne Junction.

Wales already has!

Which of course we had, briefly, in the form of the Strategic Rail Authority. Unfortunately it made too many good decisions - like the 20-year franchise award to Chiltern - so it had to go.

In the post-Covid world the English rail system will be run on concessions rather than franchises. There will be no "risk" to the operators as in future the government will take all the revenue and reimburse the operators for their expenses plus an agreed profit margin. This largely follows the model currently in place for London Overground where TfL contracts with Arriva Rail London as the operator. The same applies with Crossrail and MTR Elizabeth Line. The difference is that in both cases TfL specifies the service it wants and agrees the the terms then allows the operator to get on with it - there are heavy penalties for non-compliance; not just late or cancelled trains but also for things such as cleanliness and uncleared graffiti. The fear is that in the case of the national network the mandarins at the DfT will not be prepared to take a similar arm's length approach but will micro-manage the operators even more than they do currently. Remember, we have a privatised rail system in name only. The actual operations may be by private companies but even under the franchises the level of service and most aspects of the day to day operation is directed by the DfT. The public don't fully appreciate this which is why the operators get so much flak and that suits the government and its ministers and civil servants just fine. Don't take the blame when you pass the buck.

As the weather seems to have forgotten it's supposed to be spring I've been gardening indoors rather than outdoors and made a start on the cottage garden. I use the term lightly as it would seem the signalman was no Monty Don or Percy Thrower! Still some details to add, more veggies and a line of washing whilst the telegraph pole needs to be more ore less buried in junk - mostly old planks of wood.

The DfT pure and simple.

Ah! The GWR leather first class seats - absolutely superb. The intention was to have something similar in the 802s. They sourced a leather that was ground up, mixed with some chemicals and then rerolled as sheet which not only met the fire resistance specs but excelled those reached by the material used on the 800s. But, of course the DfT were having none of that and insisted they were the same as the 800s. Boxbrownie is only one of many customers lost as a result.

Without revealing too much "behind the scenes" and confidences, I count amongst good friends some of the highest and most respected managers within the industry and therefore have been told the truth on these matters. These "ironing board" seats were indeed specified, at least in the case of the 800 and 801 IETs (and 700s) by the civil servants at the DfT, not Failing that would be beyond his (in)competence. I've been told both from TOC and Hitachi sources that they went for the cheapest. The "fire risk and crash worthiness" comments were just a smokescreen to provide cover. The idea that the lack of padding ensures it's fire resistant is laughable - are not bus, coach and car seats subject to standards and fire resistant? Why not go further and have all metal or fibreglass seats? They'd be even better in that respect! When one of our TOC owning groups decided to order its own fleets of 80x trains it originally specified they were to have much better seating but when the DfT found out they were instructed they had to be the same as the DfT specified trains so they didn't show those up and the public don't start asking questions. Threats of sanctions against the owning groups were made by the DfT if they did not comply. It seems that this is spreading to other types of TOC specified trains. EMT have recently said their forthcoming 803s will have better seating; we shall wait an see - don't hold your breath! The GWR 800 fleet did receive replacement seat covers early on when it was found the originals, which were a perfectly smooth material, soiled very easily and couldn't be cleaned. The replacements are a ribbed material which are regarded as a slight improvement in comfort. Sadly there is little prospect of these seats being replaced in the short term. Under the EMAs, EMRAs and forthcoming concessions the iron grip of the DfT becomes ever greater and the TOCs reduced to mere contractors. It's no good complaining to the TOCs, their hands are tied and their contracts with the DfT prevent them from publicly telling the truth on such matters which is why you get meaningless or evasive answers. This suits the Government; allowing the "private sector" TOCs to be painted as the villains not ministers or their civil servants. If you want to complain to anyone then make it your MP. Perhaps if they complained enough something might be done. PS The driving seat in an 80x is the most comfortable seat I've had the privilege to place my bum on anywhere! Presumably it meets the fire/crash regulations too...

The current arrangements within the Severn Tunnel is that it has axle counters throughout. Both lines are signalled for bi-directional operation and there are "distant" signals on both lines at both ends referring to the signals found outside on leaving the tunnel, NT1014 and NT1616 at the London end and NT1029 and NT1625 at the Welsh end. There are also emergency signals on both lines which are normally dark but can only display red when activated. These are at 12m 15c in the down direction and 14m 10c in the up (the tunnel portals are at 11m 01c and 15m 29c). There are also "change of gradient" lights which can be spotted from train windows if you are observant. These are blue lights and comprise a single light roughly 1/4 mile from the point where the descending gradient flattens out and a double light at the actual point where the change occurs. These are repeated on both lines in both directions.

Having been on the forum for a couple of years now and contributed to various debates, it’s more than time that I should start a thread describing my own modest effort; Boscarne Junction. I realise it’s been done before and featured on RMweb by Pinsky in 2013 which is why I’ve titled this topic Boscarne Junction Revisited. I’ve dabbled with model railways from an early age – my first trainset, featuring Triang’s clockwork N2 and a couple of shorty coaches arrived at Christmas when I was 2 or 3. There followed several layouts progressing from the 6 x 4 “enhanced train set” to various more detailed layouts mostly fictional BLTs culminating in Modbury – what might have happened if the planned extension to the GWR’s Yealmpton branch had materialised. Sadly other things took increasing amounts of my free time from the early 80’s onwards including a mad partnership with the late Ian Andrews of Steam Powered Video to map the entire North American railroad network so the model railway sat in the loft gathering dust. Moving ahead to the mid-2010s and into semi-retirement I had a yearning to return to the fold. Modbury had deteriorated to the extent that it wasn’t really salvageable so it was case of starting from scratch but in what form? I decided this time I’d like to try and model a real place if possible. This was around the time Hattons launched their 14xx and that inspired me to consider various options, mostly BLTs. My local station, Marlow, was ruled out as it was long and thin so wouldn’t fit the space available. Likewise, Ashburton, Brixham, Fowey, Moretonhampstead, St. Ives and Watlington were also considered but eventually ruled out for one reason or another. Then one day I had one of those 10W light bulb moments and landed at Boscarne Junction. It appealed as it was “different” and saw a wide and eclectic variety of stock all of which could be acquired RTR from the trade. I’d have to take a few liberties like introducing a 90° curve in the middle but this also enabled me to have a double-ended fiddle yard which would complete a continuous run useful for running-in or if I just want to watch the trains run by rather than work to a timetable. Boscarne Junction it would be although my aim is to capture the flavour of the place rather than slavish attention to detail. With Modbury demolished I set about planning BJ in detail and was just about to get started when disaster struck in the summer of 2018. I had a stupid fall in the garden – not looking what I was doing – and broke my leg. This put paid to physical modelling for several months but it did give me the opportunity to do more research and collect stock. A mine of useful information was the former but now sadly defunct China Clay Branches website managed by Coline33 of this parish. Within was to be found hundreds of useful photographs, timetables and stock information. Luckily I downloaded all I thought would be of use before its demise. From the timetables on line – and I found others whilst trawling the web – I put together three “composite” timetables representing the late 1950s (all steam), early 1960s (the transition) and 1965 (all diesel and the final year of passenger services). To my surprise these quickly revealed that BJ was far from being a sleepy backwater and several times a day could become a very busy and challenging place to operate. To accommodate the short-lived exchange platforms for the 1965 service I decided on having two interchangeable scenic modules depending on which timetable I was operating, depicting either the original waste ground or the platforms (and I use the word lightly!) themselves. The layout is located in the loft. Fortunately, when my late father had our bungalow built in the late 1950s he had part of the loft fitted out as a proper room (albeit reached by a folding ladder) which gives me a useable space of just over 10’ square. Perhaps before embarking on this project I should have got a builder in to enlarge the room to take up all the available loft space more than doubling the area available but hindsight is a wonderful thing! I set the track level at 4 feet above the ground for the simple reason that I could duck under easily and avoid lift out or hinged sections for access but it also brings it closer to eye-level when seated on a bar stool. The baseboards are ½” ply on a L-girder framework supported both from the walls (taking care to make use of the structural framing of the room) and conventional legs. Track is Peco bullhead on the scenic section with code 75 F/B in the fiddle yards. It is laid on 1/8” cork and ballasted with Gaugemaster brown ballast applied dry and secured with diluted PVA applied with a syringe. Control is strictly analogue. I freely admit I’m a dinosaur but I like to stick with what I know. I have enough trouble with computers in daily life especially when they don’t do what I want/expect to introduce them into what I regard as a relaxing hobby. It seems that many of the threads on this forum revolve around problems with DCC which does nothing to attract me to it! Boscarne Junction doesn’t lend itself to multiple trains in operation so I don’t see any advantage. True, there are times when two, even three, trains are present simultaneously but the nature of the operation means only one moves at any given time and careful pre-planning of the electrical sectioning allows for the required moves. Similarly, I’ve never really been impressed by sound on model railways, particularly of steam locos. I know this will be met by howls of derision in some quarters but each to his own! Having used scale couplings in the past, age has turned my fingers into a good match for a pound of pork bangers and the eyes aren’t what they were so reluctantly I’ve gone back to tension locks although the current versions are slightly less offensive to the eye than those of thirty or forty years ago. So here’s the track plan. By the start of 2020 all the track was down, wired and ballasted. So during the various lockdowns and the past winter months I’ve been working on the scenery with the west end up to the level crossing largely complete. The basic contours were formed of a combination of expanded polystyrene carved to rough shape and wire mesh over which was applied plaster bandage and finally Polyfilla to get the final shape I sought. It was then painted using Homebase “Mossy Green” in tester pots. Fine for the base colour but would anyone want it on their walls? Each to his/her own taste I suppose… My, how scenery has changed! Back when I first started I used sawdust to represent grass then progressed to surgical lint. Today it’s the wonders of static grass. Having read the appropriate threads and watched the tutorial videos I took the plunge and was soon impressed with how easy it is and simple to apply. I even managed to avoid giving myself a belt so far which is an achievement seeing as how I tend to be a trifle accident prone! The signal box is the Kernow-Bachmann product. However, I’ve discovered it is too tall in the ground floor. It took me a while to twig to this as I couldn’t work out why it didn’t sit on the layout quite as the real thing did. I suppose I could cut it down but it’ll do for now and will eventually be replaced by a scratchbuilt version but only when the rest of the layout is complete – I know, they never are, but there’s complete and there’s complete! The signalman’s cottage was built for me by Ron North of the HW&DMRS as he wanted a lockdown project and a damn fine job he did too. I added the lean-to extension at the back even though it’s barely visible. A prominent feature which appears in the photos is a semi-derelict barn opposite the signal box which I modelled – my first attempt in around four decades so I was quite pleased with how it turned out. The level crossing is a butchered Bachmann example. It’s not 100% authentic to the real one but close enough for me. Thanks to RMweb I discovered the typical SR precast concrete lamp huts marketed as 3D printed kits by CW Railways. Although described as for the L&B they were just what I needed and Tim Evans kindly scaled it down to half width to provide the matching third hut. The signalling presented a challenge. Being “in the trade” so to speak on the big railway I felt it important to have copies of the actual signals although being LSWR lattice posts with a mix of upper and lower quadrant arms I found the prospect of making them rather daunting. Once again RMweb came to the rescue as through it I “discovered” Stephen Freeman who accepted my commission and has provided a superb set of appropriate signals. I can thoroughly recommend his services to anyone who wants authentic signals but feels, like me, too ham-fisted to make them themselves! A view up the lane towards the crossing, the right side is still to be finished. 4569, a regular St. Blazey loco used on the Bodmin branch approaches Boscarne Junction with a Wadebridge to Bodmin Road train. Having left the day's china clay in the exchange sidings for the WR to pick up, 30585 heads back to Wadebridge with the remaining wagons.

The original "unicycling lion" faced front on both sides of steam locos and left on main line diesels and electrics. The same initially applied to the later "ferret and dartboard" until the College of Heralds pointed out that as a heraldic device, the lion had to face left at all times.

Indeed it did. Go back to my post on page 3 and you'll find a photo of said instrument.

The Knotty on the front of Sudbury is a nice touch. Carrog appears to be a like-for-like replacement built on the base of the original. The upper part came from Houghton Halt with the frame from Green Lane, Chester.

Those last two pictures are simply divine. I thought my own efforts were pretty good but they pale to mediocre compared to these.

Chris, I think you are doing yourself a disservice. Given that it's N gauge l think this is excellent.

Slight variation. My old but now sadly no longer with us pal Jim Boyd whilst editing Railfan magazine in the US was asked by a "general" journalist why "the British collect train numbers". Without really pausing for thought Jim replied: "Because the locos are too big to take home!"

As we seem to have escaped these shores, here's a few from the Long Island Rail Road. Jay Tower at the west (city) end of Jamaica station. Hall Tower at the east end of Jamaica station. B Tower at Bethpage with a nice gantry of PRR position light signals. PD Tower at Patchogue where the Montauk line enters "dark territory". Engineer Reggie Tonry scoops up train orders from PD operator Joanne Sunderland.

To say nothing of Bionic Duckweed - Roger Ford's preferred fuel source of the future !

I'm not sure this correct. I've reviewed the NR Scheme Plans for the Reading project (I prepare train crew route diagrams for GWR and other TOCs) which make no reference to altering the alignments of Relief lines and Loop at any stage during the project only alterations to the signalling and designations. On scheme plans, new works are shown in red, items to be recovered in green and unaltered remains black. On all stages the lines in question are shown in black and, personally, I don't recall the present layout being changed at any time during the works. Regarding the Slough - Iver area back in 2014 Mark Hopwood and I drew up a scheme to provide a 5 track passenger railway all the way from Farnham Road (west of Slough) all the way to Hanwell Bridge Junction. The additional line would have been on the Up or north side and would require considerable rebuilding of all the stations and many bridges although replacing the Wharncliffe Viaduct was seen as a step too far! The idea was to provide additional capacity to accommodate Crossrail and would make the present Up Relief bi-directional with "tidal flow" operations, used for Up trains in the morning peak, Down in the evening. It was submitted to NR by GWR as part of bids for CP6 but failed to fly.

They last ran on 28/12. All have gone for scrap at Sims Metals except for three cars of 332001 which are to become "gate guardians" at Siemens' new assembly pant at Goole. The five Class 360/2 Heathrow Connect units have been acquired by Rail Operations Group and moved to MoD Bicester for storage pending conversion for their planned logistics operations. The OOC HEx depot is now being cleared and will be vacated by Siemens by the end of this months allowing demolition to take place during March.

Kennet loop was upgraded from Goods to Passenger standards as part of the Reading project.