flyingsignalman

A quick question. My credit card expires end of March 2019 and a new one has been sent to me already. Will the renewal of my card affect my order of loco MR-205?

Volume 2 was to feature diesels but as far as I know it was never produced.

Dave, photo 000721, the Ground Frame was provided in the summer of 1976 when the lines between Canning St North and Green Lane Jcn were changed from Permissive block to Absolute block. Davies' scrap yard had been without a rail service for about 18 months while the connection to Smiths was installed; needless to say Davies didn't really use rail much after the connection was installed! Prior to the line to Smiths being put in, traffic for Davies' yard was propelled across "The Front" towards Morpeth Dock, reversed and pulled towards a set of buffers (near the later site of the GF) at Brook St, reversed again and propelled again into the yard. The new connection to Smiths cut across this arrangement and after the line to Shore Road was laid it took about 18 months to provide the GF at Brook St.

Here is a quick sketch I've done with a numbering scheme. I hope it's legible! You've shown the frame facing the down lines so I've drawn it from that point of view. I've added a signal on the down main that wasn't on your diagram; otherwise I haven't altered it at all. No spares are shown but I have included the distants. I hope this helps you to work your own numbering scheme out.

I don't know if you've seen these; they are pages I re-typed or traced from the GWR Chester Division 1925 report. Finally 2 photos of Ruabon Middle box taken in 1980. The frame had been reduced from 53 (I think) levers to 29 at some time.

Here are some photos I took in 1977 or 1978 of Ruabon. Up side buildings Down side canopy and BRSA club. There had been waiting rooms etc. under the canopy but they had been replaced by a bus shelter type building. Footbridge from the disused bay. Footbridge from the disused bay. Ruabon (Middle) box. Shunters(?) accommodation in Down sidings area. Down side canopy showing BR shelter underneath. Up side building from Approach. Up side building from Approach.

I was told the building was a refreshment room. When I took some photos in late 1970s it was in use as a BR Staff Association Club room.

Also applied to anyone from the Wirral, Wales etc......

The Signalman was picked up from Gobowen South (which was only open for early turns, Monday to Friday), not Whittington. Haughton Sidings, we were told, was the only box still allowed to switch out of circuit with a train on line.

Highley box has 14 levers but Broughton Crossing on the Brymbo branch and virtually identical apart from the size of the locking room windows had 20 levers.

The lamps in the Bebington photo are oil lit and gas at Port Sunlight Sidings. In the first photo, above the Signalman's head is a hook on the cross member; I'm not sure what it's for but Port Sunlight Sidings had one also.

I hope you don't mind me posting these photos of Bebington signal box on your thread. They were taken by Billy Walker, a Signalman there, shortly before he went to Canning St North box in September 1959. Ken Norman at the block shelf. Billy Walker at the block shelf. Jack Dyas at the top of the steps. Billy's lad; note the block shelf doesn't extend the full length of the frame. Another point to note is that the back boards (with lever descriptions on) didn't always run the full length of the frame either; if there were spaces left, the board had a space too. It can just be seen in one the photos I posted of Port Sunlight Sidings on Beast's thread (but shown below also). Taken 27/1/1979.

Some photos of Wrexham Central in 1980. Looking towards Wrexham Exchange DMU in the station The ground frame controlling the siding connections Looking to the station showing the trap points protecting the station from the siding Looking the other way showing the DMU siding with the line formerly to Ellesmere on the right. Mile post, measured from Ellesmere. The end of the DMU siding; the former line to Ellesmere (which only ran to Abenbury Siding by at that time) appears out of use but I don't think it had been abandoned by then. The siding was to allow a DMU to stable while another was entered the single line to the station. I think it was used to build up or split trains for the peak hours.

After it was rationalised but before it was resited, Wrexham Central was an example of a goods line continuing beyond the passenger platform.

Just looked at the first post in this topic and it is now over 4 years since it was posted. I'm wondering if it will ever appear or was it just announced to stop anyone else producing a similar model?

My apologies for the comment. I've amended it as I don't wish to cause offence; all I can say is it was a "knee jerk response" moment. I've been waiting for it to arrive at my local model shop since the start of last year.

Thank heavens for that, I've been waiting ages for one of these!

Post deleted as not being appropriate to this thread. (It's quoted in the post below, if anyone's wondering)

Regarding locos, around the time of WW1, the Wirral Railway bought 2-4-2T locos from the LNWR and one from the L&YR (a model of which is made by Bachmann). The Wirral, though not a light railway, did share a similar early history to the Bishops Castle Railway in that half the railway was seized by creditors!

I remember reading in a book on the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire Light Railway that the Quarry at Criggion stopped sending stone by rail to S&MLR in 1929as it was cheaper to use lorries. Most wagons ownd by the light railway would be used for deliveries on its own line only so their use would have declined after WW1 due to the availability lorries.

Normally, the ex-LNWR boxes had two bars where the windows opened and one bar when they didn't. Port Sunlight Sidings 24/6/1977. ...and Polesworth 22/71987.

Hawarden Bridge 2/11/1979, the day of abolition. The box had been switched out for about 6 months ( a Stoke Division practice I was told) and was finally to be taken out of use. I had applied to buy the diagram - now in the Beast's tender care) so I went with the S&T to view my purchase! Note the Welwyn block releases (the grey boxes) on the front of the block shelf and the replacement LNWR design block instruments. The diagram after removal from the frame; the S&T also gave me a spare copy that was in a cupboard. Finally, the up home , down starter co-acting signals photo taken 1/4/1978 from a Wirral Railway Circle tour.

The yellow and white posts were based for the LNWR style arm repeaters for the up distant signals when they were lower quadrants. The repeater for the UQ distant was mounted on the block shelf. The green box is an ex army ammunition box and was used for storing detonators; they appeared in the boxes about 1978/9.

Photo DAS000095 (?) shows Rawtenstall home signal. At the base of the post is a ground signal; I think the home signal was fixed at danger and the disc was used to access the coal yard.

One use for the exchange siding was to run round trains from the branch for the Chester direction (and vice versa). After West Cheshire Jcn was burnt down the connection to Shellstar was put onto Helsby box and at the same time the Exchange Sdgs GF was abolished.