dave55uk

This made me laugh.

I bought one of the Lenz handsets once (not from an auction), cost me £120. So that's £600's worth before looking at the rest of the stuff. Fortunately I/we didn't need this lot, was basically just for back-up purposes.

A friend bid on my behalf up to £320 but then stopped as agreed. With commision etc. the cost would have been close to £500.

Although better than nothing, this bugs me. As soon as the loco passes over the IR sensor, the signal goes red (that's ok) and the signal behind it goes to yellow (NOT ok). IRL the second signal would not change to yellow until the whole train had passed the signal (at a minimum) or had cleared the associated track circuits.

Whitedown Jn is deffo a blue one - My home layout is a blue one too, but I haven't a thread on that.

As others have said, I too glued mine.

Insulated rail joiners on the two rails coming off the 'vee' (bottom centre of picture).

Then there's the postage on top - a friend recently bought some stuff from an auction and the postage was £90 !!!

Funnily enough - yes!

My most common re-occuring dream is that I'm reversing while driving (usually a bus (I'm an ex-bus driver so that figures)) and the brakes won't work. I just keep going slowly backwards. I've never hit anything yet though!

A few notes on the trackplan. The Ringburn branch. This is a 14 feet single track layout owned by Marcus. It will have a small terminus at the furthest end, and will be served by DMUs - Thumpers (SR services) and 1st and 2nd generation DMUs (WR services). The current 'pink bit' on the diagram will be removed when Ringburn finally gets attached. SR services to/from London will enter/leave the layout at K1/K2 and to/from 'the coast' will enter/leave at K9/K10. Terminating local services from the London direction will use platforms 4 or 2. Note platform 4 has a signal (113) for originating local trains towards London. WR services (from the North or West) will enter/leave at K3/K4. Through services to 'the coast' will traverse the junction at Whitedown Jn itself and then use the SR lines. Through services from 'the coast' will enter at K9, run through platform 3 then use the crossovers to get onto the WR lines. Local WR services will use the WR lines throughout, and use platforms 1 or 2. Most freight trains will use the Up & Down goods lines to bypass the platforms (there is a yard somewhere further along the WR lines). The short down sidings at WDJ station will be used for engineers stuff or the odd loco. The short siding on the SR down line at Whitedown Jn is an industry - we haven't decided just what industry yet. Clegg Lane sidings will be used to store the local WR DMUs. And although the plan shows two 'Nellys', in actual fact there will now only be one, and again we haven't decided which end to put it. It may end up in the middle-ish of the fiddle yard. Along the front (viewing) side of the layout there will be an approximately 1 foot wide scenic board. To the rear (of the scenic section) we plan to have a 3 or 4 foot wide scenic board. Operationally, we will have a signalman (me, LOL), one or two fiddle yard operators (who will also operate the Nelly), plus 4-5-6 ? actual train drivers. Drivers will NOT operate points and signals! Anyone in the local Ely area (and anyone further afield if you don't mind driving) are welcome to come and join us. Get in touch if you're interested.

A higher res diagram of the trackplan.

Well, yesterday was a success! Despite being stuck in my shed untouched for the last 18 months, the layout all went together very well - no warping etc., which was very good news. After cleaning the track and fixing a couple of loose wires, we managed to run a couple of trains. (We didn't actually take much stock as we didn't expect to run at all). The current diagram... (Higher res version added below this post) And a few views of the scenic side. These were taken before the fiddle yard was set up but that's pretty boring anyway. The station area... What is affectionately known as "Bludy Junction" (in-house joke) Whitedown Junction itself... A view back along the SR lines towards the station... And finally, the tunnel area... As can be seen, not only did we not take any stock, we also didn't bother to take any of the removable buildings with us. A couple of points didn't want to play, whether that's the points or the DCC system playing up, we'll see next time (November 20th), as that will be the 'fixing things' meeting. After that (probably in January) we aim to have a full running day, which should be fun. As well as having DCC controllers, our whizzkids have installed a Raspberry Pi so that control can be done from mobile phones.

Level crossing gates and wicket gates were brown, unsure about ground frame releases, detonator placers were white with black chevrons pointing up for the up line and down for the down line. Where points and FP locks were combined then the lower half of the lever would be black and the top half blue. Where home & distant signals were operated by a single lever, then the top half would be red and the bottom half yellow. Motorised points and signals would have the top half of the handle cut off to indicate to the signalman that a full pull wasn't necessary.

Well. It's been a long time since anything was done to the layout - thanks of course to Covid. But we're planning another get-together (23rd October 2021) and get the layout up again. It's been stored all this time in my shed, so a bit (!) of fettling will undoubtably be called for. More news and hopefully pictures soon.........

Nice clear diagram, only the signal arms are back to front and the colours are reversed :-) Signals 6 and 21 are unnecessary. The main signal arms will suffice. Question. What is the distance (in number of wagons) between signals 13 and 16? - not a problem for up trains but for down trains, detached wagons would have to fit between these signals so the train loco could run round and shunt them (unless you have a separate shunting loco which would be unlikely in a small station like this). And knocking off a wagon or two at a time from the down line would be time consuming. OK for a model where the operator wants to play but unlikely in real life. Signals 9 & 10 could have an additional signal, reading 'set back onto down main', OR 9 could read 'shunt to up main or good yard' and 10 reading 'set back onto down main'. What is the distance (again in wagon lengths) between signals 15 & 17? Again, if too short, you would have the problem of only attaching/detaching one or two wagons at a time. (I'm aware of signal 17 - but see below). Re signal 17. I have mixed feelings about this. My personal preference would be to have an additional up advance starter on the single line but within the down outer home. Thereby signal 17 would not be needed, signal 3 giving permission to shunt forward. I don't think an additional shunt signal reading 'down single line to up line' would be needed, as the interlocking between signal 3 and 4 points would hold the points (signal 3 only being replaced to danger once the loco is back in rear of it). To further compound matters, IF the distance between 13 & 16 AND between 15 & 17 is short, then signals 3 & 17 could be removed altogether (signal 2 acting as protection for 4 points) and then have the up advance starter (3) on the single line as mentioned above. Furthermore - if the distance between 4 points and signal 22 is short, then signal 22 itself could be abolished - I have already removed signal 21 :-)

You'll need to tell us which period/era/region you're modelling - and if necessary, do you want semaphores or colour lights (or a mixture).

Honestly speaking, before you get the S&T in to do the signals, I'd get the PW Dept. in to sort out that mess of sidings.

A ground mounted subsidiary signal would do the trick - depending on your preference, either one with one red/one white light as 'on', or one with two red lights, the latter being more modern.

Well. There's been a few changes since I last posted here. Firstly, the size of the layout was getting out of hand, so I stopped building... ...until a friend (Alan Clegg) suggested we re-start it as a possible exhibition layout. Then Marcus (yes! That smiley face immediately above) came on board along with another fine gentleman by the name of Mark. So we continued to build Whitedown Junction - notice the name change. The track plan got altered slightly too, but more importantly, the layout started to grow! (I blame Marcus for this but it's not really all his fault). I bought a couple of 6 foot Nelevators (soon to be delivered as I write this) for the fiddle yard, and Marcus has virtually built the whole fiddle yard himself. The size of the layout is now something like 20 foot x 20 foot, with the scenic part all along the front. The two sides are the entrances to the fiddle yard, each side hosting a 'Nelly'. Then the fiddle yard itself, 8 roads I believe, is along the back. Between the junction and the station, we have a new 6 foot section containing (what will be) a splendid bridge carrying the SR main lines and an equally impressive viaduct carrying the WR lines. Marcus is building this board in it's entirety, although I have now laid the track. There is another smaller 2 foot board that carries a crossover on each set of lines just before the station, which, incidentally, now has a fourth platform, mainly for WR services. Mark is scratch building us an absolutely stunning station building, complete with footbridge, steps and canopies. Marcus is also (he's a busy chappie LOL) re-wiring the layout from my original 'bodge-it/anything goes' approach. Not only that, but he's planning (along with my signalling help) the signalling system. We are aiming to have one operator (nominally me) being the signalman with the other operators driving accordingly. For pictures of how we're doing so far, may I direct you to Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/WhitedownJn/ ). If you'd like to follow us, then you'd be more than welcome, and if you're anywhere near Ely (where I and the layout are based), then similarly feel free to come and have a look or give us a hand!

Is it not possible to move the platform back (to the left as in your picture) to make room for the signal? I'm afraid there's no way it can go beyond the point. (There was another thread on here a long time ago - Potters [something] - and the builder did the same - until I pointed out the error, and so he changed the position of the signal even though it made him a lot more work).

Nothing to stop you having the signal on the platform but your longer trains would need the signal cleared if it was all going to fit in the platform.

Signals are NEVER placed beyond the toe of a point.

The platform starters are 3 aspect.

Adding to Edwin_M's post, the signal in the tunnel leading to the station would only be a red/yellow one. Agree with the addition of the subsidiary signal. Disagree though with the signal having a feather. All a moot point actually, as if it's in the tunnel, it won't be seen ;-)