Anyone point me to some web resources to learn more about operations on British rural branch lines? I'm enjoying setting up my post-Grouping layout, but am unsure of things such as: How did a freight get 'called'? Did they use timetable & train orders as the Americans of the time? Right now, I just run a daily 'pick up goods' and two passenger runs up the line.
Both the freight and passenger trains on your branch would be timetabled for sure. Even to the present day freights are timetabled over here, with timetable paths allocated for freights, even if they sometimes run in another freight's path, or not at all. Lots of branches would have many more passenger trains than that as well, for example St Ives, a holiday resort in the south west had 21 passenger trains in each direction on summer saturdays in 1959, one each way was a portion of the Great Western's "Cornish Riviera" express. Admittedly that's a fairly extreme example! Helston, on the other coast of Cornwall (and arguably a much more typical branch line) generated 10 trains one way and 14 the other on Saturdays, and 7 one way with 8 the other days (not sure how they coped with the imbalance, but the pics I have show passenger coaches stored there) in Summer '59. It would have been less trains than that I'm sure in winter, I haven't got the info for that but I would guess at 6 trains each way or thereabouts. Sadly, although it obviously generated fairly high traffic in '59, the branch was closed to passengers in '62 despite much local opposition (this part of Cornwall is still not an easy journey by road), and freight finished in '64. On most branches I would have thought that there would be some kind of freight traffic on most days, well weekdays anyhow, and the chance of a day where a freight has nothing to do and so doesn't run would be small, but that's just a guess, although some places which have a lot of seasonal traffic that might be different? Hope that helps, and let me know if you want me to dig any more? [ 17. January 2003, 20:08: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
Thanks you very much for your insights, Martyn. I'd like to find out more about what a pre-nationalization timetable for a lesser branch line might've looked like. Did the stationmaster at the junction (into the branch) govern the trains entering the branch? I've seen 'tablets' from electrical interlockings that seem to work like hooped orders in the States. I'm trying to figure out an operating system - similar to car cards and timetables for an American layout. Any suggestions?
There would have been a signal box (equivalent to an interlocking tower) at the junction station at least, which would control that block on the through route, plus the first section of the branch. You could work the single line section by token, or by "one engine in steam" rules. The token like you describe is valid for one particular single line section, and the towers at each end have interlocked boxes for them. Only one token can be out at any time, so only one train can be on the single line. When the train with the token gets to the first passing place on the branch, the signalman there will take the token and put it back into the box for that section, this then unlocks the boxes so another train can enter the section. One engine in steam rules were used on quieter branches, basically one train is up the branch and has the freedom of it, nothing else can enter unless that train has left. The stationmaster at the junction might be involved in regulating trains in that he might hold a branch train to wait for a connecting train on the main line if one was running late. I'll see what pics I can find that might be of use to you.
These first two pics are of Par, the first one shows an overall view of the station, the branch platform is on the right and the main lines on the left, the signal box here is on the far end of the platform, so unfortunately hidden behind the station buildings here. The line the loco is on is a freight bypass to the platform line, there is a small yard just around the corner (literally!) at St Blazey, which is also the start of the single line section of the branch. Looking the other way at Par, a main line stopping train is connecting with a single car unit on the branchline. [ 18. January 2003, 10:54: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
This is the passing place on the Newquay branch, Goonbarrow Junction. This part of Cornwall has a lot of Kaolin mining, and this location has a large clay dries (the tank in the background is part of the complex) which has kept freight traffic alive this far down the branch, from here to the end of the branch at Newquay it's just a plain single track nowadays. The signalman here is out and collecting the single line token from St Blazey (just outside Par) to here. Even to this day, Saturdays in the summer get a more intensive service, Sunday to Friday in the summer and daily the rest of the year this branch is worked by mostly single car units, as seen in the Par pictures, on summer Saturdays Newquay is served by long distance HST's, and they are well loaded too! The train I was on was headed for Edinburgh, and the train we were meeting had come from London! This sort of thing is really only because of the vacation traffic in this part of the world, where Saturday's are the traditional day where folk's holiday's start & end. Your average passing place on a branch would be at a station (unlike this location), as you have an efficiency gain by exchanging tokens and the like when trains are going to stop anyhow.
These are very much appreciated, Martyn! I am making up a timetable for the branch. I'll have wagons for the coal company siding, and for the goods shed, and two types of passenger trains.
