Swanley New Barn Railway

Swanley New Barn Railway Logo

The Swanley New Barn Railway is a 7 1⁄4 in (184 mm) gauge railway located in Swanley Park, Swanley, Kent, United Kingdom. It is signalled throughout with the signals being controlled from New Barn Station which also serves as a terminus.

The stations

New Barn

This station is the largest on the line. It has three platforms, a turntable, a ticket office and a signal box. All trains stop at this station, so they can be turned around and be prepared to travel back along the line. This process will often be performed by the juniors giving the drivers a quick break. Passengers are required to go through the ticket office and obtain tickets before they board the train (in the case of those starting their journey at New Barn) or get their tickets as they disembark (if they have travelled from Swanley Parkway). The platforms have been upgraded to the same standard as Swanley Parkway. Though this station has capacity for three trains at one time, this rarely happens except on gala days. There are three platforms and a loco line where trains can run around and hook back up to the train. The turntable is man powered and a signal point the operator to a centain line

Swanley parkway

This station is a single platform station located near the car park. Passengers board the train here and then proceed to New Barn station to disembark. The journey from this station to New Barn should take around three minutes. This station was made higher when the platform was redeveloped in 2006, making it easier for passengers to board and leave the train.

The signal box

The signal box is located at New Barn Station, which is the larger of the two stations on the line. During the first year of the railway, a signal box was created to help control the points and signals around the station area. The signalman can see where the trains are by using the track circuits which are installed throughout the line. The track layout has been changed several times, all of the major changes are recorded to the left of the track diagram.[1] The signal box was formally named Holborn Crossing in 2013 in memory of the society founding member Christopher Johnson, who during his BR career had been an area manager covering Holborn Viaduct, with the absence of a viaduct the last part was changed to crossing.

The signal box has two automatic modes of operation[1] which means that if there is a lack of staff the railway can still function. The signal box frame has 35 levers, all of which are fully interlocked.[1] The interlocking works with the track circuits and point detection. Which levers are locked is decided by the signal box computer which receives points positions, Track circuit data and lever information to decide if it is possible to set a route that will not cause a train to be sent in the wrong direction or be sent on a route where another train is set to cross the track in front of it. The points are worked by 12 V Windscreen wiper motors[1] which have been adjusted so that they stop in one of two positions.[1] They are controlled by the signal box computer which is in turn controlled by the levers. The direction that the points are set to is detected by two microswitches located under the points.

The majority of signals are powered by a 12-volt AC supply. The main signal that everyone sees is the one that passengers pass on their way into the station. It has three 20 W bulbs which allow the signal to be seen clearly no matter what the conditions are. The signal located at the platform on swanley parkway is powered by a 110 V transformer located in the signal box.[1]

Locomotives

Steam engines

Diesel engines

Other motive power

Vandalism and events

The railway commonly has to deal with issues of vandalism, including smashed windows. Damage to the electrical wiring for signals and track circuits. On one occasion graffiti appeared on a platform overnight. The track is occasionally lifted overnight, making it unsuitable for the trains to run on it. Once a burnt-out car was found littering the tracks.

Galas
Periodically the railway holds special events:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Peter, Jackson. "Signal Box Details". Swanley New Barn Railway. Retrieved 2008-05-13.

External links

Coordinates: 51°24′19″N 0°10′36″E / 51.40520°N 0.17674°E / 51.40520; 0.17674

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.