7mm Great Victoria Street Station

[Lancastrian]

Work at the SR7mm Group railway, of which I am a member, has seen Great Victoria Street services suspended whilst the permanent way team lifted the existing station throat to replace it with a new formation. This is a job laid over from winter 2020 due to the dreaded lurgy.

First, the connection to the Up and Down main lines was cut.



Seacoal Row, the locomotive servicing depot, and turntable, was removed.



The station approach/throat was then lifted.




Just in case any passengers were caught off guard with the suspension of services, official notices have been posted.


The following day, worked commenced on building the new point and crossing formation.


This section was then transferred from my workbench to the railway. Yes, it did go in the car in one piece....just.


It was then connected to the platform and carriage siding lines.


The new scissors crossover was built on site and moved into position.


The joy of Templot, it all lines up with the original lie of the main lines.


Finally, the Up and Down main lines were reconnected. It was also an opportune moment to level them out as there was a bit of a dip where they entered the shed.


Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

For those not familiar with the SR7mm Group railway, here's an overall plan.


Ian

 

[Joe's Garage]

Some lovely track work Ian, especially the crossings
Julian

 

[paulc]

For those not familiar with the SR7mm Group railway, here's an overall plan.
View attachment 175469

Ian

Hi Ian , was there a Coulsdon B ?

 

[spikey faz]

Work at the SR7mm Group railway, of which I am a member, has seen Great Victoria Street services suspended whilst the permanent way team lifted the existing station throat to replace it with a new formation. This is a job laid over from winter 2020 due to the dreaded lurgy.

First, the connection to the Up and Down main lines was cut.

View attachment 175449

Seacoal Row, the locomotive servicing depot, and turntable, was removed.
View attachment 175450
View attachment 175451

The station approach/throat was then lifted.
View attachment 175452
View attachment 175453
View attachment 175454

Just in case any passengers were caught off guard with the suspension of services, official notices have been posted.
View attachment 175455

The following day, worked commenced on building the new point and crossing formation.
View attachment 175456

This section was then transferred from my workbench to the railway. Yes, it did go in the car in one piece....just.
View attachment 175457

It was then connected to the platform and carriage siding lines.
View attachment 175459

The new scissors crossover was built on site and moved into position.
View attachment 175460

The joy of Templot, it all lines up with the original lie of the main lines.
View attachment 175461

Finally, the Up and Down main lines were reconnected. It was also an opportune moment to level them out as there was a bit of a dip where they entered the shed.
View attachment 175462

Ian

Impressive!

 

[Lancastrian]

Hi Ian , was there a Coulsdon B ?

Hi Paul,

There is a Coulsdon B, but with a caveat. There are three signal boxes at Coulsdon, but only two operating positions, A and C. The junction and signals, which signal box B would control, are operated from the A position. I'll dig some photos out.

Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

Impressive!

Thank youuuuuuu

Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

As an aside, trackwork from 2015 with the building of the station throat at Bexhill, on our railway.



Ian

 

[Herb Garden]

That is a work of art!

Very impressed by the sweeping curves and all that interlaced p&c work.

Did you use templot for the templates or are they hand drawn?

Make me want to have another go at some track making. Thanks for the inspiration

Merry Christmas!

Herbie

 

[Lancastrian]

Hi Herbie,

It was all drawn in Templot, and took quite a while to get it all right, especially timber positions. I had to resort to a twin trap point on the centre road to save space.

Merry Christmas to you too.

Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

It's been a number of weeks since the updates here, but in the meantime, there is this from 14th December.


Then, 4th January, point completed to allow connection from platform 3 and the carriage sidings to the headshunt and Seacoal Row servicing depot.



Sunday 15th January was an additional work day which saw thirteen of the seventeen point motors installed.



I also completed the installation of the relay bases we'll be using and some RJ45 connector boards. We'll use these to wire up the point motors with Cat6 cables. The old knitting above these will be tidied/replaced.


And, on Tuesday 17th, it was time to turn to removing the "kink" in the old track layout leading to the Parcels Bay.


The holes visible in the platform top are from previous signal installations. As part of this re-structuring plan, there is a wholesale signalling replacement scheme in the pipeline, which we hope to reveal in due course. The aforementioned holes will of course be sorted out, probably by replacing a section of platform paving. The "chopstick" which is visible marks the position for one of the new signals.

The new point being placed to check alignments. The rails beyond the two pairs of chairs at the toe end of the point will have a gentle curve in them before being fixed in place to align with the existing plain track. The short piece (panel) of track in the foreground will be replaced with a length of the correct size for final installation.


Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

Additionally, I took a few photos of one the ex-SECR H class locomotives which grace the layout, at Coulsdon station. This was the third O gauge locomotive I built and is around 25 years old. Now owned by Mr. Langham, it still runs as well as when first built, although I did mention to him that I should weather the wheels and coupling rods ! That sandbox and sand pipe need some attention too.



Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

The final new point in the station environs is now in place.


There are some cosmetic half chairs to fit, but I leave these until wiring is completed.
Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

A couple of more updates over the last couple of weeks.

The tiebar of 13A had to be replaced due to another fracture. This was originally a length of copper clad strip laid horizontally. It worked fine, but the location of the point, over the shed wall, meant it was susceptible to moisture ingress. there was a short brass tube soldered to it, into which the "cranked" operating rod slid and rotated. Unfortunately, over time, it seems it had become solid, so I took the opportunity to get rid of it with something more inkeeping with the new pointwork. The brass "tongue" shows how far back the tiebar sits, and it is not possible to get a motor any closer (due to the wall). This will eventually have a boarded cover over it. I also need to carry out some painting/weathering, although this is another example where the track through the station has never had this done to it.



Next, wiring the relay base interconnections. As you can see, I need to order some more bases and relays.



The group held an additional work day on Sunday, and at the end of more wiring being carried out, I was able to jury rig some sections together and with a small Gaugemaster controller achieve this.....

Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

Wiring work continued at GVS on Tuesday, with the down main not too far from completion.

Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

Work since the last update has included the following:

More wiring work on the relays, such that all track sections are now connected up.


Also seen in the above photo are Cat6 cables which run all wiring to the point motors. This makes for a neater installation.



The replacement control panel box has been put in place and the new panel top and backing plate worked on. Isolating switches in place and it's almost ready for LED's to be fitted.



Ian

 

[Gismorail]

Fabulous looking very complex

 

[Lancastrian]

Fabulous looking very complex

Thank you, but it's not that complex......

Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

With point motor ends now being connnected up, and the new power supplies in place, it was time for some more testing of points and also relays.

First clip is of 6B of the scissors crossover. I notice that the point motor operating wire may require some adjustment as the point blade on the left hand side is visibly lifting and the left hand tiebar bracket needs repositioning.
Second clip is of 7, one end of the single slip, and a tiny adjustment of one rail for alignment correction is required. Cruel close-ups !

Ian

 

[Lancastrian]

Another video showing points 10 through 13 working after completing the wiring for points 9 through 14 on Tuesday.

Ian