Wylam gantry/signal box

[Trestrol]

Also there is a trap door in the floor in line with the door to the locking room. It's quite compact down there.

[drmditch]

A small point, but I understand that the NER referred to 'Signal Bridges' rather than 'Gantries'.
(Us NER followers might as well get it right, lest we be swamped by terminology from other railways!)

[Graeme Leary]

Apprehensively, getting back into this topic (again). During a recent UK trip I had the pleasure of not only visiting the Wylam box but also being invited inside by the on duty signalman. Quite an experience.

However, the issue of the correct colour hit me again as the current 'red/brown' it is painted in is nowhere near as dark as the Tamiya Red/Brown recommended for modellers in earlier posts referred to (and is much 'redder' than the Tamiya colour).

A learned LNER Society acquaintance assures me the current colour is probably based on Network Rail's colour systems which I will probably settle on but in a box of 'stuff' I had forgotten I had I came across a bottle of Model Master 'Rotbrown' RAL 8012 (S6). This colour looks to be a happy compromise between the current colour of the actual box and the Tamiya Red/Brown.

I'd be interested yet again, to hear of any others who may have come across this Model Master colour.

Graeme Leary
New Zealand

PS: And will in future refer to these as signal 'bridges' - thanks drmditch.

[Graeme Leary]

Getting back to this thread I started in January and due to a rearranged track layout I have now decided that the Hexham signal cabin is a better one to replicate.

I did visit Wylam on a UK trip earlier this year but unfortunately didn't drive the few extra miles to have a look at Hexham. I have 2 good pics of Hexham, the one looking down the track (where the cabin is on the right of the photo) and the outer side with the exterior staircase. None of my reasonably extensive range of NER books has the sort of detail on Hexham as they do on Wylam and I'd therefore be very grateful if any forum member can either send me any photos of the 'rear' (back) side plus the 'inner' side (ie away from the outer staircase side of Hexham).

Many thanks,

Graeme Leary
New Zealand

[Graeme Leary]

PS to last - or a link to such photos.

Graeme

[UpDistant]

Graeme

Try these 2 links - https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswis ... 9327/page1 and https://tillyweb.biz/gallery/hh/hexham.htm

HTH

[Graeme Leary]

Many thanks Updistant - the flickr link has some great photos and the tillyweb link has exactly what I want. (It s also helpful in that my layout, whilst nowhere the same as Hexham, has more than just double tracks (as at Wylam) with curves and points so the Hexham pics generally relate more to what I want to achieve.

Very grateful.

Graeme

[drmditch]

Graeme

Try these 2 links - https://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswis ... 9327/page1 and https://tillyweb.biz/gallery/hh/hexham.htm

HTH

Many thanks for posting these links.
I think I have found some of the pictures before, but these collections are fascinating.

[Graeme Leary]

I'm curious to know if the railings around just about every window in the tillyweb link (Hexham signal cabin) were actually on/around the cabin during the 1920a/30s. They look very much to me like what we would think of a 'directive' (ie must have) from OSH out here in New Zealand ie Occupational Health and Safety. I speculate that in the 20s/30s, like here, there were less of these safety requirements and therefore were not part of the cabin..

As my modelling era is primarily based in the 1920s/30s I will not replicate the railings if they were not in place then.

Any thoughts gratefully accepted.

Graeme Leary
New Zealand

[Graeme Leary]

Happy festive to all - cold where I assume most of you are but damned hot here in the colonies.

I'm making reasonably good progress on my Hexham gantry mounted signal cabin and would appreciate any thoughts on the following:-

(a) The visible part of the girders on the gantry (ie not covered by the cabin). The brilliant pics on the links sent don't show these off clearly
(b) The shape of the roof. The pics on the links suggest to me the roof may have been slightly rounded going up to a 'peak' at the centre (although not a true 'centre' as the cabin is rectangular in shape.

I'm still interested to find out if possible if the many guard rails around the cabin (as shown in the links) would have been in place in the 20s/30s. I could imagine them being more recent and particularly since the structure has become a heritage property, added perhaps to ensure no grockles or emmets got into trouble wandering around the erection.

Likewise, in the 1920s/30s would the cabin have been painted with the contrast as is the case in the links? I have a picture from approx 1870s/1880s of the West Hartlepool cabin which appears to have no lighter colour contrast (except for the side steps), being the all-over 'dark' shade. (from NER Record Vol 1 p77)
Similarly an excellent historic pic of the Newcastle East end signal cabin shows no lighter contrast colour, perhaps with the exception of the door in the centre of the cabin.

Thanks all and Happy New Year.

Graeme Leary
New Zealand

[Dave]

Graeme.

We have talked about the roof shape endlessly before and I have sent you drawings. What is it that you don't understand ?.

[Graeme Leary]

Thanks Dave, agree we have but the pic of the Hexham cabin, seems to a layman like myself to be a slightly different shape to the Wylam version.

Happy with 'Rule 1' on this part of my query, more interested in any comments on the cross girders (???) supporting the cabin and also whether there would have been the lighter (beige/stone) colour contrast which the b/w pics quoted don't seem to have.

Chat soon, happy new year.

Graeme

[Dave]

Graeme.

You really need to decide what you are doing.
What years are you modelling now ?, as you state above 1920/30, yet you ask a question about the colour of the steps on the cabin at West Hartlepool that was removed in 1901 and was in NER colours. You ask about colours on the beams and refer to modern pictures of an interpretation of the NER livery, drmditch also has posted a picture of her model which is a very good guide on this thread.
A few weeks ago on another tread you asked about LNER colours and 65447 gave some BS colour information etc.
So you seem to have lots of information but keep asking the same questions.
Let me know what I'm missing in all this.
You are also building a hybrid version of the cabin to suit your location which seems to be a mixture of both Hexham and Wylam.

As for railings the NER would not want their signalmen falling so I would say include them.

[Graeme Leary]

Thanks Dave, all comments noted (and will be 'actioned' as such).

5.25pm here, now for a bottle of 'Landlord'.

Graeme

[Dave]

Hope you enjoyed the Landlord.