Pulleys, cables, and posts

Posted byTrevorPosted inGreat Western Railway in 7mm scale, GWR Bydemill (Highworth), Layouts I have designed or built, Scenery, The Little Details
The cables and posts to operate the home and starter signals join the point rodding hardware along the edge of the right of way.

I continue to work on details for Bydemill – my 7mm scale, Edwardian era, Great Western Railway layout. After an intense few days earlier this month to prep and install point rodding, I finished up the signal box hardware by completing the lead-off board and adding the pulleys, cables, and posts that would’ve operated the home and starter signals.

I ordered some photoetched pulleys and cast brass signal wire posts from Wizard Models in the UK and they arrived a few days later. I prepped the pieces by spraying them with grey primer, then got to work installing them. The posts include a handy page of instructions that includes information on spacing them correctly. I added cables using black EZ Line, with short lengths of fine chain added at the pulleys, per the prototype.

With everything in place, I brush-painted the posts with a wash of pale brown and highlighted the pulley blocks with a black wash.

The finished posts and cables add another layer of interest to the right of way. The lower line turns through a pulley then dives through a trench in the ballast to control the starter signal on the far side of the tracks. The upper line continues to follow the right of way to the home signal, located beyond the station throat.
A view from track level. Note the point rodding at left – and to the left of it, the signal posts and cables.

The lead-off board is the platform in front of the signal box where the point rodding and signal cables emerge from the box then turn to run parallel to the rails.

While I installed most of the point rodding in earlier sessions, I held off finishing the rods at the signal box until I had my signalling hardware. This way, I could get everything reasonably close to lined up correctly. The board includes four angle cranks and two pulleys, all in a tight space.

The lead-off board, after installing the details but before painting them.
The finished, painted lead-off board with the signal box in place. The board can barely be seen from normal viewing angles but it is possible to catch a glimpse of it as seen here – so it was worth adding.

When planning scenes, I like to think about how people – especially railway staff – would interact with the space. This raised an issue for me: How would signal box staff access the box? They could walk across the tracks near the starter signal, and then walk along the cess between the point rodding and the signal lines – but they would have to climb over the signal lines to reach the stairs.

The instructions from Wizard Models included a sketch of a box – a tunnel for the cables that would create safe pathways for railway personnel. (Such boxes were also used under road crossings and foot paths.) There were no measurements provided as each situation would be different, so I simply built one up to dimensions that looked right. I dug out a trench for it, glued it in place, and buried it with cess material.

The box tunnel, built from stained strip wood and buried in the cess. The point rodding and posts had not yet been painted when I took this picture.
An arriving passenger train passes the clear home signal. The signal box operator would’ve pulled a lever, when then pulled the cable and dropped the signal. When the train has arrived at the station, the lever would be pushed back to its normal position and a weight – the white disc in front of the base of the post – would automatically restore the signal to its stop position. This means the signal would automatically default to stop if the cable should break.

Adding point rodding and signal cables was – frankly – a fiddly project and I worried about the robustness of the parts. That said, it’s a subtle detail that makes a real difference to the scene. It helps explain the role of the signal box – and in planning these details, I learned a lot about how the prototype installations were designed.

I’m glad I took the time and made the effort.

Published by Trevor

Lifelong model railway enthusiast and retired amateur shepherd who trained a border collie to work sheep. Professional writer and editor, with some podcasting and Internet TV presenting work thrown in for good measure.