Acton Miniature Railway
AMR Report
Adrian Allum sends an update on recent developments on the Acton Miniature Railway.
Updated: 17/08/2012
Volunteers at the Acton Miniature Railway have been working on a number of projects recently, the most demanding of them being the realignment of track at Depot Approach station. We have moved the departures track a bit nearer to the platform, and then moved the arrivals track alongside it. This brings the latter away from the kerb, and we should lose less ballast onto the road.
Two new signal gantries are being built for Wesley's Halt. One will go at the north end of the station, to support the northbound starter signal (WN.8); and the other will go at the south end of the station, to support the southbound starter signals (WN.6a & WN.7a) and shunt signals (WN.6b & WN.7b). The shunt signals will be for access to the siding adjacent to the signal cabin; and the WN.7 signals will be for southbound moves from the northbound track.
A new signal has been tested recently, first where WN.8 belongs (with the sunlight facing the aspects) and then where A.600 belongs (with the sunlight behind the signal). The signal has proven to be much more suitable than the improvised signal repeaters that we have modified for our use, and we will be getting some more. This is a commercially available product from "Ride-on-Railways," but has been modified to suit our needs.
The kindness of the volunteers has seen the development of an AMR tool kit. All too often we have been unable to complete a job because a required tool had been left at home, and no spares were to be found at the Depot. So, to combat this, we have been donating old (but perfectly serviceable) tools; some volunteers have even purchased tools especially for the railway.
The AMR will be operational over the next Acton Depot Open Weekend on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th October.