Every now and then there are some articles online on one of the well-known fora that you just HAVE to share to a broader audience. A while ago my eye fell on an article by Hod Carrier over at the Train Tech forums of Eurobricks. Hod Carrier is no stranger here at BMR, having contested twice on OcTRAINber, and one time almost. Today, his piece is about Trackside Structures, one of my favorite parts of any realistic Lego Train Model Railroad:

As we’re all grounded at the moment, I thought I’d use some of the time to have a little look at ways to make subtle improvements to the track. It’s always great to debut a new loco or item of rolling stock, but apart from ballasting the track on which these trains run often gets overlooked. As a train driver here in the UK I thought I’d see how to add the sort of details seen along the lineside in order to add realism, often with only a few parts.

These digital designs represent details found on modern British railway lines and I appreciate that the precise designs will have only minor appeal, but I hope that it will serve as an inspiration to designers to look more closely at the infrastructure and to consider adding similar details to their builds. All of the designs are compatible with the PennLUG standard of track ballasting.

This is quite a busy scene showing a typical modern British railway signal and it’s associated infrastructure. As well as the signal itself, included are the signalling equipment cabinets, TPWS train-stop loops, signalpost telephone and cable troughs.

The signal is a modern lightweight signal based on a flat panel design containing LEDs to show each of the three colour aspects. These are becoming increasingly common in the UK as older signalling is renewed. The smaller black tile represents the signal identification plate. Also shown is the signalpost telephone. In the past these phones would have been mounted directly onto the signalpost itself, but the modern standard is to have them separate with a walkway and rail for protection.

A selection of lineside equipment cabinets together with the concrete cable troughs. These troughs can vary in colour depending on age and weathering. They are also rarely dead straight or level and can often disappear altogether under piles of ballast or vegetation, which gives the modeller licence to do more interesting things with them. On routes with more than one line the troughs and cabinets can appear on either both sides or just on one side.

This is the Automatic Warning System (AWS) track equipment used in conjunction with a signal. Using magnets and electro-magnets, this operates the in-cab equipment and indicates to the driver whether the signal is clear or at caution. These are generally accompanied by a small equipment cabinet.

The grey slope at the front of the magnet is there to protect it from anything hanging from the train and is why these installations are referred to as “AWS ramps”. This is the typical arrangement used on uni-directional lines, but there are other AWS arrangements for bi-directional lines as well as fixed magnets to alert drivers to lineside warning signs, for example.

The correct operation of the signals relies on train detection. Previously this was done using track circuits, but modern signalling schemes now use axle counters. This is an axle counter head unit with it’s associated lineside box.

The parts for these do stand about half a plate above the rail, but there are no clearance issues for trains using LEGO’s train motor.

Another common feature now seen on the UK network is Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS). This is a radio-based safety system that will automatically stop a train under certain circumstances. The system uses an arming loop and a trigger loop and can be set to trigger the train’s brake by varying the distance between the two loops.

The parts required for these are very simple and few in number.

TPWS comes in two forms; overspeed and train-stop. The pair of loops placed end to end (left) is the train-stop arrangement and is used at signals to stop a train if the signal is passed when it’s red. The loops spaced apart (right) are the overspeed arrangement. These might be used where a reduction in speed needs to be enforced for safety, such as on approach to a speed restriction or approaching a red signal.

These humble looking things are treadles. They are basically switches on the track which are operated by the train wheels and can be used either singly or in pairs to operate things like footpath crossing warning lights or even some automatic road crossings.

Not much to add with this photo. Treadles are placed both before and after the equipment they are intended to control; once to activate it and once to deactivate it once the train has passed.

Sometimes it’s necessary for cables to cross underneath the track from one side to the other. To achieve this safely, plastic pipes are laid between the sleepers.

I would probably cut down the bars on the ends to 2 studs rather than 3. The colours normally used are contrasting such as orange or blue, but they quickly weather to a duller shade.

Want to see more of Hod Carriers builds? Just pop over to his Flickr stream to see even more awesome stuff!