As some may know, I work as a volunteer signalman on the East Lancashire Railway http://www.eastlancsrailway.org.uk/ at the top end boxes of Rawtenstall West and Townsend Fold. Weekday turns at Rawtenstall can be a bit lacking on action on the Green timetable, as today was, as there’s usually at least an hour and three-quarters between the last train leaving and the next down train entering section.
A lot of the signalmen read in this down time, but I decamped my modelling bench from home to Rawtenstall this morning to start work on cutting out the shell for North Ballachulish’s down side waiting shelter. That’s all very well until you realise other than the train register table, the only other table in the box has all the telecoms equipment on it, and using solvent glue on top of that lot would not be approved by the S and T engineers!!
So the train register was pushed to the back of the table, and the modelling board just fits nicely. The only hassle being the comfy armchairs are too low for the table so you model stood up. It made for a very pleasant day and significant progress was made on the shelter – more of which later.
I’m not the first to build models in a signal box, and I suspect I wont be the last, but it does feel a most appropriate venue to model in and a good use of down time. It was certainly much better than the reading the material the last signalman had left on the table, the Great Western Journal!!
New Hey to North Ballachulish 