Threapwood

00, London Midland & Scottish Railway, 12 by 4 feet


Video

Passenger Train        Goods Train

Station        Signal Box

Coal Yard        Compressed Coal Company        Panoramas

London Midland & Scottish Railway

Wych Brook Valley

Threapwood

Tallarn Green

Dymock’s Mill

Castle Hill


Passenger Train


 


Goods Train

 

Station

As Threapwood's name board proudly announces Threapwood is a platform - a halt where porters
sell tickets and handle parcels traffic. At Threapwood the porters also operate the signal box.


Signal Box
 
The Signal box controls the points to the siding and Intermediate
block signals that allow trains to follow each other but not cross.



Coal Yard
 

Compressed Coal Company

The Compressed Coal Company is named after an unsuccessful briquette making company in the Forest Of Dean. Briquette are made by sticking coal dust and small pieces of coal (also called duff, lime coal etc) together converting them into something more valuable. In the UK till the 1960’s briquette were called patent fuel.
Coal is bought in by rail screened, if oversized sold or crushed to size (technically granulated), the correctly sized coal is mixed with a binder, shaped, and put into an autoclave where steam is used to rapidly harden the raw briquettes. Steam comes from the power plant. The now solid briquettes go to bulk dispatch were they can be shipped out by rail or road - a National Coal Board truck can be seen loading briquettes. Briquettes for local delivery go to bagged dispatch were they are bagged and loaded onto trucks - a yellow truck can be seen loading bagged briquettes.
From a modellers perspective this has the great advantage of explaining why railway wagons come in and leave full (in bound coal & out bound briquette) and come in and leave empty (empty to collect briquettes & empty coal wagons returning to their colliery). To emphasis tatty nature of the company a range of timber and corrugated iron building styles was used.


Panoramas of the layout