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The Summer Outing took place on Sunday 28th June to the Great Cockcrow Railway near Chertsey.
The railway, which is owned by the publisher Ian Allan, is an extensive
7¼ inch gauge line. There is a large collection of
locomotives, owned by members of the railway's support group.
One engine, a model of a WD 2-10-0, is on loan from the NRM.
Perhaps the main claim to fame of the railway is its fully proto-typical
signalling using a mixture of miniature semaphore and coloured light
signals.
These are controlled from 3 separate boxes, each sunk partly into the
ground so they appear more in scale with the railway when viewed
outside. Two of these have fully interlocked electrical lever
frames recovered from Crewe South and South Croydon; the third is a
manual frame from Purfleet. Original bell instruments have been
supplemented by a Westinghouse computer-based train describer.
Our group of 22 members and friends were taken on a special guided tour
of the locomotive works and sheds, and a look behind the scenes in all
three signal boxes and the associated relay locking rooms.
Our tour culminated in a special 7 coach, double-headed train around the
full line. Our trip took some 45 minutes, such is the extent of
the railway and, despite the maximum grade of 1 in 50, made good
speed. For once this summer, the rain held off, so we enjoyed the
trip in comfort.
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