Quarry Halt is a small "00" gauge layout featuring a small halt on a single line somewhere in the Midlands in the 1950s and early 1960s. The local mill and output of a nearby quarry are the mainstay of the traffic, along with milk products from the local farms to the creameries in the conurbations. The halt was constructed primarily to serve the needs of workers at the quarry. Operation is conventional DC, with points and signals mostly worked by the tried and tested bicycle spoke method - but see below.
This layout is available for exhibitions, contact us on aandcmrs@gmail.com
Latest: The layout was shown at Amersham Heritage Day on the 8th of September 2024. We were in St Mary's Church from about 1pm (after morning service). The crowds were just as big as last time!
The platform starter signal suffered damage at the Bracknell show and needed the main arm replaced. So MikeB built a whole new signal with improvements on the original Ratio kit model; finer details, improved ladder, metal arms and lighting in the lamps with miniature LEDs. We have also moved to servo control of the signal which means they now bounce! The arms are set by push button but cleared by a sensor as trains pass the signal, a real help during busy exhibiting.
The advanced starter into the fiddle yard area was also motorised as the manual operation was always very stiff.
The replacement platform starter signal prompted discussion about all the signalling on the layout and because of this we will be adding five additional signals to the platform area. This means we will have to move on from the 'bicycle spoke' form of operation to reduce the burden on the operators. So a CBUS* system has been installed that will enable us to automate to a certain extent the control of the signals; for example the returning to danger after a train has passed and some route control.
We hope to have all of this working by the time of the Chesham Model Railway Club's 50th anniversary Exhibition on March 2nd 2025.
*CBUS is a layout control system using a shared bus design that saves on multi way cables and has a certain amount of computing logic available. It is promoted and supported by MERG.
