Really Impressive & Extensive 7 1/4"-Gauge Railway

[StevieG]

My most recent visit of several, sprinkled over many years, to a certain miniature railway, has left me still greatly impressed by it, and prompts me to bring it to the attention of any readers here who are, or might become, interested in such things.

Although only one example of the minority of miniature lines which are generally comprehensively well-equipped and run,
(with apologies to anyone who already knows it well), anyone fancying turning their wheels towards (or using other modes of travel to) NW Surrey [near Chertsey, about 2 miles from M25, Junc.11, to be precise], could do much worse than visit the Great Cockcrow Railway (http://www.cockcrow.co.uk) [ Note: it is like cock-crow; not cock-row ].
This is an extensive line with :
- some 2 miles of track,
- a 6-road loco shed,
- a complement of about 25 locos (representing many companies' designs), with visitors not uncommon,
- a 4-platform main terminus ("Hardwick") [and another ("Cockcrow Hill") with 2 platforms],
- two turntables,
- three fully-equipped signal boxes ("Hardwick", "Everglades Junc", and "Cockcrow Hill"), using correctly prototypical methods of working between them,
- fully working miniature semaphore and colour-light signalling,
- a rail-over-rail (& water) viaduct,
- a tunnel,
- double-track,
- some parallel running,
- two 2-way connecting lines, and
- two different journeys around the network using alternative routeings.

Trains usually consist of around four 'sit-in' carriages, and journeys take, as a guesstimate, 10-15 minutes or more, except the special, longer, train "The Gladesman" at the end of the day, which takes at least 20 minutes, travels the whole network, and is usually double-headed.
The line is open to the public on Sunday afternoons, May-September, plus a special darkness-running 'Hallow'een' Saturday evening towards the end of October, and gets very busy on good days, with I would guess, accordingly at least eight trains somewhere around the line or in the main "Hardwick" terminus at any one time, making a proper, safely-run, signalling system a necessity rather than just for effect, and for which the central, Everrglades, signal box which controls most of the network has a VDU train describer system to aid the signalmen in knowing which train is which and to where it should next be routed.

Thoroughly recommended. [ No, I am not a member of the railway

[R. pike]

I only visited the line once and that turned out to be a very expensive experience. Once i saw their Westinghouse L frame i knew i had to have one. It is a rather fantastic little railway.