Redhill - The Plan

I have a cunning plan, well, I have had more of them than I care to contemplate. Whilst the inspiration and concept of Redhill has remained unchanged the plan has been through more revisions than I've had hot dinners. The limiting factor is that it must fit in my garage and leave room for all the other things from deep freezes to bicycles that live in there. (Car? You must be joking!) Early plans had the storage loops behind the scenic section. This produced baseboards that were far too wide and rendered access impossible. An around the walls style was considered, but as you need at least a two foot width for much of the length it became impractical when the other uses of the garage are considered. The current plan was eventually arrived at and has itself been subject to revisions. A level crossing [7] replaced a bridge under the railway, introducing much revision of that end of the layout to accommodate it. I hope that the action of the crossing will be worth it! The storage loops [1] nearly ended up underneath the layout with access via a long gradient and spiral. A combination of likely operating and access problems put paid to that. They will now be situated on the bottom right hand corner of the layout running along another wall. This has the advantage of ease of access and an alternative connection will be provided should I ever want to exhibit the layout.

A three car DMU will provide the rail service. Again many more ambitious plans have come and gone. The double track line is served by a single track sector plate at each end. This saves the length of a point at each end on the hidden trackage. At the left (Walsall) end the line emerges from behind some houses, crosses a road by means of a level crossing [7] and then runs on to an embankment. The embankment changes to a viaduct with businesses in the arches and then over a girder bridge across Station Road to enter the station [4]. This is a simple affair, basically two short platforms with waiting shelters, that is suspended over the town which it serves. Pulling out the train crosses another, larger, girder bridge and disappears behind a poster hoarding and multi-story car park [2].

Road traffic has five ways of getting on to the scenic section. At the left end it runs along a street of terraced houses. This is Walsall Road and is the main road from Redhill westwards to Walsall. Eastbound the road splits into two lanes as it approaches a junction controlled by traffic lights [6].

At the junction Walsall Road, from the West, meets Queen Street, from the East (right) and Rising Brook Lane from the North. Queen Street and Walsall Road both have filter lanes at the traffic lights. Rising Brook Lane immediately crosses the railway by means of a half barrier level crossing [7] and then bends to the left, disappearing off between buildings [8].

Continuing eastward on Queen Street we are entering Redhill town centre. A small road off gives access to the bus station [5]. All incoming buses run up this road and then swing round into the bus station bays ready to pull out back onto Queen Street. The eastmost bay is parallel to Queen Street, the others are all perpendicular to it. At the east end of the bus station Station Road, a one way street, comes under a girder bridge and joins Queen Street. Station Road is one of the few places in the town centre where there is on-street parking and so is usually packed on both sides. Fortunately the low railway bridge tends to stop large vehicles before they get stuck.

At the east end of Queen Street we come to a roundabout [3]. Here Back Road comes from the north, under another railway bridge, and Birmingham Road goes off to the South East. The entrance to the multi-storey car park [2] also comes off the roundabout. Birmingham Road disappears off between some modern shops and a multi-storey car park [2].

Back Road is the hidden arterial road that distributes traffic to the various entrances of the scenic section. All vehicles leaving the scenic section travel back to the storage yard [1]. Here vehicles can be recharged and await their next appearance on stage.

Operational features include:

• Traffic lights at the Walsall Road / Rising Brook Lane / Queen Street junction [6]. These have two lanes for the east/west routes and will operate in a three phase system with each road getting a green light in turn. When Rising Brook Lane has a green light the filter from Walsall Road to Rising Brook Lane will also be green. When Walsall Road has a green light then the filter from Queen Street to Walsall Road will also be Green.
• Operating automatic half-barrier level crossing on Rising Brook Lane [7].
• Multi-storey car park - operating entrance barrier [2].
• Roundabout [3].
• Parking cars on Station Road [4].

There will now be a short period of plan tweaking. Don‘t hold your breath!