Swanley New Barn Railway

throughout with the signals being controlled from Lakeside station which also serves as a terminus.

The stations

Lakeside station

This station is the largest on the line. It has three platforms, a turntable, a ticket office and a signal box. All trains stop at this station, so they can be turned around and be prepared to travel back along the line. Passengers are required to go through the ticket office and obtain tickets before they board the train (in the case of those starting their journey at Lakeside) or get their tickets as they disembark (if they have travelled from New Barn Halt).

New Barn Halt

This station is a single platform station located near the car park. Passengers board the train here and then proceed to Lakeside station to disembark. The journey from this station to lakeside should take around 3 minutes. This station was made higher when the platform was redeveloped in 2006, making it easier for passengers to board and leave the train.

The signal box

The signal box is located at Lakeside Station, which is the larger of the two stations on the line. During the first year of the railway, a signal box was created to help control the points and signals around the station area. The signalman can see where the trains are by using the track circuits which are installed throughout the line. The track layout has been changed several times, all of the major changes are recorded to the left of the track diagram.

The signal box has two automatic modes of operation which means that if there is a lack of staff the railway can still function. The signal box frame has 35 levers, all of which are fully interlocked. The interlocking works with the track circits and point detection. Which levers are locked is decided by the signal box computer which receives points positions, Track_circuit data and lever information to decide if it is possible to set a route that will not cause a train to be sent in the wrong direction or be sent on a route where another train is set to cross the track in front of it. The points are worked by 12v Windscreen_wiper motors which have been adjusted so that they stop in one of two positions. They are controlled by the signal box computer which is in turn controlled by the levers. The direction that the points are set to is detected by two microswitches located under the points.

The majority of signals are powered by a 12 volt AC supply. The main signal that everyone sees is the one that passengers pass on their way into the station. It has three 20w bulbs which allow the signal to be seen clearly no matter what the conditions are. The signal located at the platform on New Barn Halt is powered by a 110V transformer located in the signal box.cite news
last = Peter
first = Jackson
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Signal Box Details
work =
publisher = Swanley New Barn Railway
date =
url = http://snbr.20m.com/signal.html
format = HTML
doi =
accessdate = 2008-05-13 ]

Locomotives

Steam Engines

* "Phoenix" - 0-4-0TT Recently repainted into a green Livery. Now sports side tanks.
* "Owd Rosie" - 2-6-2T Currently painted brown, It is similar to a Tinkerbell class locomotive.

* "Montezuma" - 2-8-0 Mainly seen running on Sundays with her American style wagons. Currently painted Midnight Blue.
* "Mallard" - 4-6-2 This locomotive is the only scale model based at the railway. It is a model of the full-size engine of the same name (the "Mallard"), which broke the world speed record for steam locomotives in 1938.
* "Sir Goss" - 2-4-0T This is the main steam locomotive in the fleet. It is occasionally seen at the Moors Valley Railway, It is painied in black livery.
* "Lady Sara" - 0-4-0 tender locomotive painted in a maroon livery, the current name displayed on the side of the locomotive is "Furbero"
* "Prince" - 2-4-0, this locomotive is currently under construction.
* "Suisaidh" - 2-4-4T - being built on and off site, based on the engine "Jason" from the Moors Valley Railway.

Diesel Engines

* "Tulyar" - Arrived on site in 1987, currently painted in a green livery.
* "Hymek" - Arrived on site in 1989, Has two bodies, one painted in purple and the other yellow.
* "County Of Kent" - Arrived on site in 1992, recently been repainted and is now red. She achieved 10,000 miles of passenger service in 10 years.
* "Kestrel" - Arrived on Site in 1999, the current yellow livery features a Hawker Siddeley logo.
* "SNCF" - Arrived on site in 2001, Based on the older style French SNCF locomotive which is now based in a museum.
* "Tegen" - 4wd. Build in house by John Deans. Sit in style narrow gauge diesel. Freelance design.

Other Motive Power

* "Steptoe" - Petrol Powered Currently out of order.
* "Redrum" - This is a battery powered locomotive very rarely used to pull passengers around the line.
* "Yellow Peril" - This is a small battery powered vehicle that uses a car battery for power. It is occasionally used to transport wheelbarrows around site.

Vandalism

The railway commonly has to deal with issues of vandalism, including smashed windows. Damage to the electrical wiring for signals and track circuits. On one occasion graffiti appeared on a platform over night, The track is occasionally lifted over night making it unsuitable for the trains to run on it. Once a burnt out car was found littering the tracks [cite news
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors = Ian Thomas
title = Are Britain's parks in decline?
work =
publisher = BBC News
date = August 2001
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/1505666.stm
format = HTML
doi =
accessdate = 2008-05-13 ] in one of the platforms.

References

External links

* [http://www.snbr.co.uk/ Railway Official website]
* [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/213528 Photograph of New Barn Halt]