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BCDR Moderator 
My photos:
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I had a few hours free Sunday afternoon, got a platform ticket and took some shots of the track and ballast at Banbury station. Mainline is concrete sleeper with flatbottom track, sidings are a mixture of flatbottom track and bullhead track with 2 and 3 bolt chairs and wooden sleepers. Up and down lines are both super-elevated through the station, and are at different levels (I suspect a heritage from the time GWR expresses ran through Banbury). Both the North and South ends of the sidings have semaphore signals (working), and there is a ground lever frame on the south end that appears to be functional. There are some interesting things to note about the ballast, see photo's and comments below.  Up and down mainlines. Flat bottomed track, note size of ballast , ballast on sleepers and heavy oil coverage from underslung DMU engines.  Bullhead rail on wooden sleepers with 3 bolt chairs on station sidings. Track still in use, passenger DMU's and goods. Note fading of sleeper color, size of ballast, white-painted bolt heads, ballast on top of sleepers.  Up main line. Moss growing on the track from rain falling from the platform canopy. Ballast on sleepers, lots of engine oil.  Bullhead rail, 2 bolt chairs, wooden sleeper, Platform 3. Oil on the ballast in the middle, rust from engine radiator. Track used daily for Banbury-Marylebone trains.  Ground frame with Platform 3 behind, siding with bullhead rails 3 bolt chairs, fine ballast. Note weeds, low level of ballast, oil from where DMU's are parked, variation in sleeper spacing. Nigel |
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g0ibi Full Member 
My photos:
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Thanks for that Nigel, very interesting as I'm ballasting my layout at the moment! Maybe I won't clean all the ballast of the sleepers now!! Thanks Ron |
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BCDR Moderator
My photos:
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Hi Ron, This is really modern, but I remember it looking much the same 30 years ago. The only difference being some springy track on the up line. The ballast looks to be 2"-4" (I didn't get down to measure it!), W/S medium would be slightly over scale, fine slightly under scale. Blitz the medium in the coffee grinder for a few seconds and sieve. The mix of concrete sleepers, wooden sleepers, flat-bottomed and bullhead rail, and 2 and 3 bolt chairs would provide some visual interest if modeled. The other thing I noted was the variation in track levels - clearly seen with the ground frame shot, and the mounds of ballast between the up and down lines. Nigel |
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BCDR Moderator
My photos:
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 Note regular spacing of oil stains where the DMU's stood overnight in preparation for the morning commuter traffic. Fine ballast, lots of weeds, sand barrier and rail buffer at end.  Track end, old newspaper siding (to the right of platform 3). Bullhead rail, 2 bolt chairs, wooden sleepers. Out of use since the 1980's (at least). Nigel |
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