Friday 1 July 2011

Track Diagrams: Hest Bank

(Click on image to enlarge)

D - Doll (reduced-size goods line arm)

This is the one place on the West Coast Main Line where you can actually see the coast. Note the plan is drawn with 'North' at the bottom.

There's a simple station, level crossing and a British Rail standard signal box. In 1967, there were five Camping Coaches in a siding on the seaward side and Water Troughs to the north of the station. A bi-directional third line extended to the south, curving through a cutting and under a bridge. Beyond the bridge, the third line diverged to join the Lancaster - Morecambe line at Bare Lane. The two main lines continued south to Morecambe Junction and Lancaster. I show only two semaphore arms on the Down Home gantry but I think I missed the colour light Down Main Home, also on the gantry.

The Up Home was a 3-aspect colour light with 'line-of-lights' route indicator reading to the third line.

You can find more detailed track and signalling diagrams of the route in the excellent series of publications from the Signalling Record Society 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's'.

Hest Bank is included in 'Volume 6: West Coast Main Line (Euxton Junction to Mossband) and Branches' (ISBN: 1 873228 00 7).

For details of what remains of this route in 2005, refer to 'Railway Track Diagrams Book 4: Midlands & North West', Second Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-0-1). The First Edition of this book was published by Quail in 1988.