Its been a cold winter in these parts - down to minus most mornings and the train shed never gets above 10 in July and August (this year it started in May). It isn't much fun watching a 30T shunt when you can't feel your fingers or toes, even under several layers of clothing. So this is my way of confessing to (a) being soft in my old age (b) reluctant to spend time in the shed these part few months. Don't worry, give it four months and I'll be complaining about the heat.
Anyway, while sitting inside next to the fire I have been inspired by the most excellent series of books by Bob Taafe on signal boxes of NSW. The drawings in the books are a modeler's treasure chest and the maps are pretty darn good too (thank you Mr S).
As I sat there, inspired, I counted up the number of signal boxes I will need for the layout - 12! Including four in Dubbo itself, plus Dubbo East and Troy Junctions! And no two are the same. That is a lifetime of scratch building at the rate I achieve things. The load will need to be lessened by purchasing one or more kits, but it is still a decade of (under) achievement, even counting that I have 2.5 boxes already made.
All this is a way of saying I have made a start on Dubbo B box, which sat on the southwestern corner of the mainline as it crossed Fitzroy Street. According the Taafe bible, the first Dubbo B box was on the northern side of the line. This was replaced by the one I want to construct in 1936. The replacement was, as described by Bob Taafe, the 'classic NSWR country signal box' - skillion roof, weatherboard walled and known by the owners as the 'standard low elevation signal cabin'.
As kids, we would regularly be held up here to see a 30T wheeze by, shunting the yard. So, it came with my usual sense of disappointment to find we had no photos of the box prior to its re-sheeting in the early 1980s into a truly horrid looking box. Then we have plenty of the new iteration.
Bob Taafe points out that the primary purpose of the signal box was to shelter the officer in charge of opening and closing the Fitzroy Street railway crossing gates, as the signals were worked from Dubbo A box on the station platform. And that is what I remember most - the bum side of a laconically posed worker, usually with a cigarette hanging our of his mouth, leaning up against the gate, also watching the 30T wheeze by.
Thankfully, I managed to find several good shots on various Facebook groups, which confirmed that Dubbo B box varied from the standard design (along with many other examples) with a door on the eastern end, rather than out onto a small platform. The following photo is a snippet of a great shot published in Derek Rogers's book, Remember When. I have stolen this particular photo because it also shows my next modelling project - the shunter's cabin aka the chook shed.
The other reason I picked Dubbo B box is that it was a solid wall on the high (southern) side, which is the side most people will view it from on the layout. Solid walls are my modelling forte.
Armed with all this information, I nearly built the whole box in a day. Probably my fastest effort ever as I like to stop to sniff the glue as it dries. Here's a bit of evidence.
The windows are undersized against the prototype, but they are a North Eastern product so they are a joy to work with. I added another pane of windows to make up for the narrowness of the North Eastern ones. And I impressed myself by remembering to not glue the roof on before it is painted and the window glass inserted.
Here is a close up from the north western end - the window frames look a bit wonky as they are only sitting there. Every photo I have of this box, the west end window is open, so it is too in the model. I am OK with the way it looks. Chimney pot, guttering and telegraph wires to be added, along with a black snake sliding under the foundations.
And yes, it will be painted at some stage. On 19 March 1964 a gentleman by the name of Howard Simpson took a lovely photo of 3080T in the vicinity of Dubbo B box, which another gentleman (Chris Sim) posted on Facebook. I have snaffled the right hand 30% of that photo and reproduced it below, as it will be my guide for painting when that time comes. It was once a very handsome box!
So, I am off to do another signal box in August, probably Troy Junction. But I will be building that one our of inflammable materials as the prototype had a propensity to combust.
Thanks to all who contributed to this imperfect near-rendering of Dubbo B box - Messrs Taafe, S, Rogers, Simpson and Sim. See, it takes a village to raise a signal box.
Cheers,
Don
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