General
  
This simulation is based on the 2013 track arrangement when alterations to Lancaster South Junction were made and Bare Lane Signalbox and Hest Bank Level Crossing Frame box were closed at the same time, control being transferred to a new panel in Preston PSB.

The area covered by this simulation is operated from Preston "D Panel" (Preston Fylde Junction to Carnforth Nth Jn, Morecambe & Heysham) and Carnforth Station Signalbox as far as the Down Home signal at Arnside AE17 and Settle Jn home Signal SJ7.

North (towards Scotland) is to the right; South towards London is to the left.

Southbound, Preston "C Panel" controls the West Coast Mainline (WCML) beyond Oxheys Loop to the south, Carlisle "South Panel" controls the WCML beyond Carnforth North Junction.

There is a slight overlap with the PC-Rail Preston Simulation to allow the full use of the upgraded Oxheys passing/recess loop. 

Note that the Panel track display distances are not uniform.

Background
  
Lancaster is located 21 miles north of Preston and 19 miles south of Oxenholme on the West Coast Main Line. Carnforth is 6 miles north of Lancaster and is a major junction with routes towards the Cumbrian Coast to Carlisle via Barrow-in-Furness, Whitehaven and Workington, and also to Skipton and Leeds via Hellifield. It is an intensively used "mixed-user" section of railway with fast expresses, slower local services and freight trains all sharing the same tracks meaning that any late running or failures will have a knock-on effect for all other trains very quickly.

The area covered by this simulation is the closest the West Coast Mainline comes to the sea at Hest Bank Level Crossing.

There are several passing loops which can be used to prevent delays to faster trains. Some trains may be timetabled to recess in the loops; however it may be that the operator will be required to recess other slower late-running freight trains to allow faster passenger trains to pass.

Careful regulation for late runners is therefore very important otherwise significant delays may occur.

WCML (off-panel) Passing Places

North of the display panel - next WCML recess loop, north of Carnforth, is immediately south of Oxenholme station and is for freight and ECS trains only. This loop is 13 miles north of Carnforth (transit time  10.5 mins @ 75Mph and 13mins @ 60 mph)
 
South WCML - Signal 152 (at the extreme left of the panel) controls the route over Preston Fylde Junction. The line splits beyond this location into the Fast Lines and Through Lines (signal 152 is 1 mile north of Preston station).

The Down Furness Line beyond Carnforth Station has no passing locations until Dalton Junction where freight services or excursion trains not scheduled to call at Barrow-in-Furness sometimes use the Dalton Loop to avoid Barrow-in-Furness station (located 24 miles beyond Carnforth on the Dn Furness).

The Down Carnforth Line has no passing places until Hellifield (28 miles beyond Carnforth).
The above must be taken into consideration when regulating services during periods of late running.

The operating area for this simulation covers eleven stations. Lancaster, *Carnforth, Bare Lane, Morecambe, Heysham Harbour, *Wennington, *Bentham, *Clapham-Nth Yorkshire, *Giggleswick and *Silverdale and *Arnside.
(*) These stations are not part of the Preston Box area; however these are included as the simulation covers the Carnforth signal-box area and associated Absolute Block Sections.

The Preston Power Box also controls the Morecambe and Heysham branches (Prefix PN - not shown). 
Carnforth Station signalbox controls the Furness line as far as Signal CS3 and Little North-western lines as far as CS10.

Other prefixes in the simulation

	CE	-	Carlisle PSB 
	SJ	-	Settle Junction 
	AE	-	Arnside
	PI	-	Points Indicator
	GF	-	Ground Frame

System of Working

The West Coast Main Line (WCML) between London Euston, Crewe, Carlisle and Scotland. Generally Track Circuit Block signalling (TCB) is in use.

The Furness Line to Barrow-in-Furness, Whitehaven and Carlisle via the Cumbrian Coast uses Absolute Block Signalling (AB). 

The Morecambe to Skipton Line via "The Little North-Western Line" uses Absolute Block Signalling (AB). 

The Down and Up Morecambe (DUM) line beyond Bare Lane Junction in both directions is One Train Only (OT).

The Down and Up Heysham (DUH) line beyond Bare Lane Junction in both directions is ONE train only (OT). 

Platform Capacities 

(Reduce by 1 for loco-hauled trains)
P*-* = Permissive Working Code (where permitted).	
					All Other
	Lancaster	Carnforth	Bare Lane	Morecambe	Stations	Loops

Plat	1	-	3	PP 	Plat	1	-	12	PP-A	Plat	1	-	4	Plat	1	-	5	5	Oxheys	PF
Plat	2	-	5	PP	Plat	2	-	12	PP-C	Plat	2	-	4	Plat	2	-	7		B & B	PF
Plat	3	-	12	PP	DFG				PP-F										Oubeck	PF
Plat	4	-	11	PP-A	U&DG1/2		PF										UPL  CNF	PF
Plat	5	-	8	PP-A
Sdg	1	-	18

Notes - 
All Loops are "PF"
Permissive Codes (Ref- Sectional Appendix)
PP   	Full use for classes 1, 2, 3, ECS, 5, 9, 0 trains.
PP-A	Attaching/detaching ONLY for classes 1, 2, 3, ECS, 5, 9, 0 trains.
PP-C	Contingency use only for classes 1, 2, 3, ECS, 5, 9, 0 (Only applies in times of disruption - requires Network Rail special authorisation).
PF	Permissive working for class 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 0 trains only.

Miscellaneous Information

Electrification

Refer to the Timetable Information tab for OHLE information.

Notes

Up & Down Goods Loops at Carnforth - These loops may also be used by (in-service) passenger trains in certain circumstances - loco changes for excursions/charters and during degraded working conditions - points failures etc.

The run-round Loop at Morecambe is spring-loaded and is operated by the passage of the train.

Level Crossings

Bare Lane - This level crossing is monitored and operated by the release of the signals protecting the level crossing when heading towards Morecambe (255 or 258).

Trains departing both platforms at Morecambe require a plunger to be activated (TRS alert on the simulation), by the train guard/conductor on the platform before departure in order to start the closing procedure by the releasing either of the protecting signals (259 or 262).  

Hest Bank (CCTV) - This level crossing is monitored and controlled by Preston PSB via CCTV and activated by releasing the protecting signal - (Obstacle detection fitted). Use of the "A" Semi-Automatic operation will lock the barriers in the "road-closed" position when trains are following each other close behind.

Bolton-Le-Sands (CCTV) - This level crossing is monitored and controlled by Preston PSB via CCTV and activated by releasing the protecting signal. (Obstacle detection fitted). "A" function available as per Hest Bank.

Silverdale Automatic Half-Barrier Crossing (AHBC) - This level crossing is monitored by Carnforth Station signalbox and is activated by the passage of trains activating a track-circuit on approach.

User worked crossings, (UWC), are not shown.

Other Notes

Barrier Timing

 Timing of barriers at Bare Lane is 25secs
 Timing of barriers at Hest Bank and Bolton-Le-Sands is 15 secs
 Timing of barriers at Silverdale is 5 secs
        
Morecambe & Heysham

DUM	-	One Train Only where no staff is provided (OTNS)
DUH	-	One Train Only (OTNS) Bare Lane to Heysham Port/Heysham Hbr Power Station inclusive.

Note Signal PI1 (Morecambe Junction) is for locos running-round as it is a point indicator - it is not used for route setting purposes for arriving trains.
(e.g. Set route 255/258 to SB2, PI1 will set automatically)

1) Trains bound for the Up and Down Heysham require a key to unlock the ground frame (points 700), to access the Morecambe Junction to Heysham section, and also the ground frame to access Heysham Power Station sidings (points 701 if required). 
This key is contained within a locked cabinet on P2 at Morecambe and is collected by the Heysham-bound driver and returned upon arrival back at Morecambe. The presence (or absence) of the key in the cabinet is shown on the panel display at Preston PSB.  However, on this simulation, the indication is not shown.

2) Locos requiring to run round their train at Morecambe use the Run-Round Loop at the end of the DUH. Locos are uncoupled from the train and the route set from "SB2" (Platform 2 Stop Board) to "DUH" (Buffer Stop). The route can then be set from PI3 to Sig 262 using the "Shunt to" feature to stop at PI1, then the route can be set to MCM SB2.
The points on the run-round loop are spring-loaded in real-life and the loco will always return via the RR Loop once it has passed Stop Board "SB2" and does not require signaller intervention or signals. However, for the purposes of this simulation, signal labels are shown to allow route-setting.
Loco-hauled trains bound for all destinations on the Heysham branch will be "Top and Tailed" by locos and as such the locos will not need to run-around. The train info box will contain any relevant information.

4) Morecambe station departures are controlled by signal levers PL1 and PL2. In real-life there are no signals at this location and as such only the label is displayed to allow the route to be set. 
The guard/conductor will operate a plunger 1 minute before departure and the TRS indicator will illuminate to alert the operator to set the route which will start the Bare Lane LC closing sequence. 
Heysham Port Station departures will only depart once the route has been set from "HPD". (TRS fitted)

Garstang & Catterall Emergency Ground Frame

There are two sets of points located a quarter of a mile south of the site of the former Garstang & Catterall Station, one set are facing points and the other trailing. They are only used in disruption/engineering work. They are operated by a local ground frame and cannot be operated by the signaller at Preston.
As such, there are no routes over either of the crossovers at Garstang & Catterall and is only shown for diagrammatic purposes.
It is however, the location of a mandatory timing point in both directions.

Hot Axle Box Detectors - ("HABD"), are displayed for illustrative purposes only.

Due to software limitations there are minor differences between the simulation and real-life, such as route-setting labels but no signals (eg, the Morecambe Branch). However the operation of the area covered is as close to real-life as is possible.
 
The line between Carnforth and Settle Junction and vice-versa (locally known as the Little North Western) is the longest block-section in the country at 24 miles.

Line Designation Changes

The Furness Lines are designated "Up Main and Down Main" in real-life beyond Carnforth Station Junction. However, to avoid confusion with the WCML these have been renamed Up Furness and Down Furness throughout.

2023 Upgrade 

In mid-2013 a new set of facing points (Nos. 693a and 693b) were installed by Network Rail at Lancaster South Junction. These were commissioned in time for the commencement of the December 2013 timetable along with other minor changes to the track-work and equipment.
 
(Note - Points 693 cannot be used for timetables set prior to December 2013). 

The addition of these points enabled northbound trains to use platforms 4 & 5 at Lancaster and provide a much needed extra two northbound-through platforms. (Previously there had only been one - Platform 3).
At the same time the Up Goods Loop at Lancaster South Junction was upgraded to passenger status and re-named Up Passenger Loop No.2 - a continuation of the line from platform 5.

The UPL No.2 and the Lancaster Siding No.1 are designated destinations for timetabled terminating or shunting trains (Lan Sth Jn).

Distant signals have also been added in absolute block areas and can be identified by an "R" after the signal label. The aspect of the signal in advance dictates the distant aspect shown to the driver. 
Distant Signals on this simulation are shown for display purposes only.

In addition to the Lancaster upgrades, Oxheys Loop has been added to the simulation area, between Barton & Broughton and Preston on the Up Main WCML and was upgraded to passenger status in early 2015 so that all classes of train can now use it in normal operation should the signaller require it.

The level crossing at Brock (the site of the former Brock station) had miniature Red/Green warning lights for pedestrians but was abolished and an over-line footbridge installed in its place.

The Morecambe Branch has also been upgraded.

The abolishing of Hest Bank Ground Frame and Bare Lane Signal-boxes led to several changes. There are now no signals at Bare Lane Station and other signals on the Branch have been renumbered and point-indicators added. 

The level-crossings at Bare Lane, Hest Bank and Bolton-le-Sands are now monitored and controlled by a dedicated panel within Preston PSB.
The Bare Lane Signal-box was also demolished.

Labels for route-setting are provided for Morecambe Station, Heysham Port Station and Heysham Power-Station Siding departures.

The simulation now also displays the full length of the Heysham Branch and the Power Station siding. 

Photograph Information

The start-up picture is at Lancaster and shows a southbound Northern train bound for Manchester Airport entering Platform 4, formed of Northern Class  195 units.

Acknowledgement

Many thanks to John Dennis and the PC Rail Team for the testing of this simulation.

November 2023
