
SECTIONAL APPENDIX - WIGSTON NORTH JUNCTION
-------------------------------------------

General                                     
-------                                      

Wigston North Junction is situated just over 3 miles south of Leicester on the ex-Midland Railway main line. It is the junction with the line to Nuneaton and Birmingham and also, until its closure, the line to Rugby.

The Rugby line opened in 1840 and was the original Midland Counties route to London, but when the direct Midland line to St Pancras was opened in 1868 it became just a branch line. Passenger services were withdrawn on 30th December 1961 and after a few years of use for wagon storage the tracks were lifted in 1964.

The Nuneaton line opened as a through route in 1864, being owned by the LNWR with the Midland railway having running rights. The line is now part of an important cross-country route linking the East Midlands and East Anglia with Birmingham.

Wigston North Junction forms the northern apex of a triangular junction, the other corners being at Wigston South Junction and Glen Parva junction. 

The Down Sidings were used to store empty coaching stock which was used only for excursion traffic from Leicester.  

Signalling arrangements have been taken from the signalling diagram dated c.1965 from the collection of John Hinson. With minor changes, the signalling shown was in use from 1956 when the frame was changed 1956 until the box was closed on 29th June 1968 (when Leicester Power Box took over).

The adjacent boxes are:

Aylestone Junction        0.93 miles (to the North)
Wigston South Junction    0.38 miles (to the South)
Wigston Central Junction  0.30 miles (Rugby line)
Glen Parva Junction       0.65 miles (Nuneaton line)

Operating Notes
---------------

All lines carrying passenger traffic were worked by Absolute Block. Permissive block was in use on the Goods lines, although this feature has been omitted from the simulation.

The Clearing Points are:-

Up Main        Track circuits B1 and B2 clear, and:
                 Track circuit B3 clear (to Up Main) or
                 Track circuit A3 clear (to Up Rugby) or    
                 Track circuits A3 and E3 clear (to Up Nuneaton)

Up Goods       Signal 30/31

Down Goods     Signal 48

Down Main      Track circuits A1 and A2 clear, and:
                 Track circuit A3 clear (to Down Main) or
                 Track circuits B3, C4, C5 clear (to Down Goods) 

Down Rugby     Track circuits F2, E3, E2 clear

Down Nuneaton  Track circuits E4, E2 clear

Special routing bell signals were in use between Wigston North Junction and Aylestone Junction to assist the Signalman in routing Up trains correctly. However, the bell signals were quite complicated and have not been included in the simulation as the user of the simulation has all the relevant information available in the timetable information window.

Certain shunting movements required the use of special bell signals, Shunt into Forward Section (3-3-2) and Shunt Withdrawn (8). This feature has not been included in the current version of the simulation, although it may be added as a future extension. As a result signals 29 and 34 cannot at present be used. 

Goods Lines
-----------
    
Freight trains may be timetabled to stop on the Down Goods line at signal 44/46 to take water  or for pathing purposes.

Screen Layout
-------------

Note that the scale used on the track diagram is not uniform.

The symbol on the Down Goods line between the fixed distant and Home signal 48 is a limit of shunt board.


Train Reporting Numbers
-----------------------

First Character (Train Class):

      1      Express Passenger  
      2      Ordinary Passenger       	
      3      Parcels  (Max. 90 mph+)  	
      4      Freight (Max. 65 mph+)      
      5      Empty Coaching Stock     	
      6      Freight (Max. 50-60 mph)    
      7      Freight (Max. 40-45 mph)    
      8      Freight (Max. 35 mph) 		
      9      Unfitted Freight  			
      0      Light Engine             	

Second Character (Destination):
    
     A      London (Western)
     B	    London (Western)
     C      London (Midland)
            Manchester
     D	    Chester
            Nottingham
     E      Eastern Region
     F      Leicester
            Liverpool
     G      Birmingham
     H      Birmingham
            Manchester
     J      Chester
            Manchester
     K	    Stoke-on-Trent
     L      Barrow-in-Furness
     M      London Midland Region 
     N	    North Eastern     
     O      Southern Region     
     P      Nottingham
            Preston
     S      Scottish Region   
     V      Western Region       
     Z      Local Movements      

Routing is as specified in the Working Timetable. 

Light locos and empty coaching stock proceeding to/from a booked working may carry the headcode 0 or 5, followed by the last 3 characters of the train concerned.

Speed Restrictions
------------------

Main lines
  Wigston South Jn - Wigston North Jn             40 m.p.h.
  Otherwise						                  90 m.p.h.
Goods lines                                       40 m.p.h.
  Wigston South Jn - Wigston North Jn             10 m.p.h.
  Otherwise						                  30 m.p.h.
Through junctions to Rugby/Nuneaton line		  20 m.p.h.
Rugby line								          40 m.p.h.
Nuneaton line								      30 m.p.h.
Up Reception                                      10 m.p.h.
Crossover - Down Main to Down Goods               20 m.p.h. 
Other crossovers                                  15 m.p.h.
  

Variations from the Original
----------------------------

Signals 1/3/5 and 18 were colour light signals in 1965 but are shown as semaphores.

It was necessary to provide additional track circuits where these were not provided, e.g. on the Goods lines.


Acknowledgements
----------------

Thanks to John Hinson for providing the signalling diagram on which the simulation was based. Also to Alan Sugden, John Gadsden and the others who helped with testing.


