SCT Siding Altona

["Notagunzel" <notagunzel@bigfoot.com>]

Briefly inspected the new siding yesterday, 3 x G's were waiting to depart
with the down SCT.

Provision appears to have been made for a crossing loop, with the SCT siding
joining at the future down end of the loop.

The turnout in the main line, and the turnout from the loop into SCT are
tangential (sp?) concrete sleepered, made by VAL?  The main line points is
fitted with a dual control point machine, model either TD84M or D84M, and is
rodded to a derail in SCT siding.  A rod off the rodding between the derail
& point machine then passes into a switchlock.  This means to get into the
siding, it looks like you first obtain a release from the switchlock, and
then manually operate the dual control point machine.  The points between
the loop & SCT are spiked towards SCT, as there is no track in the loop
beyond the turnout.  The points within SCT are worked by a WSa lever.  SCT
siding appears to consist of 2 tracks, of a fairly long length. There is a
new uncommissioned as of yesterday repeating signal on the Up, located at
the up end of Aircraft station.  I didn't get time to find the down
repeater.

The method of securing the Main Line points is novel, I wonder how heavy
operating the turnout plus derail & rodding from the Hand Throw lever is?
For those who are wondering, 84M machines use claw lock rail head locking,
so the points have no lockrod.

AFAIK its the first tangential concrete sleepered turnouts in SG in
Victoria, JRP used BG turnouts at the east end of Flinders St.

This drawing may or may not clarify what I have said:

-------------------------- Main Line
                 / 0-[]-<| Point Machine connected to switchlock.
Future Loop    --
      derail   / Spiked
------------\--
          / WSa Lever
----------

(Its not easy to draw a switchlocked point machine in text) |-(

--
Mr Notagunzel.
Rail Transportation Connoisseur.
notagunzel@bigfoot.com
(Waiting for the next move at http://www.geocities.com/nota_gunzel)