This simulation is set at Yarnton (near Oxford) in 1954, on a typical summer weekday at this junction on the former GWR main line from London to Worcester with the single line branch to Witney and Fairford and the double track freight-only loop connecting with the former LMS line between Oxford and Bletchley. Yarnton is situated about four miles north of Oxford, and about a mile north of Wolvercot Junction, at which the Banbury line leaves the Worcester line. On the screen down trains from London Paddington to Worcester run from east to west (right to left). You have to handle all traffic through the junction, dealing with any conflicts between main line and branch trains, and with freight trains originating or terminating in the exchange sidings at Yarnton.
Passenger traffic on the main line consists of express services between London Paddington, Worcester and Hereford, supplemented by stopping services from Oxford to Kingham, Moreton-in-the-Marsh or Worcester. On the branch most passenger services run through to or from Fairford, though there are some short workings to or from Carterton, serving a nearby air base.
There are through freight workings on the main line, some of them using this as an alternative route to or from the West Midlands. The branch and main line are both served by pickup freights based at the Hinksey yards at Oxford.
The exchange sidings at Yarnton were built during the war to cater for traffic between South Wales and the East Midlands and East Anglia via the connection through Bletchley. Though through trains may be recessed at Yarnton (in the Down sidings) to allow priority traffic to pass, and some are scheduled to do so, most freights calling at Yarnton terminate or originate in the exchange sidings.
The simulation will give you some idea of how busy a signalman could be at a modest branch junction. For added realism, some arriving trains will be late, and a number of conditional services may not always run. The traffic is based on the scheduled service operating in the summer of 1954. The track plan is of the same period. The engines that will be seen are those which were at the relevant depots at this time, and of classes that were observed on similar workings.
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Signal Box: Yarnton 1954 (Freeware)
