You are here: Wiki > start > simulations > stafford

---

Page is locked

Stafford

Official Files

Title	Version	Released
Simulation (Donationware)	3.4	25/04/2023
15/10/2009 WTT (Midnight and 0445 Start included)	1.1	25/04/2023

Additional user-written timetables are available to download here .

Introduction

Welcome to SimSig Stafford! Stafford is the another non IECC location to take advantage of the authentic SimSig simulation model.

In SimSig Stafford, you will control the section of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Tamworth and Madeley (South of Crewe) as well as monitoring the approach tracks from Bushbury Junction (Wolverhampton) and Stoke-on-Trent.

The simulation represents the area as it was prior to the WCML upgrade in the early 2000s, when the area was controlled by 9 signalboxes (and part of Stoke’s power box). These boxes are a mixture of small power boxes and manual lever frames.

Stafford is a railway ‘crossroads’ between the busy West Coast Main Line which carries many high speed passenger trains and freight trains, and the route from the West Midlands area to Manchester which is also quite busy. It all meets at Stafford and which is where you will have to regulate the varied traffic.

The area changed considerably in the early 2000s, which saw the line between Tamworth and Rugeley quadrupled, and later in 2016 with the upgrade of Norton Bridge which saw the construction of a flyover to take Stoke traffic over the Fast lines. Over that time, all of the boxes in this simulation closed. Simulations of the modern layouts are included in the Rugby North and Staffordshire simulations.

Known Issue

Debug areas are visible at the far right of the panel layout, and beneath Lichfield to Armitage Junction. These should be ignored by the player.

Start-Up Options

Scenarios

None

No line closures.

Random

A random scenario from those listed below is selected.

Hixon lines blocked

The direct line from Colwich Jn to Stone is closed all day for engineering work; all trains must divert via Stafford.

Fast Lines to Norton Jn blocked

All trains must use the Slow lines between Stafford and Norton Bridge.

Fast Lines to Whitehouse Jn blocked

All trains must use the Slow lines between Stafford and Whitehouse Junction.

Down Slow line to Crewe blocked

Trains towards Crewe must use the Fast line from Madeley.

Two possessions

Both the Hixon and Stafford- Whitehouse closures are in force simultaneously.

Platform 3 Blocked

Platform 3 at Stafford is closed all day; trains must use a different platform.

Delays in Birmingham/Crewe

There's a higher probability of delays from the relevant entry points.

Other Options

Difficulty: Set the probability of delays and equipment failures. Of the two most difficult scenarios, 'Gremlins at work' biases towards equipment failures, while 'One of those days' favours train delays. 'Developer' has no delays or failures at all, and is advised for timetable testing.

TSRs: Set the prevalence of Temporary Speed Restrictions .

Adverse weather conditions: Tick to simulate poor weather- trains will accelerate less quickly, and brake earlier than normal.

Enable long routes: Tick to enable long routes (see 'Features' below).

Features

Electrification

All lines and sidings are electrified with standard 25kV AC overhead wires, with the exception of the chord Lichfield TV Jn to Lichfield Low Level, Rugeley Trent Valley- Hednesford (though platform 1 at Rugeley TV is wired), the Silverdale Chord and branch, Rugeley Up Siding and the Universal Abrasives branch.

Long Routes

Long routes may be enabled on the simulation. This allows a set of signals to be cleared by clicking only on the first and last signals in the route. For example, clicking on TH44 and then TH201 at Tamworth automatically sets routes from TH44-> TH43, TH43-> TH42 and TH42-> TH201.

Long routes are generally provided between the Fast/Slow/Branch lines over each junction on the simulation. Using Tamworth as an example again, in addition to the route listed above, long routes exist from TH48 to TH201, TH16 to NN366, and TH16 to NN364. If a train to/from the Fast lines needs to call at Tamworth, the routes must be set individually. Long routes do not continue past auto signals; on the Colwich panel for example, one set of long routes can be set through Colwich Jn, and another set used at Rugeley station.

Each section of the long route needs to be cancelled individually in the usual way.

If part of a long route is blocked, each part of the long route will be set until the one which is blocked, at which point routesetting will stop.

Fringe signal boxes

You may place a call to any of the signalboxes which fringe with this simulation to request a line block. Signallers won't send trains towards you until a second call is made to remove the block. At Crewe and Nuneaton, blocking one line will cause all traffic to be diverted onto the other line; trains may be stopped entirely by blocking both lines.

Diverting Stoke trains via Stafford

Down trains that are booked via Hixon can be sent via Stafford and Norton Bridge if you wish. This could help if there are problems or failures preventing access to the route via Hixon. The drivers of these trains will not question the route from the signals at Colwich or Stone Junctions and assume that you have a problem. The same applies to Colwich Jn to Stone (and vice-versa) trains booked via Stafford, provided the train is not booked to call there.

Trains being sent via Stafford in this way will, if given a clear run, lose about four or five minutes in running. Sometimes the diverted train may pass Stafford at a time when there are several other trains about. The one extra train can cause more impact to itself and other services. It may be worth remembering that it may be better in front of a train booked to stop at Norton Bridge. This train must then go via Stone Junction so that it can resume its booked route via Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield.

Panel Notes

Tamworth

The crossovers at Polesworth, controlled by Nuneaton, aren't in use in the simulation; therefore any trains booked to stop at Polesworth or Atherstone must use the Slow lines from Tamworth.

TH43 and TH47 are approach released from red unless the next signal is clear.

The platforms in the simulation form Tamworth Low Level; the line is crossed here by the Birmingham- Derby line. Tamworth High Level is included in the Saltley simulation.

Lichfield

The platforms in the simulation form Lichfield Low Level; the line is crossed here by the Aston- Lichfield/Wichnor Jn line, which is simulated in the Aston simulation.

A slot must be requested towards Litchfield High Level junction if you wish to send a train; you must grant a slot to Lichfield TV High Level if they want to send a train towards you.

The UGL alonne is significantly shorter (380m) than the full length of the UPL (720m).

Trains from Lichfield High Level can be routed directly to the Down Main; they don't need to travel via the UGL.

Colwich

Unusually, the Down Fast here is the outer line, rather than the inner line. The Fast line is 110mph, and the Slow line 90mph, so in some circumstances it may cause less delay to switch a Stone line train to the Down Slow at Armitage Jn than to move another train on the Slow to keep the former on the Fast to Colwich.

The Brereton Sidings signaller will need to grant a slot to you to send a train towards Rugeley Town.

On releasing any of the ground frames, there is a 10 second delay before they can be operated.

With a route set from CH18 to CH23, a flashing yellow sequence towards CH18 will only be displayed if CH23 is clear. This additional control, named 'Colwich control' after this location, was introduced afer a fatal accident where a driver mistook the flashing yellows leading up to CH18 to mean he had a clear run right through the juncion, when in fact CH23 was at red. His train passed CH23 at danger and collided with a train from Stafford.

Brereton Sidings

Semaphore signalling is in use at Brereton Sidings.

You must grant the Colwich signaller a slot to allow them to send a train towards you. In order to give the slot, the line must be clear (and points set correctly) to the clearing point, marked by a #. In the Down direction, a train can't approach until the preceding train has passed the Down clearing point.

The distants on BS2 and BS3 apply to CH64 and are fixed at caution.

You must place a call to Rugeley Power Station to obtain permission to send a train onto the branch.

Stafford

All platforms are Permissive . Only platforms 1, 6 and the Mail platform are bi-directional. Passenger trains may not use the Mail platform.

There are a small number of semaphore shunt signals at Stafford No.4 junction.

The fastest route from the Down Stour to Down Fast is via platform 5; there is a flashing yellow aspect sequence for this move.

Long routes from the Down Stour & Down Slow to the Down Fast, and from the Up Fast to Up Slow/Up Stour run via Platforms 5 & 4 respectively. Long routes from the Down Fast to Down Slow, and Up Slow to Up Fast, run via the centre lines. A long route is available from SD5 142 & SD5 137 to SD4 98, on the Rickercote loop.

Norton Bridge

The Down platform is bi-directional; it may be beneficial to swap an Up stopping train from Stone onto this line to avoid blocking the Up Fast.

Madeley

The non-track circuited hand point at the far end of the Chord loop is controlled as a ground frame; the controls can be opened by going to Show-> Lever Frames-> Madeley turnback. Use the point and three signal levers to control moves in and out of the headshunt at the end of the loop. The 'Normal' direction of the points is towards the Chord line.

Meaford

A warner route is available on the Down Branch to bring a train into Stone station without blocking the Down Stoke.

Note that due to a tight curve round to the junction, the Down Branch has a 25mph speed limit through Stone station.

Timetable Notes

15/10/2009

The included timetable is a representation of the services that ran on the 15th October 2009, and is compatible with all other timetables for this date. Users should note that the layout on Stafford does not include the West Coast Route Modernisation Four Tracking between Tamworth and Armitage Jn. The Virgin Trains services are liable to lose a couple of minutes owing to the reduced linespeed, and careful regulation is required to ensure freight and stopping London Midland services do not impact Expresses between London and the North West.

Level Crossings

Name	Type	Panel
Aston-By-Stone	AHB	Meaford
Church Lane	CCTV	Meaford
Cumberfords Crossing	TEL	Tamworth
Hademore Crossing	CCTV	Lichfield
Hixon	AHB	Colwich
Meaford	CCTV	Meaford

Multiplayer & Chaining

SimSig Stafford is split into 8 workstations to spread the workload in multiplayer games, although it can quite happily be managed by just 1-3 players, with one player taking Stafford workstation and the other two each taking all of the workstations to the north and south respectively.

The simulation chains at the following locations:

Simulation	Location
Aston	Lichfield Trent Valley High Level Jn
Wolverhampton	Bushbury Junction

Hot Keys

There are no hot keys available on the simulation, other than the standard shortcut keys .

Acknowledgments

Simulation by:

15/10/2009 WTT by:

Reference Section

Signal Number Plan

• Stafford (Paged) Signal Number Plan
• Stafford (Loader) Signal Number Plan

These are Adobe Acrobat PDF files. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer you can get a free download of the latest version from the Adobe website . Use the built-in Find function (Ctrl+F) to locate signal numbers.

Signal Box Prefix Codes

Code	Box
BH	Basford Hall Jn
BR	Betley Road*
BS	Brereton Sidings
CH	Colwich
HC	Hademore Crossing
HD	Hednesford*
LD	Lichfield Trent Valley Low Level
MD	Meaford Crossing
MY	Madeley
NB	Norton Bridge
NN	Nuneaton*
SD4	Stafford No.4
SD5	Stafford No.5
SE	Stoke-On-Trent#
TH	Tamworth Low Level
TV	Lichfield Trent Valley Jn*
WN	Wolverhampton*

*Fringe box, signals not controlled in this simulation

#Control area partially player-controlled.

Platform & Loop Lengths

Platform Lengths

Location	Platform	Length (m)
Atherstone	Down	139
	Up	122
Barlaston	Down	98
	Up	127
Lichfield Trent Valley	Down	271
	Up	255
Penkridge	Down	96
	Up	101
Polesworth	Down	137
	Up	138
Rugeley	Branch	90
	Down Fast	132
	Up Slow	145
Rugleley Town	All	80
Stafford	1	308
	2	65
	3	312
	4	312
	5	312
	6	312
Stone	All	149
Tamworth	Down	292
	Up	321
Wedgwood	All	111

Loop Lengths

Location	Loop Name	Length (m)
Lichfield	DPL	640
	UPL	700
	UGL	380
Rickerscote	US	780

Timetabling Details

Timetabling Details

Speed Limits

Speed Limits

Splash Screens

Splash1	A Class 390 heads south on the Up Fast at Stafford
Splash2	A Class 390 heads south on the Up Fast at Stafford, with Stafford No.5 box in the background. SD5 23 is prominent on the left of shot.
Splash3	Stafford No.5 box
Splash4	2xCl.20s on an MGR train towards Breton Sdgs to RR before heading off towards Rugeley Power Station
Splash5	An earlier view of Stafford No.5 signalbox

Version History

Version History

---

Last edited by Peter Bennet on 29/06/2024 at 11:31