Eastern Valley passenger services

[andrewnummelin]

As a result of working on facing point locks for a club layout I tend to notice such things in photos more than I did in the past. I've just been looking at a photo of Pontypool Crane street (in Railway Archive 41 page 78) and I spotted something I did not expect.

There was a typical trailing access from the up line over a single slip in the down line to a goods yard behind the down station building. What I did not expect was the facing point lock on the "wrong direction" approach to the single slip with a home signal at the up end of the down platform. Also the lock bar was in the 6ft rather than the more common flange detecting one in the 4ft.

So, the questions:
- was it normal for up trains starting at Crane Street to leave from the down platform?
- was it normal for lock bars for slips to act on wheel treads rather than flanges?