Swiss signalling is very distinctive and I had no idea (a) how it should work or (b) where I could buy the signals (or parts to make them). I searched on the World Wide Web for Swiss railway signalling and found some very comprehensive information, including a very helpful article on Wikipedia which I have printed out and filed. I also searched on eBay and found two or three people selling small quantities of new and used Swiss signals by Schneider, a German manufacturer, and I saved a search for Schneider HO Swiss signals so that I might in due course obtain the ones I needed. I could not find a dealer in the UK who had them in stock, and as usual eBay became the source of what I would need for the Alpine layout.
The signals would need a 12v DC supply and so I took the opportunity while wiring the signals to provide the power I would also need for the aerial cableway which I had already installed and for lighting of buildings, streets etc which was planned for later. I had included a switch for the cableway on the control panel and now it could be connected to the motor and the cable cars would come to life. I need to install more resistance in the circuit, though, as it still ruins faster than I’d like (and noisier!).
Installation of lighting will take place soon in parallel with the building of the village. That, and the carpentry involved in providing a “fiddle yard” so that this first section of the layout can be used, will bring first phase completion to Innsdorf and I can turn my attention to devising a suitable running programme and hopefully preparing the layout to be exhibited once we are able to hold model railway exhibitions once more.
Innsdorf Modellbahn 
Working signals add loads to the atmosphere, don’t they?
The signalman is responsible for safety but interlocks with the track are not being modelled. Woe betide the signalman who makes a mistake and little plastic lives are lost 🙂
Walked past 25 Eastern Avenue, Dogsthorpe, many times as it’s almost in my backyard. Who knew what switches and other devices could be bought behind that front door?
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I did think about interlocking but not until after the point motors were buried in the baseboard, and it really would be too much effort to do it now! The distant aspects of the signals currently refer to fictitious home signals off-stage and are just set aspects, although when I build the next phase they will be linked to actual signals are reflect their aspects. I am installing switches on the relevant points to ensure that the home signals show a speed reduction when a diverging route has been set – but that still requires the signaller to set the points correctly before seeing the signal!
On the model, though, the driver and signaller are the same person, so fatal errors are unlikely 😉
No-one at the club had heard of the New Modellers Shop either. I only found it on eBay while looking for the right sort of switches. The club has some which I could probably have used, but we cannot visit the clubroom at present 😦
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