Hi there! I’m Alex Seal. Welcome to my website. I work for IST Simulations, helping to produce railway signalling training simulators. I have over 20 years of experience as a Network Rail Signaller (a dispatcher, if you’re reading from across the Atlantic). I’ve been a volunteer at the South Devon Railway since 1999, and these days I serve as a Fireman, Signalman and occasional Guard. I also had an enjoyable stint as Operations Manager along the way.
This website is my notebook. Some pages are finished and tidy, others are still in rough form, but I hope there’s something useful or interesting to be found even in the half-baked bits. I write about model railways, real railway operations, signalling, and anything else that catches my interest along the way.
My model railway interests swing between N scale and 2mm Finescale. In N scale, I focus on the Maine Central’s Mountain Subdivision and also have a soft spot for the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1980s East Germany. On the British side, I model British Railways in the 1950s and early 80s, with a particular interest in the Western Region and the Somerset & Dorset.
The site takes its name from the Rhubarb Loop in Bristol, a real-life chord line that, like many railway locations, is charmingly named after the nearest pub, in this case the Rhubarb Tavern. I lived in Bristol for many years before returning to Totnes in Devon, so the name felt like a fitting nod to an enjoyable chapter of my life.
If you’re into model railways, railway operations, or just like thinking about how signalling and timetabling work, you’re very welcome here.
I have divided the website into several sections:
Model Railways –