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 the privilege of serving as the railway’s Operations Manager.
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 whatever else happens to capture my interest.
My model railway interest swings 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, Somerset & Dorset, Cambrian and Highland Railways.
The site takes its name from the Rhubarb Loop in Bristol, a real-life chord that, like many railway locations, is charmingly named after the nearest pub, in this case, the Rhubarb Tavern. I lived in and worked in Bristol for many years before returning home to Totnes in Devon, so it seemed a fitting name for the site.
If you’re into model railways, railway operations, or just like thinking about how signalling and timetabling work, you’re very welcome here.