Lincoln High Street Signal Box

[TravisM]

I took a trip to LIncoln Central on Saturday and was intrigued by the signal box by the high street crossing.  Not being very knowledgeable about the area but I know the main railway companies in Lincoln were the Midland and Great Northern.  Can I ask what company erected signal box and when it was closed.

[iands]

11 hours ago, jools1959 said:

I took a trip to LIncoln Central on Saturday and was intrigued by the signal box by the high street crossing.  Not being very knowledgeable about the area but I know the main railway companies in Lincoln were the Midland and Great Northern.  Can I ask what company erected signal box and when it was closed.

High Street SB is (was?) a GN 1 type signal box, built 1874. Closed a couple of years ago (sorry, don't have actual date at the moment) when Lincoln area was resignalled.

[Compound2632]

12 hours ago, jools1959 said:

I took a trip to LIncoln Central on Saturday and was intrigued by the signal box by the high street crossing.  Not being very knowledgeable about the area but I know the main railway companies in Lincoln were the Midland and Great Northern. 

 

In addition to the original Great Northern lines at Lincoln, much of the mileage was Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway. The Midland line made an end-on junction with the Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire (Great Central) line from Market Rasen and the Lancashire Derbyshire and East Coast (Great Central from 1907) joined the GN&GEJR at Pyewipe Junction. So that's five companies, though I'll give you the Midland being the major company present.

[Flying Pig]

You may find this site helpful: http://www.roscalen.com/signals/Lincoln/index.htm

 

I can't find an RCH diagram of the companies at Lincoln, but this general plan (from this site) shows that the GN was the major player. The Midland was indeed first in 1846 with St Marks station, but the Lincolnshire Loop Line (GN) from Gainsborough to Peterborough via Boston followed within a few years. Central Station was originally part of the latter route, though the section from Lincoln to Boston (shown as 'Skegness and Spalding' on the previously linked plan) is now closed.

 

The GN and GE Joint from Lincoln to March was a much later construction.  Lincoln to Spalding is still in use, but the section to March closed in the 1980s.

Edited April 17, 2019 by Flying Pig
spewling

[Compound2632]

My comment that the Midland was the major company present was tongue-in-cheek - it was the biggest of the five companies running into Lincoln, though of course it did not have the biggest presence in the city. It did have the mail contract, with a daily TPO to Tamworth to connect with the West Coast Postal. Here's the Railway Clearing House junction diagram:

 

 

This is dated 1908, just after the Great Central took over the LD&EC, so the latter's line to Pywipe Junction is shown as Great Central. Was the GC West Goods branch originally LD&EC? 

 

Wikipedia Commons has a very full collection of RCH Railway Junction Diagrams, indexed here.

Edited April 18, 2019 by Compound2632
Link to RJD index added.

[beast66606]

On 16/04/2019 at 09:15, iands said:

High Street SB is (was?) a GN 1 type signal box, built 1874. Closed a couple of years ago (sorry, don't have actual date at the moment) when Lincoln area was resignalled.

 

19/07/2008

[iands]

I knew I had a photo or two somewhere. Here are two shots from either side of Lincoln High St SB of when it was still a fully functional signal box.

 

The first shot is from the East Holmes side looking towards the signal box and station, the second shot is taken from the station.

[Davexoc]

About a year after closure.....

 

[Chime Whistle Books]

I visited both High Street and Pelham Street Junction boxes,just prior to closure. The latter was,in my opinion, the nicer of the boxes due to it being in more GNR condition (block bells etc) than High Street! The signaller at High Street said he had no objection to people filming his box,indeed he well understood why, but found it a bit “creepy” when one chap set up a video camera on a tripod and continually filmed the box for a few hours! It's good that it's still standing, unlike Pelham Street Junction which was demolished relatively quickly after closure. As an aside signaller Peter Lewis, who was on duty during my visit, started his signalling career at PSJ as a booking boy and retired when the box closed. Not many signallers can say they started and ended their railway career in the same signal box.

[Davexoc]

10 hours ago, Chime Whistle Books said:

I visited both High Street and Pelham Street Junction boxes,just prior to closure. The latter was,in my opinion, the nicer of the boxes due to it being in more GNR condition (block bells etc) than High Street! The signaller at High Street said he had no objection to people filming his box,indeed he well understood why, but found it a bit “creepy” when one chap set up a video camera on a tripod and continually filmed the box for a few hours! It's good that it's still standing, unlike Pelham Street Junction which was demolished relatively quickly after closure. As an aside signaller Peter Lewis, who was on duty during my visit, started his signalling career at PSJ as a booking boy and retired when the box closed. Not many signallers can say they started and ended their railway career in the same signal box.

Unfortunately I never seem to have taken a shot with PSJ box in it. Below shows where it was, bottom right. The reason for it's demise though was due to the track realignment which eased the junction onto the Grimsby line. This was 10mph before the work and became 25mph after. It made a big difference to the level crossing downtime when the Kingsbury - Lindsey tankers came through. Bit academic now though as the High Street is pedestrianised.

 

 

Dave

[Chime Whistle Books]

39 minutes ago, Davexoc said:

Unfortunately I never seem to have taken a shot with PSJ box in it. Below shows where it was, bottom right. The reason for it's demise though was due to the track realignment which eased the junction onto the Grimsby line. This was 10mph before the work and became 25mph after. It made a big difference to the level crossing downtime when the Kingsbury - Lindsey tankers came through. Bit academic now though as the High Street is pedestrianised.

 

 

Dave

Don't worry,my upcoming book Block Bells,Buttons and Dusters has interior pics of both boxes, with Peter Lewis having a staring role at Pelham Street Junction! This was the site of a train crash back in  the 60s,when a conductor driver of a diesel took the bend too fast.The PSJ signaller rushed out the box to attend to the injured before the ambulance service arrived.

 

[Roger B]

Very interesting to see folks talking about Lincoln High Street box.

I was a signalman there in the 70's before the barriers were installed so I might know something about the box. Out of interest there use to be a "fish dock" siding on the up side running towards the box steps. One Saturday evening I put a class 37 in there to run round the Blackpool summer working. As it got clear of the point ends it spread the road and that was that for a while. After that the siding was limited to class 03 and 08 only.

Additionally I worked at Greetwell Junction and Pyewipe Junction in Lincoln.

My first box was Burgh le Marsh on the East Lincs line.

If my memory works OK and I can help anybody with anything I will be happy to do so.