Sonning Cutting - track plan advice sought

[Grimly Feendish]

The signalling was altered in 1961 - when the East and West 'boxes went and colour lights signals were provided on the Main and Relief Lines and again in 1972 when the 'plywood wonder' 1961 'box went and the whole lot was put onto Reading panel with colour light signals also provided on the branch at the Twyford end.

 

You'll find the 1972 signalling notice here and it shows the dock siding (which had also been the branch runround loop) and Up Refuge Siding still surviving although all the other sidings had gone by then, there was a further alteration later in the 1970s when the remaining sidings went and a new trailing crossover was provided west of the station but I don't recall the date of that.  Signal UM30 was also resited west of the Up main platform and to be honest I thought that had happened before 1972 as I knew the chap who had it moved and he had probably retired by then.  I've got close up pictures of all the colour light signals on the platforms which is what you would need for the 1970s.

 

http://www.signallingnotices.org.uk/scans/74/1972%20-%20IXO%20124%20Reading%20Eastern%20Ex.pdf

 

You'll find various of my 1960s pictures at Twyford in Posts 1, 18, 32, & 33 of this thread -

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66924-the-stationmaster-goes-train-spotting-part-1/

 

My pictures then jump forwards several decades although much of the station was unchanged apart from the paint scheme, the change of use of several rooms, and the demolition of the original footbridge and the building of the present one.  Oh and I have got one or two pictures which show bits of the canopy roofs from above - taken in recent times but in reality little had changed.  Basically in teh 1970s the appearance was litle changed from the '60s.

 

Thanks very much Mike, the signaling notice is going to be really helpful. I wasn't aware the refuge siding still existed at that time.

 

These are probably dumb questions, but do you know what the dock siding and refuge sidings would have been used for in the 70's?

 

Thanks again,

 

John.