Tim V Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Gillingham 1998. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Harlequin Posted January 24, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2022 (edited) Woodborough on the Berks & Hants extension, 1971: Photo by Tim Roberts, originally posted to the 'Reading to Westbury and Taunton via the Berks and Hants' Facebook group and copied with kind permission. Tim says: Quote Woodborough signalbox with signalman Maurice Murphy holding the red flag (staged - as there were no trains at the time) - summer 1971. My image from a slide - taken on a Zenith-B using Agfa CT18 film. Edited January 24, 2022 by Harlequin 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold SHMD Posted January 24, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2022 4 minutes ago, Harlequin said: Woodborough on the Berks & Hants extension, 1971: Photo by Tim Roberts, originally posted to the 'Reading to Westbury and Taunton via the Berks and Hants' Facebook group and copied with kind permission. Tim says: Is that the original box, to the right of the bobby, that has been converted into a coal bunker? Kev. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 50 minutes ago, SHMD said: Is that the original box, to the right of the bobby, that has been converted into a coal bunker? Kev. Interesting thought. This picture from 1975 shows the 'coal bunker' more clearly, what do you think? 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold SHMD Posted January 24, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2022 To me, the "coal bunker" has all the architectural features of a brick built "locking room" and looks nothing like a coal bunker except that it actually has coal in it. Even the front access looks "knocked through". Kev. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerthBox Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Tim V said: Check out the pole route in the background, a great illustration of the lineman's art! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green too Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 5 hours ago, SHMD said: Is that the original box, to the right of the bobby, that has been converted into a coal bunker? As SHMD say, it certainly looks like it ............ but why build a completely new box rather than extending the old one ??!? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold SHMD Posted January 24, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2022 There appears to be no "Lead Off Box" on the coal bunker, (maybe around the back?), but the brickwork looks ancient and there were windows and a door in the right places. Curiouser and curiouser! Kev. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Harlequin Posted January 24, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2022 (edited) 46 minutes ago, SHMD said: There appears to be no "Lead Off Box" on the coal bunker, (maybe around the back?), but the brickwork looks ancient and there were windows and a door in the right places. Curiouser and curiouser! Kev. A bit of Google research reveals that Woodborough signal box was rebuilt in 1944. The Cornwall Railway Society website has a low-res image of the blueprint for the new box, which also shows the footprint of the old box with a note about how to deal with it. http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/westbury-excl-to-reading.html#:~:text=Woodborough Signal Box Blueprint 1944 So we know a bit more about it but we still don't know why a new box was built. I wonder if it was due to War damage? Edited January 24, 2022 by Harlequin 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 According to RA Cooke, new box into use 27/9/44 along with new loops. Box closed 22/1/79. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted January 24, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2022 1 hour ago, Tim V said: According to RA Cooke, new box into use 27/9/44 along with new loops. Box closed 22/1/79. That probably explains it. Old box not big enough so new one built next to it and was commissioned alongside the new loops. Not an uncommon practice, as it ensured minimal disruption to traffic. Honiton (1957) new box on up side replaced old box on down side. Exmouth Junction new box was built next to the much-extended LSWR box it replaced. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 A bit of research looking at old postcards, the original box, replaced in 1944 was similar to Frome North and Frome West - both on page 37 of this thread. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickham Green too Posted January 25, 2022 Share Posted January 25, 2022 Presumably the new box was built from bits they had to hand .......... you'd expect an A.R.P. type at that date ! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Common Lane, Gartell Light Railway 2004. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Coach bogie Posted January 30, 2022 Popular Post Share Posted January 30, 2022 Dudding Hill Junctions between Neasdon and Cricklewood in London. I have included before but I found a gap in the hedge, to get a view of the unusual extension to one of the last working mechanical boxes in London. Mike Wiltshire 21 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) 16 hours ago, Coach bogie said: Dudding Hill Junctions between Neasdon and Cricklewood in London. I have included before but I found a gap in the hedge, to get a view of the unusual extension to one of the last working mechanical boxes in London. Mike Wiltshire Edited January 31, 2022 by LNERGE 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach bogie Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 I had to drive my wife to Cheltenham today. The office she visited was on the site of the former GWR Cheltenham St James Station. Just a short walk away is the ex Midland box at Alstone lane crossing. Mike Wiltshire 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SED Freightman Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) Roosendaal, Netherlands - 18/09/2004 Edited April 16, 2022 by SED Freightman Replace photo. 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Between Acton Canal Wharf and Dudding Hill there are nine new semaphores.. 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach bogie Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 6 hours ago, LNERGE said: Between Acton Canal Wharf and Dudding Hill there are nine new semaphores.. Out of curiosity, why do they replace semaphores with new ones and not lights? Mike Wiltshire Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 Like for like involves very little design cost. If you install a colourlight you need a robust power supply, mechanical and electrical changes in the signalbox, additional circuitry, changes to signal positions, alterations to sectional appendix, the list can on and on. These works eliminated several suspect structures and allow the line to keep working at the lowest cost option. 4 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike_Walker Posted February 1, 2022 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) Superbly over-engineered as seems to be the norm these days. One of my favourites is this one installed at Truro a few years back when the Falmouth branch was upgraded. Or this one from Shrewsbury. It replaced an upper quadrant LMS arm on a wooden LNWR post that was rotting and located on the right hand side of the line. Look closely and you will see the doll is actually two 4" diameter posts held together with several fishplates. At least the opportunity was taken to ensure the new signal operates in the correct way! No wonder everything costs so much these days! Edited April 7, 2022 by Mike_Walker 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 1, 2022 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 1, 2022 I am delighted to see modern-image semaphores, which, as said, provide a long-life signal at much less cost, both in cash and disruptive works. As I have said elsewhere, the bombastic paper circulated by the Southern Regional S&T Engineer in the mid-80s clearly thought semaphores were effectively history and mechanical locking beneath contempt. Wrong. Those robust and safe systems are still entirely appropriate for certain sorts of railway where heavy investment simply finds no payback. It may be significant that the man concerned was taken out of post after Clapham...... 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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