jamesw Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 hi there, my dad used to be a signalman on the LMS line in the 60's - 80's. in the signal boxes bedford south, north, kempston halt, houghton conquest, millbrook, harlington, and flitwick, but he mostly resided at houghton until it was pulled down in the late 70's. i as a child used to spend a lot of time in these boxes, especially houghton, which holds a lot of memories for me as i used to live in the row of cottages in kempston hardwick, known as railway cottages and at 6-10 years old i'd play in the woods opposite the box and then pop in to see dad for a cuppa, while he lit the fire, pulled on the levers for the signals, tapped on the morse code tap and entered train numbers into his big a3 brown railway book that sat in the middle of the box, perched oh and drank tea all day! i watched the box at houghton being dismantled and i remember the excitement from my dad at the thought of being transferred to the new super box at west hampstead. if anyone has any pictures of the box or anyone remembers my dad and any stories. i'd be eternally grateful. my dads name was james (jimmy) wilson. thanks in advance. james. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted October 2, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 2, 2011 I've seen a photo in a book somewhere, it was an LMS 11c standard cabin iirc. The Middleton Press book St Albans - Bedford claims to cover it, as I don't own the book I can neither confirm nor deny this. It was abolished in 1973, pre West Hampstead and it's nameboard sold for £210 in 2010. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesw Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 thanks - thats fantastic - i don't suppose you know where it was sold or who bought the name board? silly question but besides the signalling, what other purpose did the box serve, do you know? i vaguely remember a siding that went off to the brickworks - coronation works? would it have been a much busier box in its hay days? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted October 3, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 3, 2011 I haven't got the track / signalling plan to hand, but your brickworks connection is plausible although I've also seen reference to Associated Portland Cement The box may have been busier, probably more traffic into/out of the works, I guess it was closed after the connections were no longer required, it was possibly replaced by IBS, West Hampstead was still a few years away. I can't remember which auction house sold the board and the buyer would be private anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted October 4, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 4, 2011 Information on the 'box and the brickworks are on a thread hereabouts entitled "Bedfordshire Brickworks Electric Locomotives" or similar. No doubt someone cleverer than I can put a proper link in please> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free At Last Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Information on the 'box and the brickworks are on a thread hereabouts entitled "Bedfordshire Brickworks Electric Locomotives" or similar. No doubt someone cleverer than I can put a proper link in please> Bedfordshire Brickworks Electric Locomotives Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor Old Bruce Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 The Middleton Press book St Albans - Bedford claims to cover it, as I don't own the book I can neither confirm nor deny this. I can confirm there is a photo of the 'box in that book. Also one of an electric loco shunting the Coronation brickworks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesw Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 thanks guys, i appreciate all the help and comments. regards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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