br2975 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Barry signal box, redundant after recent the re-signalling is due to be demolished this weekend. . Brian R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold SHMD Posted March 27, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 27, 2015 Sad but inevitable. (For some reason I have a feeling it will be torched before then... Just a feeling.) Kev. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted March 27, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 27, 2015 Nice structure but it's not easy to preserve them, presumably there's no railway that can undertake the work required in moving it so to prevent the inevitable vandalism, demolition is it's fate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Hi, For those that are interest, I was at a signalling ecology talk a few weeks ago where we were told that signalboxes aren't being destroyed as readily as some people think, some are kept due to Bat Roosting, so there is hope for some boxes up there! Sadly, not for this. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted March 27, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 27, 2015 Shippea Hill is one with a Bat issue at present....... Andy G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 It's far easier to build a new one. Saving an all wooden structure is fairly easy but one is still faced with years of repairs etc that have been carried out piecemeal. The railway i am associated with has done some brilliant work with it's signalboxes. The lower portion of Dereham Central is all new wood. Thuxton is an all new brick erection. Wymondham Church Lane will be a new brick base supporting an original box top. Moving an all brick structure would be a complete nightmare. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
45669 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I wish I hadn't seen this topic! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Shippea Hill is one with a Bat issue at present....... Andy G And it has been copied as far as possible (without the lean) in the new Thuxton. I found no evidence of bats when i stripped the box btw. Not to say they are not there just i personally found no evidence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I find it very sad - there can't be that many structures from the Barry Railway still in existence. What about listed status? Can it not be put to another use? Shippea Hill is one with a Bat issue at present....... Andy G Well that had listed status in another sense. Given its history, I'd say bats are the least of its problems! And it has been copied as far as possible (without the lean) in the new Thuxton. I found no evidence of bats when i stripped the box btw. Not to say they are not there just i personally found no evidence. Ssshhh - even if there aren't any, let's still say they are if it means the signal box is saved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judge Dread Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Too many years ago I worked for the North Eastern Gas Board here in Hull and was sent to the mortal remains of the Dairycoates East box which had just been reduced to a pile of bricks. There was a strong smell of gas coming from that pile. The box had been equipped with gas lighting and no one had disconnected the supply prior to demolition. Well we managed to locate from where the gas pipe approached the box and cut it off. It was still a little difficult to dig out the meter and not cause any sparks though. For those who know me and are saying "But he was an electrician?" I found myself out of work at a difficult time and this was a definite "fill in" job in both senses of the words! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_Miles Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Isn't this one of the last Evans and O' Donnel boxes in existence? - Apologies if I spelt the name wrong but they were a small provider of signalling equipment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted March 28, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 28, 2015 signalboxes aren't being destroyed as readily as some people think, some are kept due to Bat Roosting Ah, a good excuse not to demolish Box Tunnel then! Interestingly I've been associated with various proposals for non-railway organisations to take on the upkeep of redundant signalboxes in the area, but none of them so far has really come up with a viable plan and sufficient funding to ensure that the scheme can keep going for the forseeable future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
25901 Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 There is a list somewhere of all the boxes that will be pulled down quickly, ones to stay up but out of use, ones that are listed and ones to be offered to railways. The main problem is that most boxes are too big for reuse. There's one near me only 3/4 years old and is marked already for replacement As for Barry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNERGE Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 There is a list somewhere of all the boxes that will be pulled down quickly, ones to stay up but out of use, ones that are listed and ones to be offered to railways. The main problem is that most boxes are too big for reuse. There's one near me only 3/4 years old and is marked already for replacement As for Barry 10606370_367348426783492_2274059118018953493_n.jpg It's always sad to see this. I am a destroyer of signalboxes myself, i've now removed the lever frames from six adjacent boxes, and stripped many more. It's a really hard thing to do. Brandon was a difficult one with former signallers who i've spent many happy hours passing the time of day in attendance. The alternative though is total destruction and loss of the equipment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium HillsideDepot Posted March 28, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2015 Whilst it is a sad sight, what is a 'box without it's signals? I won't give the location as I know that the signaller was breaking the rules by inviting us in, but the few hours I once spent in a working 'box won't be forgotten, nor a good number of years before that will I forget standing outside the 'box at Taunton listening to the bells and the solid sounds of the levers moving in the frame. But times move on. It's hard, but as a supporter of the railways I welcome the investment we are now seeing, even if it means some of the sights and sounds we hold dear will just be memories. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2975 Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Another rail related structure currently disappearing from the Barry skyline. . Brian R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 29, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 29, 2015 The problem with Barry (station) 'box from a historical perspective is that it wasn't pure history - it wasn't a standard Evans O'Donnell design, the brick base had undergone a number of changes, the steps weren't even the Reading design (and most likely made) replacements for the originals, and the frame was a Reading frame installed in 1957 (and subsequently shortened by a third in length) which had replaced the original Evans O'Donnell frame. However some of the upper works were either original or, more likely, Reading made replacements to the original pattern. Were the two cast Evans O'Donnell plates still on the structure or had they long gone? The one to preserve would have been the small 'box at Barry Island but alas the tragic story of its demise shows just how things could go wrong when a 'box has been earmarked and sold for preservation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium QWILPEN Posted March 30, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 30, 2015 Another rail related structure currently disappearing from the Barry skyline. . Brian R is that an optical illusion or is there some subsidance there, the building looks lob sided? Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold SHMD Posted March 30, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 30, 2015 is that an optical illusion or is there some subsidance there, the building looks lob sided? Steve If taken (with most) CCD devices (Mobile phone cameras, digital cameras, etc) whilst you are in motion (car, train, etc) then (usually) the top of the CCD is read, processed and then passed to memory and then followed line by line until the whole CCD is read. This all takes a finite amount of time - by which you have moved an appreciable distance. (Most CCDs do not "snap" and image and then transfer it to memory.) The faster you are travelling, and the closer the object, the more exaggerated then resultant "lean". I would suggest that the photographer was travelling from left to right in that image. Hope this makes sense. (Or it's leaning!) Kev. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
br2975 Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 is that an optical illusion or is there some subsidance there, the building looks lob sided? On the other hand, perhaps I wasn't standing square on to the subject ? . Brian R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkea1 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Another rail related structure currently disappearing from the Barry skyline..Brian R Sad to see this go - these huge structures tend to dominate their surroundings so that you miss them when they are gone - I remember the first time I drove into Cardiff after the Spillers Mill had been demolished - it took me a while to figure out what was missing at the head of Roath Dock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon A Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Was the lever frame rescued for heritage use? Gordon A Bristol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted March 31, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 31, 2015 Was the lever frame rescued for heritage use? Gordon A Bristol I wouldn't mind betting the NR techs had stripped as much as was useful for spares for their rapidly diminishing number of frames in South Wales. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium rab Posted March 31, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 31, 2015 As has been said many times before 'You can't save everything'. Let's be thankful for what has been and is being saved. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward66 Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 When I was a lad my mate's uncle was a signalman on the Little North Western and we often went in the box and got to wind the big wheel to open the crossing gates. He lived just down the lane from the box and his wife used to bring his dinner on a tray. This is a rural area and I don't think anybody was too worried about rules, I don't suppose he should have had an armchair in there either! Edward Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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