RailWest

As a level-crossing with its gates across the rails was not normally regarded as an obstruction of the Clearing Point, then IMHO a Warning Acceptance would neither be necessary nor appropriate as de facto the CP was not fouled and so normal Reg 4 acceptance would be feasible (assuming all other requirements had been satisfied). Of more importance was the fact that normally not only would the stop signal immediately in rear of the gates require the gates to be locked across the road before it could be cleared, but also the next stop in rear worked from the same box also have the same requirement. Sometimes the latter had a subsidiary arm which could be lowered to permit a train to enter a platform without the need to close the gates, in some cases the locking simply did not exist anyway. If you go to Blue Anchor station you will often see instances where, if a Down train arrives early and/or the Up train is late, then the gates are closed against the road, the Down Inner Home (3) is held 'on', the Down train rolls into the the platform and stops, whereupon the gates are opened to road traffic again. This apparent 'unnecessary' closing of the gates puzzles/annoys some car drivers who are not aware that, out of sight around the corner towards Taunton, is the Down Home (2) which can not be cleared to admit a train into the platform unless the gates are shut.

But slightly different in design (as was most Stevens stuff depending if it came from the London or Glasgow works).

In a way, this is not a new(ish) situation. Not long ago I came across the situation (in the 1960s) of a level-crossing with gates immediately next to a signal-box on a busy main line, but NOT interlocked with the signalling in anyway. The explanation apparently was the simple fact that this was an 'occupation' crossing and therefore it was the responsibility of the road user rather than the railway to use the crossing safely :-)

Is there a prototype for that ???? :-)

Actually, I have now thought of one :-) http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/uploads/7/6/8/3/7683812/_4789840_orig.jpg This was the Up Home (No 40) at Barnstaple Junction 'A' box. Note that the lower arm was shorter than usual in order to clear the adjacent building. Ironically it replaced an earlier L&SWR RH lattice bracket signal of about the same height which did not have a lower co-acting arm! I suspect that, with the nature of the local traffic, having simply a banner repeater somewhere in the rear would not have been much use for drivers of trains which were 'waiting time' at the platform.

I can't think of any off-hand, but that's not to say that they did not exist. However I would suggest that, by the time that the SR were (a) using rail-built posts and (b) replacing old wood or lattice posts with co-acting arms, then there was probably a tendancy (and certainly a few examples) where the signal was replaced as a single arm on a 'normal' height post with a banner repeater provided some distance in rear.

Yes, there was a knurled knob on each side of the wooden 'tombstone' cover... ...but no, I've not counted the number of notches in the 'knurl' !! :-)

>>> Access into the upper goods yard is really awkward because of the facing connection to the Up main..... Thanks and understand, however that is how the real Yeovil Town had the sidings. It will also give me some shunting to do as relief from grandson just going round and round. Not entirely. On the prototype, only the dock siding had a facing entry off the single line. The rest of the goods yard could be accessed only from the Hendford Siding via a slip connection across the single-line.

>>>does this photo of the West Moors frame taken from the Crossing Wheel end help with identifying the frame..... Only to confirm what was known already, namely that it was of the Stevens & Sons pattern. We would need to see the end-plate just above the floor to read the actual maker's name.

>>>>At the same time the signalling centre will also send a signal to deactivate the TPWS units, and change the blue light from steady to flashing.... But AIUI after a pre-determined period of time (allowing for the train to depart) the TPWS automatically reverts to 'armed' and the blue light goes back to steady.

Ought there not perhaps to be another main stop signal (as the section signal) on the Down Martock in advance of crossover 11, assuming that there will be occasions when you will be shunting in/out of the Down Siding and the engine yard? Also, without such a signal, shunt 15 is then controlling access into the block section ahead....

Allowing for a mass of assumptions....:-) Given that the basic layout at Verwood seems to have been original, then a GF would probably have been provided at the same time as the SB. As we know from photo evidence that the frame in the SB bore the Stevens & Son name, probably the GF was the same. It was only in later years, after the Stevens patent lapsed, that the L&SWR bought frames from other contractors and I would guess that Verwood had one long before 1898. Of course, there is always the chance that the original GF had to be replaced for some reason...

Well now, it would appear that a complete new set of plates matching the WWII arrangements were ordered on 4th June 1940, so given the 1943 opening date of the new WD sidings, then the work much have been in planning for some while. Interestingly all 23 levers were in use, No 23 being - rather as I suspected - used for the Gate Stops, so I wonder when and why they dispensed with that?

That's what I assumed. I shall to have investigate further...

Thanks for that :-) However, it would appear now that the specific entry that I was seeking - the opening date for Corfe Mullen Junction itself as quoted by Tony Cooke - was in 'updates page 37', whatever that is...

I am told that Volume 4 of this publication, which I do not have, covers the S&DJR. I wondered if anyone had a copy and if so could provide me with a copy of the page(s) covering Corfe Mullen Junction please? Bailey Gate station also would be a welcome addition, but not essential :-) Thanks !

That's got rid of that red-herring then :-) Have a look at pix of the front or door end and see if you can spot the 'tombstone' shape thru' the windows at the W/Moors end.....

>>> it looks like there were two tablet devices at the left-hand end, but they do look different.... Hmm.... given that both 'short' sections were worked by Tyer's No 6 ETT instruments, they ought to look the same. What have you got by way of photos to suggest otherwise ???? I am familiar with the image of the LH end of the frame, where the machine for F/bridge can be seen quite clearly. The one for W/Moors ought to be similar.....

>>>There were two short section tablets, plus the long section token, so I'm thinking three machines....... No :-) As Verwood was not a block/tablet post for the 'long section' it would not have a long section METS instrument, those would exist only at Fordingbridge and West Moors. There was of course the 'switch mechanism' on the floor at the RH end which held a METS when Verwood was 'in' or two x tablets when it was 'out'. It was common for ETT/ETS/EKT machines to put one each at their respective ends of the box, but it was not unknown to have them together at one end or the other. I suspect it all depended upon available space (not much in an early Type 1 box!) and (sometimes) how the boxes were extended to hold the ETT machines when upgrading from TS&T working.

>>>Interestingly, the locking diagram indicates that lever 2 locks lever 5 and 8, whilst lever 5 locks lever 2... Quite true. Homes for opposing directions lock each other to ensure that only one train can enter at a time. Lever 2 can NOT be pulled if 5 is reverse. 4 and 5 would be reverse ONLY for when the box was switched out. When the box is 'in' to accept a train from Fordingbridge, and assuming that it would be passing an Up train, would require 2 on, normal, Down loop clear to 3, 5 normal and 4 reverse to lock 5. 2 should be pulled off only when the approaching train is (nearly) at a stand at 2 (i/a/w Rule 39a).

Eh - not sure what you meant here ? That's rather like saying that (say) Aller Junction was the route to the Kingsbridge Branch via Brent :-)

This is a photo of the end of the EoD frame at Shapwick. The frame from Woolston of course ended up at Washford, but although I saw the end plate many times I never bothered to take a photo of it :-( Maybe someone may have access to wherever the parts are now stored (at the MHR?) to get one ? I've not got anything comparable for a McK&H frame.

Well, for a start, given that the box was new in 1904 then IMHO it is unlikely that the frame was made by Stevens & Son, more likely to be one of the other contractors used by the L&SWR to supply them to the Stevens design. For example, Woolston (1901) was Evans O'Donnell, whilst Corfe Mullen Jcn (1905) was McKenzie & Holland. Lever 1 should be top half blue, bottom half brown, the others seem OK. On levers 6, 22 and 23 the numbers and letters on the plates should be in black not white :-)

What I do not know (yet) is exactly when the SR changed from making L&SWR style cast brass LDPs to their cast-iron 'painted oval' style. It is /possible/ that there was something of an overlap for a period, in that 'new sets' may have been made to the new style but 'odd extras' still done in the old style to match existing arrangements. For example, Blandford had quite a lot of replacement plates in the old style in 1930 (replaced in 1951 by a whole new set in the new style), whereas Templecombe No 2 Junction had a whole new set in the new style in 1932, yet Wincanton had a few 'odd replacements' in 1933 in the old style. Photo evidence for Verwood shows that the 'pull plates' at least for levers 1 and 10 were 'old style', as also /appears/ to be the main plate for 10. If 11 had a new-style plate then one could speculate that perhaps it was deemed to difficult to get all the required info on an old-style plate?

>>>...30° for the brass LSWR plates seemed too laid back, but 22.5° appears to match the look of Alresford, and that has black background plates.... Another thorny subject :-) Most ex-L&SWR brass plates have a plain black blackground, but odd examples do survive which have the actual lever colour instead. Some of those are clearly original, others seen in private collections have clearly been repainted at some date to match the lever colour and it is unclear if they were like that originally or not.