Mike_Walker

2 minutes ago, Purnu said:

Hi Mike, have a look at this link and it’s comments. These should help to explain. 
 

https://flic.kr/p/2k8dxFG

 

Brilliant, thanks!

Mike

Morning all,

A long shot this, a friend spotted this industrial shunter in a yard whilst passing through Glastonbury a few days ago.  Can anyone identify the type and/or its history?

Note the suitably "hippy" paint job!

Thanks, hopefully...

Mike

Looking at a few photos in my collection:

11100    October 1959:  Plain black, early crest, no valences. 

               April 1967:  D2200 Green with wasp stripes, late crest, no valences.

11101    July 1955:  Plain black, early crest, valences fitted.

              September 1965:  D2201 Green with wasp stripes, early crest, valences fitted.

11102    1961:  D2202 with small D,  Plain black, late crest, valences fitted.

11103    August 1958:  Plain black, late crest, valences fitted.

Another preserved box: Romsey.  Open to the public on selected dates and well worth a visit if you are in the area https://romseysignalbox.org.uk/

Not in its original position but close by and still almost next to the railway.

The group have also made this miniature version of Cowley Bridge Junction which is portable.

Colour Rail DE2177 shows an unidentified GRCW Class 122 at Bridport in September 1964 and I have a photo in my collection (not mine so can't post) showing a GRCW Cross Country unit, Class 119, led by W51067 on an unrecorded date but it is green with speed whiskers.

I would think the annex existed in the 1930s.  I can't see it being built to that ornate style after that.  Likewise the canopy was probably there then too.

2 hours ago, Broadoak said:

 

 

A Southern Pacific EMD SD45 V20 3600 HP road switcher in a rather grubby condition shuffling cars in the yard at Benson Arkansas. 8803 looks as if she has just been pulled out of a mid train helper set.

Photo Peter M

 

Peter M

Nice weathering but still rather too clean for most SP locos I came across most of which were closer to black and that was after the black livery had been abandoned!

2 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

 

Hi Brian

 

It has been mentioned on the news along with the reopening of the Okehampton line.

 

 

I'm not sure how viable this would be.  There are questions being asked as to the viability of the Okehampton line.  Brent's main role was, of course, as the junction for Kingsbridge.  It never served a large community of its own and that hasn't grown appreciably since.  Would it act as a railhead for surrounding communities?  Doubtful, surely they already go to Totnes which has a better service than Ivybridge which would be the pattern for Brent if it were to reopen.

2 minutes ago, Harlequin said:

Have you noticed that very often in the period photos, especially in Bruce's wonderful shots, what appears to be the signalman's personal transport is parked alongside the box?

 

Sometimes a bicycle but more typically a car. They are characteristic of the era and they make a connection with the man on duty at the time.

 

The Austin Allegro parked alongside Balne above is a great example. I wonder what shade of brown it was?

 

Rust.

Frome North Box provided the upper works for Frome Mineral Junction at Didcot.

1 hour ago, rodent279 said:

Good photos, thanks @Mike_Walker. I think it's important to record these PSB's, we assume they're going to be here forever, but they're not. I went in Bletchley PSB when I was about 11, but didn't have the presence of mind to take my camera!

Of the 13 original WR panels only Plymouth remains intact and will probably be "last man standing".  Gloucester is reasonably intact (see above) with no short-term plans for replacement.  Port Talbot has already been reduced by around half and the rest will be decommissioned during a current resignalling scheme.  As mentioned, only a small part of Bristol remains operative.

It was a desire to keep an example of this important era of UK signalling that led us to preserve Swindon Panel in such a way that the public can not only see but operate it too - when we are allowed to reopen that is...  As one of the regular demonstrators I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms!

Gloucester PSB today.  Opened the same year as Swindon, 1968. it controls a large area extending from Sapperton on the Swindon line, Charfield on the Bristol line and Newent on the Lydney line to the south and, originally, to Bromsgrove on the Birmingham line although this has now been cut back to north of Ashchurch.

Gloucester PSB is adjacent to and controls the Horton Road level crossing which is operated by looking through the windows at the left.  Until a couple of years ago it also operated a semaphore signal, the distant at Norton Junction for the colour light home at Abbotswood Junction - thought to be the only such example worked by a PSB.  The arm was motor worked not by lever and wire!  Sadly the junction signal at Norton Junction has been replaced by a modern Dorman LED "lollipop".

Part of the north (left) end of the panel covering Cheltenham.  The former northern extension at the top has been removed and covered over.

Barnwood Junction, the north end of the Gloucester triangle.  Note the various notes added by the signallers to remind them of moves etc.

The south/west ends of the triangle with the Horton Road LC shown at the bottom and Gloucester station at the extreme bottom right.  When first commissioned, Eastgate station was still operation and occupied the space on the panel now occupied by the keyboard which is used for entering train ID's into the train describers.

the right hand end of the panel showing Standish Junction and, from top to bottom, the Swindon line,  Bristol line which is continued in the middle, and South Wales line.

one of the VDU train describers, the lefty screen is showing the Gloucester area whilst the right hand screen shows the area covered by the section of the panel shown above.

Swindon PSB before the great move.

It was on the Down side at the London end of the station behind the new platform 4.

Looking along the panel from the London end.  The control area was from Challow to Box on the Main Line, to Chipping Sodbury on the Badminton and to just short of Sapperton Tunnel on the Kemble line.

The west end showing Wootton Bassett and Kemble in the bottom foreground.  The panel was mostly worked by two signallers, east and west and this picture shows basically the latter's "patch".

The east end of Swindon showing the little used branch at South Marston. Also the VDU train describers, telephone concentrator panels and the GSM-R radio plus its associated screen.

35 minutes ago, rodent279 said:

Were they LED 7-segment displays in the train describers, or were they actually filament type 7-segment displays? And did they ever use Nixie tubes?

Dot matrix LED displays as can be seen in the Bristol images above.  CRT TDs were not used on the WR although they were elsewhere.

56 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

I assume the 4-character displays are a more modern addition. I think in 1970 CRT displays would have been used? I first saw displays like this at Victoria (Clapham Junction) in the early '80s. 

The early WR panels had "Sodeco" electro-mechanical indicators which comprised of four illuminated rotating drums.  These were prone to sticking and were replaced by the LED displays when they became available.

The Swindon Panel Society has been fortunate to acquire several of these Sodeco displays and plan to use them on the Badminton section of the panel with LEDs on the main line west of Swindon whilst the east end will remain with VDUs thereby demonstrating the evolution of train describers.

Bristol PSB, largest of the WR power boxes in its time and still with us - just.  Opened in 1970 it is a classic example of the WR style of "Turn-push NX Panel"  built around an Integra frame with domino tiles supplied by Henry Williams of Darlington.  Routes are set by turning the switch at the entrance signal and pressing a button at the exit - hence the name.

The exterior view.  For those who don't know, it stands outside the old terminal part of Temple Meads and this view looks east.

Bristol Panel had two panels. The main one controlled from Box Tunnel (at the right hand end) through Bath and Temple Meads down to just short of Cogload Junction.  A second smaller panel was mounted at right angles at the right of the main panel (just visible above) and covered the Badminton line from Chipping Sodbury through Bristol Parkway/Stoke Gifford and as far as Pilning plus the Gloucester line to Charfield an Filton Bank down towards BTM.  This picture shows the west end of the main panel with the Weston-Super-Mare loop just visible.

All the Reading assembled WR panels were originally configured like this with the controls on the lower part of the panel and the track layout repeated above with the train describers which were originally electro-mechanical devices - noisy and prone to sticking.  These were replaced by LED displays as seen here and later still in most PSBs the train describer functions were replaced by VDU screens and the upper panels plated over.  Only Bristol and Cardiff retained their LED train describers.

Here we have the "heart" of the panel  Bristol Temple Meads station.

Here we have the left hand or west end of the Stoke Gifford panel with from top to bottom, the Tunnel lines to South Wales, the lines to St. Andrews Junction and the Filton lines down to BTM at the bottom. Bristol Parkway is to the right of the shot.

The other end of the Stoke Gifford Panel with the South Wales Main Line at the bottom and the Gloucester line above connecting at Westerleigh Junction.

The only part of Bristol Panel still in use is the west end of the main panel from Flax Bourton.  As an aside, much of the train describer equipment from the Stoke Gifford panel was recovered by the Swindon Panel Society for reuse in back dating Swindon panel at Didcot.

24 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Eh,  Old Oak Common, NX panel (both the original and the newer one) -  box 'south' of the line so London at the left (east) end of the panel.  Slough and Reading NX panels, box 'north' of the line so London is at the east (right hand) end of the panel but the B&H panel at Reading was - I'm fairly sure - the other way round as the panel was on the opposite side of the building.  Swindon NX panel as OOC. Bristol NX panel I think the Badminton section was effectively at right angle to the route.  Newport NX Panel south of the line so London was at the left hand end and I think Cardiff was the same while  Port Talbot was definitely the same as newport.  Westbury - London at the left hand end.  Exeter not sure;  Plymouth has London at the left hand end.  Don't forget most of the WR panel boxes were built so that the Signalmen had their backs to the railway.

 

In other words it was done in exactly the same way as the orientation of the diagram in a WR mechanical box.  And the point of the compass was irrelevant as most 'boxes did not lie on a true east-west axis.

Bristol's main panel covering Box to just short of Cogload Junction was arranged with London (the east end) to the right.  The Stoke Gifford panel was separate and at right angles to the main panel at the London end and was also arranged with London at the right hand end.

Exeter is the same, London at the right hand end.

I'll post some photos on the Signal Box Photos thread.

3 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

Whilst clearing out the garage yesterday I came across a few old photos which I must have picked up at a show or similar over thirty years ago. 

 

This one was a badly faded Polaroid which I scanned as black and white to restore the image.  Original photographer and location unknown.

 

Merseyside PTE  1975 Leyland Atlantean AN68/1R Alexander H43/32F

1 hour ago, Michael Hodgson said:

You are somewhat at risk of duplicating what the SRS are doing.  They have a publication called "Signalling Atlas & Signal Box Directory" which is re-issued as a revised edition from time to time, updated information being supplied by SRS members as things change or new info comes to light.  This only includes boxes which still survive however.

 

If you want to categorise boxes, I would suggest you include a category for those which open to the public from time to time to demonstrate signalling procedures, such as Exeter West, Romsey, St Albans South & Cromer Yard. 

 

The SRS researchers have found that the history is remarkably complex to document.  Many boxes which have moved have sometimes done so more than once - for example Soham (famously "demolished" by an exploding ammo train a couple of days before D-Day) which was off-railway at Prickwillow for some years and is now at the Mid-Norfolk (and its frame survives in private hands at another location).  Moves are not just post-closure, sometimes the railway companies re-used redundant boxes on another site.  Lever frames were replaced, extended, re-locked , shortened, etc over the life of a box to meet changing operational requirements, and many boxes also had structural changes for similar reasons.

I feel you are possibly mis-understanding the purpose of this list which is primarily to act as an index to the photos on this excellent thread whereas the SRS list is a record of surviving signal boxes.  The references are purely for information and allowing the tracking of "wandering" 'Boxes.

2 minutes ago, 31A said:

Another very interesting programme.  I hope the TV company thinks another series is justified!

 

In production already apparently.

I wouldn't place too much reliance on what the RMT says.  It is notoriously militant and appears to live on a different planet for much of the time.

The view taken by some of the most senior management in the industry that I know well is that it is simply too soon to know what the railways and patronage will look like post-Covid.  The general view is that it would not be wise to rush into major changes at this stage but to wait and see how things work out.

On the other hand, the Treasury is growing increasingly uneasy at the sums of money currently being spent on the railways and may as a result bring pressure on the DfT to impose cuts which we might all come to regret in future.

Just now, Michael Hodgson said:

Not nationalised.  We need a new word  for this - Scotalised?

 

And if they do it, the Taffies will want to follow suit.  They've already got Great Little Trains, they'll want Great Big Trains.

Northern Ireland already has its own railway system - not connected to the national network for some reason, not even the same gauge as Britain, and that was even before Brexit.

Wales already has!