Urban but isolated signal boxes

[Sad Sprinter]

I have developed a recent fascination in old signal boxes, particularly the old Borough Market Junction box. It's always fascinating to see such an important box in what is in a way such an out of the way location, perched high on a viaduct not adjacent to any station.

Are there any other urban signal boxes like BMJ in out of the way places, such as on viaducts in cuttings? I say "isolated urban" signal boxes because I am sure there were plenty of rural isolated signal boxes - especially in the Scottish Highlands.

 

[matchmaker]

Heatheryknowe, on the North Clyde line east of Glasgow, was in an urban location, but a fair bit from any houses.

From Railscot

 

[30907]

I have developed a recent fascination in old signal boxes, particularly the old Borough Market Junction box. It's always fascinating to see such an important box in what is in a way such an out of the way location, perched high on a viaduct not adjacent to any station.

Are there any other urban signal boxes like BMJ in out of the way places, such as on viaducts in cuttings? I say "isolated urban" signal boxes because I am sure there were plenty of rural isolated signal boxes - especially in the Scottish Highlands.

Depending on your definition, I would think there are loads: just on the SED of BR(S) Cambria Junction (near Denmark Hill) and Shepherd's Lane (Brixton) and the 1959 Chislehurst Junction come to mind (though I suppose that one is less urban). Stewart's Lane and Longhedge Jn too, perhaps.

 

[Gloster]

Salisbury Tunnel Junction was down in a cutting with Fisherton Tunnel a few yards one way and bridges carrying London Road over both routes a few yards the other. Access was through a small gate off London Road, down a couple of steps, round the back of the house (the old signalmen’s cottage, I think) then down a short path. It might have been overlooked by the allotments at the top of the cuttings, but they were where you didn’t normally look. Really quite quiet: the traffic on London Road was not intrusive.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Nothing could beat the tunnel signal box on the Kings Cross low level to Kentish Town. A grim and miserable hole - accessed by a soot splashed spiral staircase from St Pancras station above.

Paid a visit once - and it must have been a terrible place to work. Especially in steam days.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Nothing could beat the tunnel signal box on the Kings Cross low level to Kentish Town. A grim and miserable hole - accessed by a soot splashed spiral staircase from St Pancras station above.

Paid a visit once - and it must have been a terrible place to work. Especially in steam days.

Wow, that really is isolated. How long was it open for?

Am I correct there was a signal box in the cutting itself between St Pancras and Kentish Town? Near where the old Camden Road station used to be?

 

[ChiefPlanner]

https://www.lurs.org.uk/articles15_htm_files/03%20july%20THEYRE%20HAPPY%20DOWN%20THE%20HOLE.pdf

Sums it up nicely - the remains of the fan could still be seen. Crossing the live tracks to access it , or the remains of the box was well dodgy ..............

 

[bramling]

Nothing could beat the tunnel signal box on the Kings Cross low level to Kentish Town. A grim and miserable hole - accessed by a soot splashed spiral staircase from St Pancras station above.

Paid a visit once - and it must have been a terrible place to work. Especially in steam days.

I can beat this one. Weston Street signal cabin, on the Northern Line mid-way between Angel and King’s Cross. It’s still there.

 

[L401CJF]

I'm not sure if any of these tick any boxes at all but it's interesting none the less!

My first thought was Liverpool James Street powerbox which opened in 1977 with the Liverpool Loop & Link project - located above the original platforms at James Street which are now numbered P2 and P3 (P1 being the "new" inbound loop platform). I think the powerbox closed when the signalling for most of the Merseyrail network was transferred to Sandhills IECC. I have seen photos of this panel before but of course I cant find them now! Its still in situ accessed via stairs from the platform. Of course, this isn't exactly old being 70s infrastructure. Whilst trying to find info on James Street powerbox I found info on the original setup - which I didn't know much about until I stumbled across the excellent page I have linked at the bottom of this post.

There have been a few underground boxes over the years on the original Mersey Railway. There was one at Hamilton Square on the Liverpool bound platform known as "Cabin D" which opened in 1886 which closed in 1977 - it's long been removed unfortunately. Its adjoining box was originally in the tunnel beneath the river Mersey known as "River Cabin" but was replaced with autosignals in 1921. The site of this small box is still visible if you look very carefully into the darkness heading toward Liverpool - imagine spending a full shift in a deep level underground tunnel, under a river, not on a platform or within civilisation! I wonder if a train would drop the staff off/pick them up for their shift changes, even back then it must have been frowned upon to walk to/from the box through the tunnel!?

The next box along was on the river end of the Liverpool Central bound platform (now P2) at James Street (Cabin C), followed by Cabin B at the West End of Liverpool Central and Cabin A at the East end of Liverpool Central. Back then known as Liverpool Central Low Level due to the above surface station which has since been demolished, but is now the Northern Line Merseyrail platforms. These 2 boxes are shown on the drawings (on the below website) not to be on the platform but are presumably also in the tunnels.

For completeness Cabins E, F, G and H where located at Birkenhead Central (E), Green Lane (F), Rock Ferry (G) and Birkenhead Park (H). Green Lane is a cut-cover sort of station, the diagrams found on the site below show the old signalbox was originally on the Liverpool bound platform - again long gone unfortunately!

Westinghouse Brake & Saxby Signal Co. Ltd. Hamilton Square signal box

The above link is to a webpage containing information and photographs on the original Mersey Railway signalling system in place between Birkenhead Central/Park-Hamilton Square-James Street-Liverpool Central.

Information and photos of the other boxes seem to be impossible to find, so if anybody comes across any please do let me know. I believe the underground boxes were replaced by James Street powerbox when the loop and link sections opened around 1977. Birkenhead Central, Rock Ferry etc I believe remained in use until the semaphores were phased out over the network in the 90s and Sandhills IECC took over. No idea about Green Lane, whether that was around that recently or not? Happy to be corrected and any more info welcome!

 

[John Webb]

I have developed a recent fascination in old signal boxes, particularly the old Borough Market Junction box. It's always fascinating to see such an important box in what is in a way such an out of the way location, perched high on a viaduct not adjacent to any station.....

It was less than a couple of train lengths out of London Bridge station, so it wasn't particularly remote? Surviving boxes that might be considered remote today would include those on the Cricklewood-Acton line and of course Blea Moor box on the Settle-Carlisle line, except of course that's not in an Urban setting!

 

[Rescars]

It was less than a couple of train lengths out of London Bridge station, so it wasn't particularly remote? Surviving boxes that might be considered remote today would include those on the Cricklewood-Acton line and of course Blea Moor box on the Settle-Carlisle line, except of course that's not in an Urban setting!

If we ignore the urban aspect, Glenwhilly (south of Ayr) deserves a mention. On the fringe of Greater London, Star Lane in a deep cutting just north of Merstham tunnel was pretty cut off from the rest of the world.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

It was less than a couple of train lengths out of London Bridge station, so it wasn't particularly remote? Surviving boxes that might be considered remote today would include those on the Cricklewood-Acton line and of course Blea Moor box on the Settle-Carlisle line, except of course that's not in an Urban setting!

Seems remote to me being perched high on that viaduct!

 

[Gloster]

If you include remote locations in rural areas, then there were many to chose from. Largin in Cornwall was only reached by walking a quarter of a mile along the ballast, including over a viaduct. Once there, other than the railway installations, you could see nothing but trees and rhododendron bushes. Or you had Whiteball, Dainton, Birchden Junction,…

 

[Rescars]

A bit off thread, but IIRC the signalmen employed at Quintinshill in May 1915 found the box inconveniently remote.....

 

[Big Jumby 74]

West London Junction and to a degree Loco Shed Junction (Nine Elms). Hampton Court Junction. Wimbledon C, and lesser so, Wimbledon B, the list is open ended really.

 

[matchmaker]

The boxes on the Glasgow Central Low Level line must have been grim in steam days - most being in tunnel.

 

[Rescars]

West London Junction and to a degree Loco Shed Junction (Nine Elms). The latter a walk from Queens Road, the former a hike along the cess by the UWSL from Clapham Junction.

Hampton Court Junction. Wimbledon C, and lesser so, Wimbledon B, the list is open ended really.

The GWR style box at Latchmere Junction looked a bit lost and out of place when viewed from SR trains approaching Clapham Junction.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

The GWR style box at Latchmere Junction looked a bit lost and out of place when viewed from SR trains approaching Clapham Junction

Shame on me for forgetting Latch', no excuses! It was the haunt of Midland men in my day, probably why never got visit it in person. Looking at a couple of (the only) photo's I can find in the Middleton Press book 'Clapham Junction 50 years of change' there appears no obvious walking route to the box. The rear of the box was mounted on a stilts type steel frame, half on the embankment and half as good as in the rear garden of a property in Abercrombie Street.

 

[Gloster]

Shame on me for forgetting Latch', no excuses! It was the haunt of Midland men in my day, probably why never got visit it in person. Looking at a couple of (the only) photo's I can find in the Middleton Press book 'Clapham Junction 50 years of change' there appears no obvious walking route to the box, so guess the bobbie's made their own way (from Clapham Jn?). The rear of the box was mounted on a stilts type steel frame, half on the embankment and half as good as in the rear garden of a property in Abercrombie Street.

Not so isolated, but of interest further up the line was North Pole. I went there once and it struck me as the barest box I ever visited: perhaps nothing was left inside so that when it was switched out there would be nothing for the local yoof to nick or smash.

 

[Towers]

Greenford East is a perculiar one, tucked away down below Greenford station and still operating semaphores, just a stone’s throw from the GMWL.

 

[Tester]

In my London Midland Region signalling supervisory days (1979-1983) the West London Line was part of my territory, with an interesting collection of signalboxes.

North Pole had a 'proper' signalling power supply (courtesy of the Western Region for historical reasons) but no domestic electricity - it was gas lit.

Kensington Olympia had two large boxes (North Main and South Main) with a very complex station layout including mid-platform scissors and the Motorail terminal.

Next was Chelsea & Fulham - just off the King's Road but you would never know it! Domestic power no problem but no signalling power whatsoever - in the middle of London it ran entirely on dry cells.

Then Latchmere Junction, commented on by others.

Given the lack of passenger trains on the line then, all these boxes would seem worthy of note here.

 

[341o2]

There used to be a signalbox at Lymington Junction, where the Lymington and Ringwood lines diverged from the main Bournemouth line.
Clapham Junction used to have overhead signalboxes. They had a degree of remoteness, as one started to collapse resulting in trains being unable to run under it. A difficult situation was made worse by passengers bailing out of the stationary trains and walking down the lines

 

[Rescars]

In my London Midland Region signalling supervisory days (1979-1983) the West London Line was part of my territory, with an interesting collection of signalboxes.

North Pole had a 'proper' signalling power supply (courtesy of the Western Region for historical reasons) but no domestic electricity - it was gas lit.

Kensington Olympia had two large boxes (North Main and South Main) with a very complex station layout including mid-platform scissors and the Motorail terminal.

Next was Chelsea & Fulham - just off the King's Road but you would never know it! Domestic power no problem but no signalling power whatsoever - in the middle of London it ran entirely on dry cells.

Then Latchmere Junction, commented on by others.

Given the lack of passenger trains on the line then, all these boxes would seem worthy of note here.

What an interesting collection. Why, I wonder, were the Kensington boxes both designated "Main"? Were there other shunting or branch boxes back in the distant past perhaps?

My memories are hazy and Tester clearly knew the route very well. Was Mitre Bridge similarly remote? Can anyone recall if any of these boxes (apart from Latch) were built to a GWR design?

 

[Tester]

What an interesting collection. Why, I wonder, were the Kensington boxes both designated "Main"? Were there other shunting or branch boxes back in the distant past perhaps?

My memories are hazy and Tester clearly knew the route very well. Was Mitre Bridge similarly remote? Can anyone recall if any of these boxes (apart from Latch) were built to a GWR design?

I don't know the origin of the names, and there were no other boxes in my era.

Mitre Bridge wasn't 'mine', but the others were GWR - mainly vertical tappet, but Chelsea was a rare horizontal tappet.

 

[341o2]

Welwyn North and Woolmer Green which controlled four tracks to two between Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Thorpes Bridge Jcn. in Newton Heath, Manchester was an interesting one - I visited on an enthusiasts' trip in the mid '70s. A large box, one of the 'kingpins' in the L&Y system controlling the main line, the Oldham Loop and access to Newton Heath Depot. It was then surrounded by utter urban dereliction, most of which was demolished shortly afterwards. Access was through a door in a brick wall directly off the street, then alongside the running lines. It was incredibly busy then with a lot of freight still, and was replaced for a time by a modular structure, until Metrolink came along.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Clapham Junction used to have overhead signalboxes. They had a degree of remoteness, as one started to collapse resulting in trains being unable to run under it. A difficult situation was made worse by passengers bailing out of the stationary trains and walking down the lines

There was an early one sort of attached to the outer wall of the bridge of St Johns Hill, sort of above the Up Central Through, Wandsworth Common side of the road bridge, but that is going back to over head electric days. 'A' box was the gantry box that partially collapsed due to wear and tear/corrosion, whatever one wishes to call it. On learning of that incident (before my time) I wasn't at all surprised. Once at the top of the steps, at the North end of the box, as soon as one stepped on to the wooden boards that formed the floor (external and internal) of the structure, the whole thing creaked and groaned under foot, somewhat unnerving if one happened to need to use the WC just as a loaded MGR was passing underneath..shook the place no end. ....West London and Loco shed Junction were essentially of the same basic design on gantries.

Another box in same context (remotely accessed) and same area was Pouparts Junction, another one that closed in 1952 when the mechanical signalling was replaced by colour light.

 

[cadder toad]

Sighthill East only had railways and grass wasteland around it. Can't remember how I got there. It was the junction for St Rollox works or Sighthill loops

 

[John Webb]

.... 'A' box [Clapham Junction] was the gantry box that partially collapsed due to wear and tear/corrosion, whatever one wishes to call it. On learning of that incident (before my time) I wasn't at all surprised.....

I have read that the structure was overloaded by putting extra protection on the box during WW2 as an air raid precaution....

 

[Clarence Yard]

Junction Road Junction was another oddity in the mid 1980’s. Right by a road in built up North London (with a tube station not far away) but no running water. Water came in by container and the toilet was an Elsan.