Urban but isolated signal boxes

[Big Jumby 74]

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

Probably not by design, but the weight must have exasperated the situation, and of course more is known today about metal fatigue as well. Surprised in a way those plates weren't removed sooner, but guess no obviously visible signs before the collapse? Can't confirm this, but was told by an old hand former colleague (on duty not far from 'A' box during the war) that he witnessed a Stuka taking a dive over CJ and its load exploded pretty close to 'A' box, embankment side I guess, as haven't seen any photo's of bomb damage to the tracks in that immediate area?

 

[John Webb]

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.

St Albans South, despite it's closeness to the City station, had a chemical closet outside the box until 1963 when they added a flushing toilet at one end of the box accessed from the landing at the top of the stairs. We understand that this was added when they started employing lady 'Booking Clerks' who also did the station announcements from a console in the box. The toilet emptied into a septic tank underground near the box. There was running water available, tapped off, we think, from the 3 inch main supplying water to the engine shed on the opposite side of the tracks.

 

[Roger1973]

Probably not by design, but the weight must have exasperated the situation, and of course more is known today about metal fatigue as well. Surprised in a way those plates weren't removed sooner, but guess no obviously visible signs before the collapse? Can't confirm this, but was told by an old hand former colleague (on duty not far from 'A' box during the war) that he witnessed a Stuka taking a dive over CJ and its load exploded pretty close to 'A' box, embankment side I guess, as haven't seen any photo's of bomb damage to the tracks in that immediate area?

The London County Council's bomb damage maps shows houses on the south side of Falcon Terrace and Lavender Terrace (now approximately Fownes Street) just to the north of the line as either completely destroyed or damaged beyond repair. The LCC maps did not show damage to the railway lines.

1949/50 OS map shows several small detached houses - almost certainly pre-fabs as a temporary measure before the current estate was built.

Bomb Sight lists two raids in what's now Fownes Street.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

The London County Council's bomb damage maps shows houses on the south side of Falcon Terrace and Lavender Terrace (now approximately Fownes Street) just to the north of the line as either completely destroyed or damaged beyond repair. The LCC maps did not show damage to the railway lines.

1949/50 OS map shows several small detached houses - almost certainly pre-fabs as a temporary measure before the current estate was built.

Thank you Roger1973, that makes sense.

 

[Falcon1200]

Sighthill East only had railways and grass wasteland around it.

Not far away, the 1956 Cowlairs panel box was isolated within a triangle of lines. And today, the nearby West of Scotland Signalling Centre is also isolated in the same way; The walk from the nearest station, Springburn, despite (or perhaps because of, in this case) being in an urban area is extremely unpleasant.

 

[Springs Branch]

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

Mention of Sighthill East box brought to mind a similar 'isolated' case in the Salford/Manchester area at Brindle Heath Junction.

Brindle Heath box wasn't necessary isolated in the out-of-the-way or hard-to-access way - more in the sense of being located in a psychologically hostile and vulnerable environment for staff who had to work there.

As with @cadder toad's example, Brindle Heath Junction at one time had been in the middle of a busy railway environment, with an adjacent steam MPD, plenty of goods sidings, controlling lots of signalling ironmongery, plus with the Atherton fast lines flyover nearby.

In the box's later years, most of that infrastructure was dismantled, leaving the signal box controlling a simple two-track junction and stuck squarely in the middle of lots of vacant railway land, encroaching vegetation all around, and a somewhat notorious 'socially troubled' district of Salford just beyond the railway boundary. See, for example, this link, dated 1973.

I've read accounts of the poor bobby at Brindle Heath, working alone in his dimly-lit, elevated perch late at night, having the windows pelted with lumps of ballast by gangs of the local 'yoof' who were lurking unseen in the surrounding darkness. This may have been one of those boxes which was manned 24/7, despite having no rail traffic during night-time hours or at weekends, simply to avoid severe vandalism.

Brindle Heath Junction closed on 10th May 1987 when the Agecroft Jn connecting line was closed and the route between Windsor Bridge and Walkden signal boxes was converted from absolute block to track circuit block. The redundant box immediately became a magnet for vandals who had set it on fire by the end of that month.

Copyright Ingy The Wingy. Reproduced from Wikimedia Commons under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 licence
Image shows Brindle Heath Junction signal box looking towards Agecroft Junction. Taken just before closure on Saturday 9th May 1987.

 

[Gloster]

When it goes to being in hostile areas, some of the Dublin boxes were awful. Liffey Junction was probably the worst, but some of the others, such as Howth Junction and Seapoint, were pretty bad.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

The walk from the nearest station, Springburn, despite (or perhaps because of, in this case) being in an urban area is extremely unpleasant.

OT a tad, but that reminds of mid 70's and the walk from Springburn to ED along Hawthorn Street - unrecognisable today. It was dire back then, an eye opener to anyone who was new to the area for work etc.

 

[Jagdpanther]

Going back to Liverpool there was a signal box in the deep cutting at the start of the Wapping Tunnel (river end ). Also another in the Dingle Tunnel on the Overhead Railway.

 

[Western Sunset]

Many signal boxes controlling large marshalling yards were close to urban areas but cut off / remote from them. Some examples from the East Midlands being Toton, Colwick, and Chaddesden.

 

[cin88]

Would Eccles count? You're down in a cutting and your view of the world from the panel consists entirely of the car park/access road and about 20 yards of all three tracks.

 

[Elecman]

Olive Mount in Liverpool in the Deep cutting

 

[Trackman]

How about Blackpool South from the early 70s to about 1983ish? There are houses nearby.
Basically it was in the middle of nowhere and the signaller couldn't even see the trains.
Think it was located in the old carriage sidings from the Blackpool Central line. When the line was ripped up they kept the signal box for signalling reasons.

 

[owidoe]

When it goes to being in hostile areas, some of the Dublin boxes were awful. Liffey Junction was probably the worst, but some of the others, such as Howth Junction and Seapoint, were pretty bad.

What's so bad about Liffey Jn?

 

[Gloster]

What's so bad about Liffey Jn?

A large area of largely abandoned sidings, some rolling-stock no longer in running order, damaged or abandoned buildings and flocks of eejits throwing stones. I was given a lift back to the centre of the city as the signalman reckoned that otherwise I would get attacked by the gobshutes.

 

[MadMac]

A large area of largely abandoned sidings, some rolling-stock no longer in running order, damaged or abandoned buildings and flocks of eejits throwing stones. I was given a lift back to the centre of the city as the signalman reckoned that otherwise I would get attacked by the gobshutes.

A good number of years ago there was a feature on Tomorrow’s World about measures to prevent unauthorised entry to commercial premises: the examples were at Liffey Junction, described as one of the most vandalised pieces of railway in Europe…..

 

[Elecman]

How about Blackpool South from the early 70s to about 1983ish? There are houses nearby.
Basically it was in the middle of nowhere and the signaller couldn't even see the trains.
Think it was located in the old carriage sidings from the Blackpool Central line. When the line was ripped up they kept the signal box for signalling reasons.

It was indeed located just the Central side of Eaterloo Bridgecwhere the climbing walls are now located approximately (named after a former railwayman and councillor George Bancroft)

 

[Bald Rick]

Neasden and Acton Canal Wharf are both places one wouldn’t want to walk to, despite being right in industrialised parts of London. Both are also right next to gypsy sites, and have a high level of vandalism and theft.

Meanwhile just up the line is Dudding Hill Junction, which feels like it is in rural Oxfordshire, despite being less than a mile from the North Circular and the M1 !

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Finchley Road and Frognall...not a dangerous walk in the terms we think of today, but was isolated none the less. Long gone now of course.

 

[Springs Branch]

What's so bad about Liffey Jn?

. . . flocks of eejits throwing stones.

Whilst Liffey Junction signal box and most of the heavy rail infrastructure there has gone, Broombridge station (opened in 1990 on the IE Dublin Commuter system) is now in the vicinity, along with a Luas light rail terminus & depot.

From on-line commentary it seems the surroundings are still a mecca for stone-throwing yoofs.

Broombridge station itself has suffered persistent vandalism over its lifetime. Although a bit better in recent years after targetted improvements and higher footfall since becoming a Luas interchange, Broombridge is still described as a kip* station.

* Kip = Dublin slang for a 'rough, dirty or disreputable place'

 

[Ashley Hill]

Exmouth Junction,but not for much longer. Right in the middle of a city but with a park behind and derelict railway land at the front. Plus it’s a long walk through this from the main road to get to it.
New housing is being built on the old coal concentration depot. I imagine this will also cover the old wagon shops land too!