www.derby-signalling.org.uk
HISTORY OF RAILWAY SIGNALLING IN THE DERBY AREA
This site details some of the
history of
the mechanical signalling which once existed on
the railways around Derby and Burton Upon Trent.
|
Derby
Junction signal box, proudly displaying the British Railways 'corporate
image' enamel sign.
BR(LMR) Official.
|
Details
of the Derby Area Signalling Project and research resources
- If
this is your first visit, or you want a brief introduction to the
history of railway signalling around Derby,
then this essay is for you.
- You can read about the Objectives of the Derby Area Signalling Project
. Within that page is a diagram showing the geographical area
of interest.
- A full list of signalboxes in
the area, with full details broken down into manageable sections. This
list also provides links to selected diagrams and photographs.
A map of signal box
sites in
the Derby area (88kb .gif).- There is
a list of sources I have
used to obtain information during the research.
- A brief
introduction to Midland Railway signalboxes
and their
categorisation.
Chellaston Junction - This
box opened
in 1901 as Chellaston West Junction
but received the distinctive rounded-end LMS pattern nameboard in 1932
when the East box was abolished.
The nameboard is preserved in the Midland Railway Study Centre
You can read more about Chellaston Junction
elsewhere on this site.
Photo from the N.H.Allsop collection.
A
pair of diagrams illustrating two large signal gantries which formerly
stood at the north end of Derby Station
Derby
Station North Junction
(55kb
.pdf):
Photo by
M.A.King 22MAR1969 |
|
Derby
Junction
(40kb
.pdf):
Photo
by M.A.King 04APR1969
|
 |
Both
of the above links are to
Adobe Acrobat ".pdf" format documents. Most browsers should display
such
files automatically (though Internet Explorer goes very 'quiet' and
doesn't tell you it is downloading the file!). If nothing happens after
a minute or so, or you
get an error message, go to The Adobe Web
Site to download their Very Useful (free) viewer.
ALREWAS
A major fire occurred in Alrewas signal
box on 23rd October 2005. This is a LNW Type 4
structure that fringes to Derby Powerbox on the South Staffordshire
line. Details
of the fire and its consequences
can be found on this site.
MARCHINGTON
Welcome
to anyone finding this site as a result of Maxwell Craven mentioning it
in the Derby Evening Telegraph's Derbeian's
Diary, 21st October 2004.
If
you want to find out a little more about Marchington station and the
staff who worked there, you will find details of a minor mishap which
occurred in 1882 on the Accidents
page of
this site.
Marchington
NSR (351kb)
A signal unique to Derby....
This
photograph recently came to my notice. It shows one of a number of
experiments the Midland Railway carried out close to the signal works
in
an attempt to economise in materials for their signals. This particular
experiment involves a timber lattice construction and was used on the
goods lines at Derby North Junction. The home signal, worked by lever
44 in Derby North box, protected the Derby Corporation Ground Frame on
the Up Goods, whilst the distant arm is St. Mary's Junction Down
Distant.
The photograph has been taken from the Up platform of Nottingham Road
station and the yet-to-be-commissioned DY155 is seen in the background.
The historical significance of the signal post was recognised when it
was abolished in 1969, and it was secured for preservation. Though not
at its best when last I saw it, the post is inside the Butterley
organisation's museum at Swanwick Junction.
At least one experimental Midland Railway signal post still exists on
Network Rail: Fiskerton Station's Down Home (FS5) is a round wooden
post - thought to be unique now. Given that the Up Distant is still a
Midland Square Post (a lot more common at one time, but now almost all
gone) makes Fiskerton quite a historic site!
Focus on.....
A
series of
studies of the signalling at locations within the Derby area. The
objective of the work is to concentrate on the equipment, the men and
the work
done in the box, whilst giving an idea of the context of the
surrounding railway.
These
articles
are early version of articles I have written which have been (or may
one day be) published in print. I include them here to provide some
substance to the web site. Enjoy
A
signalling timeline for the Wirksworth Branch :
Details of the
many changes
in signalling methods over the years on this unusual Midland Railway
branch. This includes a photograph of the box diagram removed from Duffield Junction on closure in
1969 (305kb).
Other
Articles about Derby area signalling
Spath Details of Britain's first automatic
level crossing on the Churnet Valley line, near Uttoxeter.
Details
of
some railway accidents around Derby
Resources relating to signalling
in other areas
Fiskerton Junction - photographed from its Down Home signal (21) by
John
Rose in 1966
... and photographed by an intrepid NR employee in 2005.
If you'd like to discuss matters specifically concerning subjects on
this site, please
contact me .
For more general signalling matters, I strongly urge
you to go to "The
Signalbox" and follow the links to "The Blower".
There you'll find a mailing list which is WELL worth joining.
You
will, I'm sure, also be interested in
The Midland Railway Society and The Signalling
Record Society
web sites.
There is a large number of local
history
photographs to browse and buy, including a lot of railway related
subjects, on the Picture
The Past web site - highly recommended. For a good selection of
signal box photos,
with many Midland Railway examples, Dave
Strickland's site
is also well worth a look.
The
Small
Print: The majority of photographs used on this site are not
mine. Wherever possible the original photographer is credited and the
image is used with permission. Where I have been unable to seek such
permission, I sincerely hope that the copyright holder will acknowledge
that the images are used in an educational spirit and absolutely no
financial gain is involved. To that end, visitors may not reproduce any
image from this site - in the event you wish to do so, please contact
me and I will try and put you in touch with the person whose consent
you need. As far as the text on the site is concerned, that is almost
all mine. Visitors are free to reuse any text or information they find
on this site for any purpose. The only restriction is that I ask
for an acknowledgement to www.derby-signalling.org.uk
where applicable, and I absolutely insist on the courtesy of being
informed of any such use if commercial gain is involved. Thank you.
Dave
Harris, Willington, Derby, UK.
Site last updated: 01DEC2008
A map of signal box
sites in
the Derby area (88kb .gif).