During the early hours of Sunday 23rd October 2005, a passing police patrol reported that Alrewas signalbox was on fire. Once the fire service attended and doused the flames, the box was found to be extensively smoke damaged and the heat had taken its toll on much of the internal fixtures. To the astonishment of all concerned, however, all the signalling equipment was found to operate correctly and the life of the box was saved.
The
cause of the fire is not
suspicious. It was a heater that had inadvertently been switched
on/left on that ignited a hi-vis vest hanging near the
doorway.
The irony is that the box shouldn't have been staffed for the turn
concerned as Wichnor Junction was in pieces and no traffic could get
that way anyway!
As
an interim measure, signallers
are operating out of a temporary cabin, entering the signal box only
when required to actually signal trains.
Refurbishment
work has commenced
already, with the opportunity being taken to include an inside toilet
in the work.
With
thanks to N.H.Allsop for the
pictures & info....