The Signalboxes of Cumbria

kevsmith Jul 4, 2017

  1. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Boxcab E50 asked some questions recently about the the manned signalboxes still surviving on the Cumbrian Coast in the North West of England so I thought I'd do a review of what has survived. starting from the junction of the Furness line with the West Coast main line at Carnforth the line heads west before turning north up the Coast.

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    Still standing is the imposing brick built Carnforth Station Junction box which controls the junction between the Furness and the former Midland Railway line that heads east to Yorkshire.

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    this shot was taken from the site of the former 'Steamtown' rail museum based at the former LNWR steam shed. This is now closed to the public and is the home of the steam operations of West Coast Rail but sadly inacessible to the public now.

    The box at Silverdale is no more and the next one extant is Arnside. This controls the impressive viaduct that spans the Kent estuary and used to be a Junction box for the line that went north and rejoined the WCML at Hincaster

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    Crossing the Kent Viaduct we are now heading South west to Grange over Sands. This is one of the 'Flat Roofer' boxes

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    Grange is a fairly sleepy resort popular with the elderly. It has a promenade and the Art Deco Lido is currently awaiting resoration

    In this 1962 shot a well loaded Barrow to London Euston express sees 4MT 2-6-4 tank 42673 pilot Jubilee class 4-6-0 45604 Ceylon in 1962

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    More soon
    Kev
     
  2. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    That Carnforth box is huge! How many levers?
     
  3. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Kents Bank box has gone so the next one you could find was Cark and Cartmel which was still in use in June 1988 but succumbed a few years later

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    We now cross the equally impressive Levens Viaduct to the former site of Plumpton Junction. This big box controlled the junction for the line that ran up to Windermere and also a branch that ran down to Conishead priory. We visited it as part of the Furness Railway 150th anniversary celebrations and it closed soon after! It famously had an annomometer to measure wind speeds on the viaduct

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    The impressive lever frame

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    Its death knell had been signed by the end of rail operations into the Glaxo Pharmacutical works on the rump of the Conishead branch. The single line token was brought out for us to see

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    Kev
     
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  4. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Plumptons responsibilities were transferred to Ulverston (Birthplace of Stan Laurel, yes that onel). This box was also under threat but was reprieved and is now quite busy.

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    Climbing over Lindal summit and dropping steeply down through Lindal tunnel we pass through Dalton station and the short Dalton Tunnel where the line splits at Dalton Junction.

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    Passenger trains take a big loop to approach Barrow in Furness from the east. I was lucky to catch Sallthouse Junction box in happier times
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    The junction is still there as we use it to get freight train into Barrow Docks but is just a ground frame operated by the train crew now.

    Barow in Furness box has been the subject of some renovation recently and looks spruced up

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    Kev
     
  5. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I can see quite a curve/sag in the front fascia of Barrow-in Furness' wall.
     
  6. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    After Barrow the line is singled as it heads up to Park South junction where it rejoins the freight loop that has cut the corner

    This is a most curious box with its sloping walls

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    Next box is Askam in Furness in my village

    As you know from some of my other threads we do get some main line steam at times. British Railway's unique 8P 4-6-2 'Duke of Gloucester' charges the gradient on a southbound Cumbrian Coast excursion
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    Seen before the box was extended to give the signallers an inside toilet.

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    kev
     
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  7. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Great photographs and narrative Kev! Despite having ~140,000 Miles of rail lines in the U.S., manned towers have become very rare here. It's wonderful that these remain in Britain.

    The interlocking achievements of Britain's Saxby & Farmer set a renown standard worldwide.
     
  8. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    We're now heading north up the Duddon estuary and before we swing around 180 degrees to go down the other side we pass Foxfield. This former junction for the line to Coniston has the waiting room and box combined and is rare for the Furness in having an island platform.

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    The line is now dead straight South west all the way down the estuary to Millom

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    With Millom's cricket ground close by the box looked like this for many years

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    Lately it has been clad in what looks like double glazing plastic, not an improvement!

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  9. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    heading North west the next little village station stop is Silecroft

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    and a few miles further on Bootle

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    again it looks like the double glazing salesman has been round!

    Now in 1988 I got a North west 'rail rover' ticket and spent a week riding trains and photographing stations ans signalboxes. As we approached the former junction to the Eskmeals Gunnery range the dilapidated Eskmeals box looked as if it was finally going to collapse
    The photo was taken through the screen of the DMU hence the less than perfect quality.

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    Now the elevated box in the cutting at Ravenglass survives to this day at the side of the line but is in fact preserved and is part of the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway. The 15" stock in the foreground being a clue

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    Kev
     
  10. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Drigg controls the level crossing at the south end of the staion

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    Sellafield box controls the movements of our trains in and out of the site and is also the stat of another single line, token controlled section

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    A Carlisle-Lancaster passenger working hands the token over to the signalman after leaving the single line section

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    there is a passing loop half way at St Bees where the signaller has to cross the bridge to exchange tokens on Barrow bound trains

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    Two more of the 'Fallen' boxes were caught on that 1988 trip

    Corkickle number 2 and Corckickle no 1 controlled the interchange sidings just before Whitehaven station

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    kev
     
  11. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    The end of the Furness is Whitehaven where it meets the former London and North Western Railway.

    The big 'Bransty' box is impressive

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    writing this has served to prompt me to get out and take some more up to date pictures this summer and also to cath the little huts and sheds that serve some of the manned level crossings on the line

    I've still got the single line working video on my youtube channel that could also do with an update but it still serves to show how its done



    cheers
    Kev
     
  12. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Yes. It is that!
     
  13. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Less impressive but equally important are the often overlooked small ground frames and signaller controlled manual crossing gates.

    Limestone Hall is just south of Silecroft and is the ultimate example of 'Form follows Function' in Semaphore signalling terms

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    Rudimentary but effective, Bearing in mind this is a main line railway

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    Silecroft is the next one south and controls a crossing over the A595 Coast road

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    The ground frame is open to the full force of the elements blowing in off the Irish Sea

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    Skelly Crag is a manually controlled gate just south of Foxfield station. Being so close to Foxfield box it does not have a lever frame

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    None of these boxes will ever have a preservation order slapped on them I suspect!
    Kev
     
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