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GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill Station: gwrbsh1738

Interior of Birmingham South Box in the year it closed

Interior of Birmingham South Box in the year it closed. The South Box opened in 1913 and was closed on 11th September 1960. It had a ninety-six lever power frame at 2 inch centres manufactured by Siemens Brothers. This allowed the frame to be fitted in a Signal Box operating floor only twenty-nine feet long. The initial requirements of the southern end of the new station totalled sixty-five working levers as follows:
22 - Signals
15 - Switch points and bars
27 - Disc signals
1 - Locking bolt

The lever numbers and designations can be seen on the brass plates in front of each of the mini levers on the frame. Hanging above the frame is a track diagram showing the location of the track circuits and all switches and signals controlled from the Signal Box. Below this is a shelf with the instruments used to communicate to and from adjacent Signal Boxes. At this end of the shelf the instruments include the keyless train describer for platforms 5 and 6, which was operated from Birmingham North Signal Box (the small apertures are for registering subsequent trains).

Robert Ferris

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