GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton
Widney Manor Station: gwrwm1937
A low resolution version of the Signalling Diagram for
Widney Manor Signal Box produced courtesy of the Signalling Record Society
(S.R.S.). Details of how to purchase their full resolution content is available
here.
Widney Manor Signal Box opened in 1898, with the order (No
185) for a cast iron nameplate placed on 15th September 1897. This nameplate
order had excluded the word MANOR so was subsequently cancelled and
replaced with another order (No 206) on 26th April 1899, which included the
full wording. The Signal Box was built to the recently introduced standard
Great Western Railway brick design with a hipped roof (type 7A). The operating
floor was 25 feet long and 12 feet wide with the characteristic three up two
down window panes. The signal box initially housed a twenty-seven lever frame,
but this was extended to a forty-four lever vertical tappet frame, when the
lines were quadrupled in 1933. There were six spare levers. The table below
gives the opening hours for Widney Manor Signal Box for a selection of
years:
Service Time Table |
Signal Box Opened |
Signal Box
Closed |
|
Weekdays including
Saturdays |
Sundays |
Summer 1904 |
7:00 a.m. |
11:00 p.m. |
Closed |
Winter 1906 |
7:00 a.m. |
11:00 p.m. |
Closed |
Summer 1916 |
7:00 a.m. |
10:00 p.m. |
Closed |
Summer 1929 |
6:45 a.m. |
8:45 p.m |
Closed |
Winter 1930 |
6:45 a.m. |
8:45 p.m. |
Closed |
Summer 1938 |
6:00 a.m. |
10:00 p.m. |
Closed |
Summer 1939 |
6:00 a.m. |
10:00 p.m. |
Closed |
Winter 1945 |
6:00 a.m |
10:00 p.m. |
Closed |
The Signal Box here controlled the block sections on the
main double line and from November 1932 the additional down goods line which
ran parallel to the main lines. Once the line had been quadrupled in May 1933,
the Signal Box controlled the block sections on both the main and relief double
lines. The Signalman sent messages to the preceding Signal Box to give
permission for trains to enter the block section on their line and used signals
to indicate to train drivers when they were allowed to proceed. Distant
Signals, distinguished by their forked tails and yellow colour (post September
1927) gave train drivers advance warning of the status of the next
Stop Signal.
The Signal Box also controlled train movements associated
with the station yard and sidings. The Signalman could set a route with the
point switch levers. These were interlocked with various types of signals
(including ground signals), operation of which informed the locomotive driver
of the selected route and when to proceed. This interlocking with signals
ensured that these indicated to other trains, when they could no longer proceed
safely and had to stop.
Visibility was important in the days before track circuits
and the Signal Box was positioned where it could oversee the most complex
trackwork.
In April 1953 the following instructions had appeared in the
local Sectional Appendix regarding the goods shed road:
- The points leading from the shed to the Up Refuge Siding
at the South end of the sidings are locked by padlock, and when not in use,
must be set for the Refuge Siding.
- The key of the padlock is kept in the Signal Box, and
when required for use, the man in charge of the shunting will be responsible
for obtaining it from the Signalman. On completion of the work the man in
charge of shunting must see that the points are locked in normal position, and
return the key of the padlock to the Signalman.
- The times at which the key is taken from and returned to
the Signal Box must be entered in the Train Register by the Signalman and the
entries initialled by the Signalman and the man taking and returning the
key.
Widney Manor Signal Box closed on 26th April 1959 with
control of the main and relief line block sections being passed to the adjacent
Signal Boxes. At the same time a ground frame was installed to provide control
of the refuge siding and goods yard points, but once these facilities had been
removed, the ground frame was taken out of use on 10th November 1963.
Robert Ferris
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