LMS Route: Trent Valley Line

Bulkington Station: lnwr_bulk3266

Stationmaster Mr Turner, his wife and one of the three signalmen based at Bulkington Signal Cabin pose for the camera. The Saxby and Farmer Type 2 design signal cabin has had some work undertaken to its base, the section where the cables and rodding would have exited from the frame.

Reg Instone, a member of both the LNWR Society and the Signalling Record Society, writes. 'The S&F type 2a cabin was used on the Southern Division of the LNWR until about 1874-75. See 'A Pictorial Record of LNWR Signalling' by Richard Foster and published by OPC together with 'The Signalbox' (www.signalbox.org) for details. The date of this example is not known for certain, but it is likely that it was constructed about 1873. It was square in plan at 12ft x 12ft. It was replaced about 1912 by a type 5 cabin which lasted until replaced by Intermediate Block Signals in 1957. Reg continues, 'G. Turner was Stationmaster at Bulkington for an impressively long time. He seems to have been appointed in April 1875 although the early staff registers are not easy to interpret. He retired on the last day of 1908. Given that he was born in January 1844, and he looks as though he might be about 64 in the photo, is it reasonable to suppose that it was taken to record his last day of service? If that were the case, then we could probably deduce the names of the other staff in the photograph'.

Harry Jack writes as follow up to Reg's contribution, 'The L&NWR Stores Committee minutes (ref. LNW 1/367) contain monthly listings of "new signal cabins". On 20th March 1873 there is a note of clocks supplied "for new block telegraph police cabins" and the list includes Bulkington. A new signal box at Bulkington is also mentioned in the minutes of the next meeting on 24th April 1873'.

back