Hampton Loade signal box
Hampton Loade Signal Box (HL) is a McKenzie & Holland-style signal box, situated on the Up end of the main platform at Hampton Loade station. It works to Bridgnorth and Highley using ETT regulations. It is a facsimile of the original box, having been rebuilt in preservation using parts from several other boxes.
History[edit | edit source]
The original signal box at Hampton Loade dated from the early 1880s.[note 1] The minutes of the GWR Board and Traffic Committee confirm that a tender from McKenzie & Holland was accepted on 18 October 1882 which included £315 for installing locking at Hampton Loade. This cost presumably provision of the signal box itself, although the minutes did not confirm this.[1] The box was brought into use in conjunction with the addition of a loop and second platform, with Board of Trade approval of the new arrangements being granted on 25 June 1883.[2]
The section to Highley latterly contained two ground frames released by the token, Alveley Sidings (North) and Alveley Sidings (South), which were commissioned on 30 January 1939 and allowed access to the coal sidings at Alveley. An intermediate token instrument was also provided.
After the closure of the line in 1963, the original box was largely dismantled, with parts reportedly being used to build a chicken coop in the garden of the station house. When the SVR reopened in May 1970, a three-lever ground frame was provided at the north end of the station to control access to the loop.
Preparation for rebuilding the box was already under way prior to the reopening in preservation in May 1970. When the upper structure of Pensnett box was moved to Bridgnorth signal box in November 1968, the wooden ground floor sections were left in situ.[3] They were then taken apart in January 1970 and moved to Hampton Loade.[4]
Rebuilding of the box itself began in early 1971,[5] using parts from the original box, the Pensnett box, and that at Stourport, and also incorporating the lever frame from Ledbury North End. External structural work was largely completed that year,[6] although completion of the painting and roof slating to finish the structure took place the following year. The programme of signal post erection was completed with the erection of the Down Distant Signal shortly after Christmas 1971. During 1972 efforts were directed to wiring all the signals back to the Signal Box and finishing the rodding runs and point connections,[7] and by the end of that year the block shelf was in position, the lever frame cleaned and oiled, the "switching out" contact box fitted below the frame in readiness for long section token working between Bridgnorth and Highley, and the fitting of the lever interlocking was under way.[8]
The new box was recommissioned and signalling brought into use on 19 May 1973 after the last train of the day returned to Bridgnorth.[9] Initially it worked to Bridgnorth using One Engine in Steam, and then Electric Token Block a few weeks later after the commissioning of the token instruments.[10] The ETT section to Highley was signed into use on 2 March 1974, with the token releasing Alveley Sidings (South) ground frame.[11]
The box gained the ability to switch out by Whitsun in 1975,[12][note 2] and the down and up distants were brought into use in 1981 and 1982. Several overhauls of the box equipment have been carried out, including point rodding in 1982, rewiring in 1983, the mechanical interlocking in 1992, and a second rewiring in 2012/2013. The latter was done in conjunction with the re-siting of the token instruments, which had previously been sited on the brick support for the fireplace, which was not rebuilt in 1973. A replacement fireplace and chimney were brought into use on 27 December 2014. Refurbishment in 2019 saw new steps made in the correct style, new shiplap boarding and new windows for the locking room.[13]
Operation and Equipment[edit | edit source]
Lever Frame[edit | edit source]
Hampton Loade contains a 16-lever GWR 5-bar vertical tappet frame dating from 1938, replacing the original which was removed and scrapped on the closure of the line. It was originally in Ledbury North End Signal Box, supplemented by parts from various boxes, including Montgomery, Abercynon and Stourport North,[14] and has 15 working levers with no spares and one space.
Block Sections[edit | edit source]
The box works in both directions using Electric Token Block regulations, has two Tyer's No. 9 token instruments, and is able to switch out. The adjacent signal boxes are Highley (up) and Bridgnorth (down), which work directly to each other when Hampton Loade is switched out. The intermediate siding at Eardington can only be accessed on the long section token.
Signalling diagram[edit | edit source]
Levers and Lever Leads[edit | edit source]
List of levers[edit | edit source]
| No. | Colour | Description | Lever Sequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellow | Up Main distant | 2 |
| 2 | Red | Up Main Home When Switched Out | 8 To Notch 3 |
| 3 | Red | Up Main Home | 5 |
| 4 | Red+White Band | Up Main Start'g | 11 |
| 5 | Blue | FPL For Nº 6 | Nil Or 6 |
| 6 | Black | Up Main Facing | From Down Main |
| 7 | Space | ||
| 8 | Red+Black Band | Switching Out Lever | 12 6 5 [Electric Switch] To Notch 3 - 1 16 |
| 9 | Red | Disc For Nº 10 | 10 |
| 10 | Black | Up Main | Siding |
| 11 | Black | Down Main Facing | From Up Main |
| 12 | Blue | F.P.L. For Nº 11 | |
| 13 | Red+White Band | Up Main To Down Main Start'g | |
| 14 | Red+White Band | Down Main Start'g | 6 |
| 15 | Red | Down Main Home | 12 |
| 16 | Yellow | Down Main distant | 14 15 |
Signalling controlled from the box[edit | edit source]
All signals are of late GWR/BR(W) steel tubular post and enamel arm design. Signal 16, the Down Distant, is motor worked.
See also[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ A detailed (2 chains to one inch) survey by the GWR in 1880 showed that only Bewdley South and Bewdley North boxes were present at that time, all other boxes being installed thereafter.
- ↑ At opening in 1973, the box had also incorporated provision for a signal box at Eardington (if installed) to switch out; in the event no box was ever installed there.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Marshall (1989) p. 129.
- ↑ Marshall (1989) p. 101.
- ↑ SVR News 11, p.19.
- ↑ SVR News 16, p.18.
- ↑ SVR News 19, p. 11.
- ↑ SVR News 21, p. 13.
- ↑ SVR News 24, p. 28.
- ↑ SVR News 26, p. 33.
- ↑ SVR News 28, p. 26.
- ↑ SVR News 30, p. 26.
- ↑ SVR News 31, p. 36.
- ↑ SVR News 37, p. 34.
- ↑ Hampton Loade Facebook 18 April 2019
- ↑ SVR News 28, p. 27.
Links[edit | edit source]
- "Hampton Loade". Signal box profile on the Severn Valley Railway S&T Department (unofficial) website. Link. Accessed 05/01/2015.
- "Highley". Signal box profile on the Severn Valley Railway S&T Department (unofficial) website. Link. Accessed 05/01/2015.
- "Hampton Loade Railway Station". Wikipedia article. Link. Accessed 05/01/2015.
- 'Hampton Loade Signalbox', IRSE - Institution of Railway Signal Engineers on YouTube. A look around the signalbox and some token action (June 2022). (Retrieved 5 May 2024)