This is the original forum of the Bristol Railway Archive that existed between 2003 and 2013. I finally rescued it after it seemed unrecoverable after a large crash. I have made it available for viewing. It is locked, all posts to the new version please!
Use this forum to talk about the railways in and around Bristol, or for any off-topic stuff you want to share. Also request photos and information that you are missing.
This was posted on the SEmG (Southern E-mail Group):
Tom Bright wrote:Dear All,
I joined this group several weeks ago in a hope that I
could find out a lot more about a railway collection (mostly signaling items)
which my Grandfather left me. Sadly before my grandfather passed away I wasnÔÇÖt
able to find out much about these items, so any advice or guidance any of you
can offer would be very much appreciated.
In summary my Grandfather was steam driver
between 1935-1980 and he drove the Queen in her silver Jubilee year and did the
125
trials - plus he held several rail speed records. During general refurbishment
of the
railways my grandfather gathered together old signaling items to form a
collection which he has passed onto me.
Below is a list of the collection and attached are
photographs of the items (labeled accordingly).
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks in advance for any help that you can offer.
Kind Regards
Tom
The Collection is as follows :
Item 1 - Signal
Two the same, except one is 92cm long and the other is 122cm long
(approximate).
Item 2 - Dual face "line clear/normal/ Train on line"
Item 3 - Single face "line clear/normal/ Train on
line"
Item 1 - A stop, or more correctly danger, signal arm. Railways use danger / clear rather than stop or go. The smaller arm may have been for a subsidiary route or from a space restricted location.
Item 2/3 - Block instruments, controlling the occupation of a section of track between two signal boxes.
Item 4 - Single line token as you suggest, though Annetts keys that are used to unlock groundframes are similar.
Item 6 - Doesn't look like a telephone! It's a pretty standard push button that would have been used for general purposes in a signal box. Releasing equipment, push to test type applications etc. These were common.
Item 7 - A ground signal disc. Used to control exits from yards and depots, crossovers, station movements etc.
Item 8 - A semaphore signal repeater, used where the signalman can't actually see the signal. Off indicates the signal has correctly moved to it's clear position, either 45 deg down (mainly Western Region) or 45 deg up (most of rest of UK). On means the signal is at danger - with the arm horizontal. WRONG means the signal is somewhere between its ON or OFF positions and would be ambiguous to drivers. This would usually be caused by signal wires expanding/contracting as the temperature changed, which the signalman could correct with slack adjuster behind each lever.
Item 5 & 13 - This is the telephone! And probably a signal lamp. Your signal arms are missing the "spectacle" at the end of the arm, which had red or yellow and a green glasses, which moved with the arm so the signal could be seen at night. The lamp illuminated one or the other of the glass spectacles.
Item 9 - A train describer. Looking at this instrument, I would say it is almost certainly from Dr Days junction just outside Temple Meads, though if it is not from there it can only be from Stapelton Road or Filton Junction, or one of the intermediate boxes, Ashley Hill or Horfield. Fascinating and probably quite valuable!
Item 10 & 11 - A lamp repeater - this would warn the signalman if a signal lamp went out and 11, a block bell, used to communicate with adjacent signalboxes to offer, accept and clear trains. Railways didn't use morse code, but a special bell code that consisted of one, two or three groups of bell rings, for example 2-1 or 3-5 etc.
Item 12 - I am taking a guess this might be a "section switch" that would have been used to switch a signal box in or out of use.
Item 13 - A finial. They were shaped like this for two reasons - firstly to look nice and secondly, to stop birds sitting on them! (Or so my grandfather told me).
I'm by no means a signalling expert, but I hope my info is of some use. There are others on here that know far more on this subject than I do and no doubt they'll respond.
What you do have is a really special collection of items, that deserve a place in a museum! Please look after them well. There are people here who collect such items if you are not thinkiing of keeping them, but whatever you do, DO NOT put them in a skip!
Item 1 Western Region enamel stop signal with spectacle removed.
Item 2 Great Western pegging block instrument. This looks like a permissive instrument for use on goods lines -ie more than one non passenger train could be allowed into the section at once. The commutator handle would be turned for each traiin so signalmen would have a reminder of how many were in section.
Item 3 GWR 1947 pattern block instumentc for use on absolute block lines, ie passenger lines, where only onr train allowed in section at a time under normal working. Dials would usually point to normal. Would be turned to line clear to allow a train to approach, and train on line when train in section.
The botton dial would be worked by signalman in this signal box. Trains would be offerd to him on the block bell (see item 11) from the next signal box in the rear. If all was in order he would turn commutator handle to line clear, which would show onlower dial. If there was a train at a signal he would use the right hand flap to lock the handle as a reminder. If the 'clearing point' (a distance of 440 yards ahead of the first danger signal, that must be clear to allow for a possible mis-judgement by the driver before full line clear given for a train to approach) was fouled, e ither by a train, or points set for an opposing movement, then the left hand white flap would be used as a reminder.
The top dial is the repeating block instrument. This would be worked by the commutator handle of the block instrument from the next box in advance on the up line. This, when line clear had been obtained, would give permission for a train to leave this signalbox and proceed into the block section, at which point the signalman at the box in advance would turn his commutator handle to 'train on line', the indication repeated on the top dial of your instrument.
Item 4 A GW signal repeater. This tells the signalman if the signal has answers his pull of the leaver. This one, because it is red would apply to a danger signal. It would be used to 'repeat the indication of a signal out of sight of the box. If the signal answered the pull the repeater would swing to off. If it wentto 'wrong' this would mean that the signal arm had nor been lowered adequately and would give an ambiguous signal to the driver. The most5common cause of this was expansion of the signal wire on hot days. This made it loose, sotherewasnot sufficient tension to lower the arm properly. To overcome this, the signalbox would have devices to tighten the wire to signals some way from the box. When these were used the repeater would nearly always now swing over to off in response to the leavers pull. It was important forthe signalmento keep their eyes on the repeaters to ensure the signals always showed the correct aspect. Also taht they returned the lever wire to its previous state at the endof the day. If they did not, an the temperature dropped sharply in the evening, there could be the danger of the now over taught wire snapping.
Item 6 Ground or shunting signal enamal face.
item 7 Electrical plunger release. sed wherever need for such release arose in te signal box,, or at ground frame outside. One particular useI can remeber for them was as a release for signal or point levers. For some signals and points a plunger like this one, needed to be pressed in tp get an electrical telease to clear the signal. This was an extra safety device, just to make the signalman pause and think is the line clear, am I pulling off for the right train? They were also linked with track circuits (electrical circuits running through the rails, that gave the indication of the presence of a train). They would not givea release if the section of track ahead of the signal was occupied, so it was not possible to pull the signal. (Fun if there was a track circuit failure!!)
Item 8 Key token for signal line.
Item 5 Internal parts of a signal oil lamp.
Item 13 Omnibus telephone. it was possible for several signalmen to talk together on this telephone. To go on it you just picked up the handset and joined inthe existing conversation. To call a particular signal box you turned the dial to whichever one you wanted and pressed the white button. Some omnibus phones used special bell codes to tell the signalman at a particular box he was wanted. It was possible to speak to boxes further away, and to train control by omnibus phones, and not just to your next door neighbours as you could with box to box phones. This was important for train regulation. There were some regular uses of these phones for that purpose. Eg at the box were I worked to the east of Westbury we reported to Taunton how down trains not stopping at Westbury were running.
Item 9 Route describer. Used in busy signalboxes inplace of bell routing codes, and where the number of possible routes was complex.Given the place names on this describer it may havebeen in a box on the GW South Wales line out of Bristol. Could have been Dr Days' Bridge. The describer would inform the signlmen along the line which line this train should take.
Item 10 Signal lamp repeater. usede where signal out of sigth of signalman. (In this case the down distant. This would have been the down signal furthest from the box, hence the need for a repeater. IIt would have been yellow, and indicatedto the driver the position ofthe stop signals, whether or not they were at danger.When oil lamp was lit it showed 'lamp in'. If lamp went out for any reason showed the red 'lamp out' and sounded a bell to warn the signalmean to get the lamp lit once more, and to apply the apprpriate regulations until that had happened.
Item 11 Block bell and atapper. Used to communicate with the next signal box. There would have been such an instrument for each adjacent signalbox, and for each line that led to or from that or those boxes, so in some important boxes there would maybe even a dozen ormore. Each bell had a distinct tone, so the signalman would know which box wanted to communicate with him by the sound of the bell.
Pressingthe tapper gave one beat on the bell at the adjacent signal box. This instrument owuld have been connected to an instrument and tapper at an adjoing box. To send a trainforward the signal man would give one beatof the tapper. When this was returned by one beat on the bell, hewould describe thetrain, eg 4 beats on the bell for an express. If the line is clear, he turns his commutator handle to 'line clear.' As the train leaves I send 2 beats train entering section, which the signalman repeats back to me, and turns the handle to train on line, repeated on this instrume When it arrives at the next station he will give the 2 pause 1 signal on this block bell,and, turns the handle to nornal repeated in the upper block instrement. If necessary I can offer him another train.
Item 12 Block switch This enabled signalboxes to be swithched out (ie closed) of circuit during quiet periods, or swithced in (ie opened) during busy ones. The block section would then extend from and to the adjacent boxes on either side. There was a special bell code (7-5-5) to close the signal box. Before closinfthe box and leaving for homeit was important for the signalmanto clear the appropriate signals, or the next train would come to a grinding halt, and nobody to ask what's going on!!!
Item 14 Signal finial. Decoration on top of a signal post. As this one is redit would have decorated te top of a danger signal.
I hope this information is of some use to you. If you need any clarification, or explanation, please get back to me, and I'll see if I can answer!!
