FEATURE
Toddington junction signal. has to be operated safely and reliably, and for this the signalling is crucial. Initially, control was by train staff and ticket for the short section from Toddington to Winchcombe but, as the line extended and more trains were operating, proper signalling arrangements were required. The GWSR has five signalboxes, all of the traditional type but very different as to how they have been acquired and built. They are: Toddington, Winchcombe, Gotherington, Cheltenham Racecourse and Broadway. Linking all the locations is a buried cable of 0.9 mm conductors, jelly filled and armoured. 20 pair is the norm but 10 pair is installed between Far Stanley (part-way between Winchcombe and Gotherington) and Gotherington. The cable suffices for both signalling and telecommunication requirements. Each box is considered in turn.
Toddington SB
Winchcombe SB
This was the only box to survive the demolition process, although without its original lever frame which had been sold to another railway prior to the GWSR acquiring the site. The box never had running water in BR days and even electricity was a late addition. After repairing the box structure, a 35-lever frame from Earlswood Lakes on the North Warwickshire line was acquired after that route was re-signalled. The frame dates from 1906 and has a three-bar horizontal-tappet locking arrangement. A Tyers token machine controls the single line section to Winchcombe and, for the present, a train staff is issued when a service runs to the newly opened Broadway section. Release of the Broadway train staff allows a single pull on the section signal to prevent any unauthorised movement towards Broadway. All signals are typical GW lower quadrant and enable signalled movements into either platform and to the sidings in the yard, where the main locomotive depot is sited. Points and facing point locks are operated by conventional rodding except for those at the far end of the loop towards Broadway. These are worked by HW point machines as the ‘pull distance’ is too great for manual operation.
The original signalbox was demolished, so a redundant structure from Hall Green on the North Warwickshire line was acquired when that route was modernised. It is built on the foundations of the original box with the brickwork being carried out by GWSR volunteers. The 35-lever frame came from Honeybourne West Loop and is a fivebar vertical-tappet design originally manufactured in 1960. As such it is relatively new! The SB diagram is illuminated to show track circuit occupations. The Tyers token instruments enable both short and long section operation. Going south, one token machine is for the section to Gotherington (the next box) but this is not always open. The other machine works the section to Cheltenham Race Course and is the one mostly in use. The two sections have different coloured tokens, red for Winchcombe to Gotherington, green for Winchcombe to Cheltenham. Another token machine with blue tokens covers the section Winchcombe to Toddington. Although Winchcombe is, in many ways, the core of the signalling operation, the box can switch out by means of the Toddington -
Rail Engineer | Issue 170 | December 2018
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