The Branch Line Society

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Essex Signal Box Visits
Saturday 25th April 2015

An early start was required for most of the group to make Clacton-on-Sea see https://flic.kr/s/aHska6S1qF for 08.45; mainly reached by the 07.18 from Liverpool Street joining at some point in its journey. One keen member had left home at 02.15 and caught the 04.50 Cambridge to Liverpool Street before that; advanced fare Cambridge to Clacton via London £5.95 with railcard! Despite the line to the seaside terminus having been electrified over 50 years ago, and a re-signalling scheme between 2006 and 2009 resulting in the abolition of all the other boxes on the Walton and Clacton lines, it seems that 'the money ran out' and the mechanical signal box at Clacton has survived to 2015. The 1891 Great Eastern Railway box has had UPVC windows and total cladding in recent years. The box, which is at the station throat also controls the Carriage Servicing Depot (CSD) access, a short distance along the main line. The Depot closed in the 1990s and reopened after upgrading in September 2010. Units are added to trains in the morning and dropped off at night. Clacton has the last remaining BR (ER) 'searchlight 'colour-light signals on NR (installed in 1958 for the 1959 electrification at 25KV) and the last working full size semaphore on an overhead electrified line. P1, 2 & 3 starting signals are all searchlights (P4 has a very elderly three-aspect colour light) along with the Up main starting signal. The first Down main home (lever 26) is also a searchlight, but the box diagram does not differentiate between searchlight and other colour light signals. All are in regular use. The full size semaphore allows direct access from the carriage sidings to the Up main, used for two (SSuX) early morning ECS services, the 05.05 to Waltonon- the-Naze and 05.47 to Thorpe-le-Soken. Its lack of regular use apparently means that it gives intermittent problems. Most subsidiary signals are mechanical discs and (unusually at a terminus) there is a yellow distant lever for the first Down main home, part of the final Colchester PSB signal. A couple of other unusual features:

The Grade 3 box is open 24 hours, seven days a week and the signaller is busy at night as units stabled in the station area are run on and off the depot for servicing. The box has 44 of its 57 levers in use but actually has lever numbers 13 to 69, suggesting that a portion of the frame was removed at some time on the left hand (low numbered) end. All but two of the 14 sets of points are mechanically worked; three have facing point locks. Unusually, 11 point rods pass out under the end wall of the box furthest from the buffers. NR advises that the closure of the box has been put back to 2018.

Most of the group then travelled by train to the virtually deserted Harwich International station to visit the adjacent 1987 Parkeston signal box. See https://flic.kr/s/aHsk7bCTJu. The Grade 4 small power signal box is a modern brick structure; its high level operating floor has windows along the railway side affording the signaller a good view (and of the level crossing). It is single-manned and open 24/7. There is a single remarkably large 'NX' entrance-exit panel which controls the branch from between Bradfield user worked level crossing (UWC) and Wrabness station to Harwich Town terminus, including access to the disused train ferry berth adjacent to the latter. As well as that crossing, it supervises the UWC at Copperas and the manually controlled barrier level crossing over an internal port road adjacent to the box. It was noted that on the panel there are no 'berths' to show train headcodes; these are displayed on a small VDU screen above it and anything stabled on a running line is noted by a manually annotated miniature 'collar' placed over the appropriate control, a reminder that the line is occupied. With the demise of the train ferry, the box is quieter than previously; the basic hourly branch shuttle service is supplemented by a couple of Liverpool Street 'boat trains' (which once ran non-stop) and the few 'PSUL' trains to/from Ipswich and beyond. There is freight in the form of the North Walsham tanks and some GBRf worked engineers' traffic, including at the time of the visit a high-output ballast cleaner and some weekend EMU stabling. After visiting the box, there was a chance to see the huge (empty) heated waiting room intended for maritime travellers but available to rail passengers. Some of our group used the still operational NSE liveried 'permit to travel' machine on P2&3. There was time for a quick trip to Harwich Town, where the very rusty sidings and what looked like signals for the former train ferry berth were disappearing beneath undergrowth and piles of rubble opposite the single platform, before returning to Manningtree and Colchester.

The final visit was to the large scale and extended 1983 Colchester Power Signal Box; https://flic.kr/s/aHskaKFMjZ now controlling the Great Eastern main line between the Marks Tey area and Norwich, plus branches. Another large brick-clad structure, it has a large high-level operating floor and as at Parkeston, has windows running the full length of the side of the building facing the railway. However, as these are south facing, the signallers leave the blinds closed and keep the lights dimmed. There are currently five workstations:

As is normal with power signalling installations, the signallers do not control every signal, as stretches of plain line generally have automatic signals. Instead, their efforts are concentrated in areas where routing decisions are required. Automatic route setting was provided for the Colchester and Manningtree areas from 27 April. As at Parkeston, at user worked level crossings signals are only returned to danger for large or slow moving vehicles; otherwise the signaller agrees with the user on the phone if time is available for them to cross safely before the arrival of the next train. An interesting feature on the NX panels is the use of small yellow collars on the appropriate push buttons at the end of electrified sections to remind the signallers not to send electric trains along that route!

The signallers work 12 hour shifts, three days or nights per week (four if they are due to work Sunday) splitting each shift between two workstations. There is one signaller per workstation, a meal break relief and a shift manager, totalling seven staff per shift. Of the five workstations, it seems that the Ipswich panel is the most difficult to work, due to the less fixed nature of the freight train operations and the need to regulate trains on and off the busy Felixstowe branch without delaying passenger services on the single line sections. Although it is possible for trains to follow each other along the single track sections (i.e. having more than one train between two loops), signallers have to be careful as two trains following each other in both directions towards the same loop would bring the job to a stand rather effectively! Whilst on the face of it, the East Gates and Thorpe-le-Soken panels look to be the easiest to work; each has four CCTV level crossings to take care of which keep the signallers busy.

The party were very grateful to our member Jon King for arranging this interesting and enjoyable day that resulted in a donation of £140 to the Llangollen Railway Corwen (permanent) station fund. Also thanks to our member Andrew Gardiner for access to his pictures of the visits via the links in the text.