GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Acocks Green & South Yardley Station: gwrag2461

On the short wooden signal post at the Birmingham end of the down main platform was the centre pivoted Down Main Starting Signal controlled by signal wire from Acocks Green Signal Box (lever 30) some 232 yards away and below this the Down Main Distant Signal electrically controlled from Tyseley South Signal Box (lever 127) some 1380 yards away in the other direction. Lever 127 also electrically controlled a second distant signal on the approach to Acocks Green Station, some 2005 yards from the Tyseley South Signal Box. The reason for the duplication of the distant signals on the down main was because not all trains needed to stop at Acocks Green station. The two signals on this post were both centre pivoted because of the space restriction between the loading gauge and the staircase down from the main booking office adjacent to Sherbourne Road bridge.

Acocks Green Signal Box was located just beyond the other end of the relief platform ramp and because of the buildings on the main island platform there was no clear view of the up main line (In this photograph the up main line can be seen in the background passing through the other arch of the road bridge). This line was therefore provided with track circuit supervision (circuit 2T) to tell the Signalman when a train, wagon or engine was on the track. When track circuit supervision was present a diamond symbol was attached to the signal posts. The date of the photograph is circa 1962 and the bullhead rail has been replaced with flat bottomed track fixed to the sleepers with elastic spikes through a 'BR1' inclined baseplate. Flat bottomed track was introduced as standard on main lines after nationalisation and the elastic spike fixings were used until the advent of continuous welded rail (CWR), when fittings with lower creep resistance were required. Notice the three fire buckets on the bridge pier.

Robert Ferris

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