GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Leamington Spa Station: gwrls3907

A low resolution version of the Signalling Diagram for Leamington Spa South Signal Box produced courtesy of the Signalling Record Society (S.R.S.). Details of how to purchase their full resolution content is available here.

Leamington South Signal Box controlled the station throat at the south end of Leamington Spa Station. The first signal box here had a 22 lever frame and opened in 1880, but details of the Signal Box construction are unknown and the nameplate would originally have been made with wooden letters as was typical of the time. Records show that a replacement cast iron Signal Box name plate was ordered for this Signal Box in July 1898 (Order No 197 – ‘Leamington South Signal Box’). As part of the station improvements, which started in 1901 this first Signal Box was replaced with a larger Signal Box, which opened on 8th June 1902. It appears that the recently made cast-iron name plate was transferred to the new signal box as no new name plate was ordered for this at the time.

The second Signal Box was a standard Great Western Railway timber built design with a hipped tile roof, torpedo vents on the ridge and stovepipe chimney (type 27C). The windows had the characteristic three up, two down window panes. These surrounded three sides of the operating floor which was 33 feet, 6 inches long by 12 feet wide and was 8 feet above rail level. It housed forty-one levers at five and a quarter inch centres in a double twist frame. A later addition was a separate two lever frame for remotely placing detonators on the main line tracks. Leamington Station was officially renamed Leamington Spa Station on 26th July 1913 and on 29th October 1913 new name plates were ordered for the three Signal Boxes here (Order No 274):

• Leamington Spa North Signal Box (two off)
• Leamington Spa South Signal Box
• Leamington Spa South Junction Signal Box (two off)

The opening hours for the second Leamington (Spa) South Signal Box over a selection of years are given in the following table:

The Signal Box here controlled the block sections on the main double line, platform lines and goods lines. On receiving a request from the preceding Signal Box, the Signalman sent messages back to give permission for trains to enter the block section on their line (if it was safe) and used signals to indicate to the train drivers that they were allowed to proceed. Distant Signals, distinguished by their forked tails and yellow colour (post September 1927) gave train drivers advance warning of the status of the next ‘Stop’ Signal. The Signal Box also controlled train movements associated with the south bay platform line, plus access to and egress from a pair of exchange sidings, which connected to the LNWR (later LMS) railway.

The switches were interlocked with various types of signals (including ground disc signals), operation of which informed the locomotive driver of the selected route and when to proceed. This interlocking with signals ensured that these also indicated to other trains, when they could no longer proceed safely and had to stop. Visibility was important in the days before track circuits and the Signal Box was positioned where it could oversee the most complex trackwork. Track circuits were authorised at Leamington in July 1914. These were used to indicate when various sections of track were occupied or if switches were fouled and were interlocked with switches as an additional safety measure.

Leamington Spa South Signal Box closed on 19th July 1966.

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