GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Olton Station: gwro258b

Close up of image 'gwro258' showing Olton station's original up platform building and the station's second signal box. Both buildings were swept away between 1932 and 1933 when the quadrupling of the Birmingham Main Line was extended south to Lapworth and Olton station was rebuilt with two island platforms. This second signal box was built in June 1913 to control the entrance to the quadrupled section of track, which by then had reached Small Heath North and it replaced the original signal box which was situated at the southern end of the Up platform. This new signal box was a standard Great Western Railway type 7D signal box. It was brick built, 25 feet long by 12 feet wide with the operating floor 8 feet above rail level. It had a hipped roof with torpedo style roof vents in the ridge and a stove pipe chimney. The signal box housed a three bar horizontal locking frame with 31 levers set at 5¼ inch centres. This signal box was no longer required once the quadrupling was completed and closed on 25th June 1933. The home semaphore signals on the post at the end of the down platform on the left controlled access into the quadrupled section. The higher signal (lever 4) on the right controlled the access to the down main line, while the lower signal on the bracket (lever 7) controlled access to the down relief line. Also just visible are the two stop signals at the up main line (lever 29) and the up relief line (lever 26).

Robert Ferris

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