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London North Western
Railway:
Midland
Railway:
Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
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Birmingham New Street - Southern Approaches:
lnwrbhm_sa2322
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Looking towards Aston from just north of Lawley Street bridge on
the Vauxhall viaduct on 2nd June 1954. The signal bridge carrying the new LMS
upper quadrant signals has now been installed resulting in a rationalisation of
the number of posts erected for each direction of travel. Both directions have
one post with much smaller signals and on the left an additional post with two
small shunting signals has been installed. The viaduct's parapet has been
rebuilt allowing the post to sit in the area once occupied by the wall. Lower
quadrant signals were once the norm on the UK's railway network but after a
serious accident most railway companies converted to upper quadrant signals.
The term 'lower quadrant' meant that when trains could proceed forward the
signal pointed downwards at an angle of some 45° whereas 'upper
quadrant' pointed upwards at an angle of 45°. The accident occurred when
snow compacted and prevented the arm returning the horizontal (danger)
position. The GWR did not follow the other railways and remained committed to
using lower quadrant signals.
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