GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

Birmingham Snow Hill: gwrbsh3890

By the middle of October 1909 the replacement Birmingham North Signal Box was nearing completion and this was scheduled to open on Sunday 31st October 1909. On 18th October, a meeting was held to discuss the equipment to be provided in the replacement Signal Box, including that to be transferred from the temporary Birmingham North Signal Box and the old Birmingham North Signal Box. The replacement Birmingham North Signal Box used electrically powered motors to operate the Signals and Switches instead of the conventional mechanical system of rods and wires. This saved space at this compact site and is why the Signal Box is referred to in the minutes as Birmingham North Electrical Box. For more details of the electrical signalling see the Great Western Railway magazine article transcribed at birminghamsnowhill/electric. Among the attendees of the meeting were Mr C Ellis who wrote the article for the GWR Magazine and Mr C Jacobs who ran the GWR Signalling Department between April 1928 and February 1936.

The minutes of the meeting are attached and include details of:

1. The Signalling required in the new Signal Box - Blocking arrangements for each line, the route and train indicators, safeguarding of Bay Line No 10 which could not be seen from the Signal Box when a train was on the adjacent Bay Line (No 9).
2. The Telephone arrangements required, detailing the omnibus circuits to be transferred plus the provision of a new selective circuit to communicate to platform locations, while a second new selective circuit provided communication to various station offices.
3. The arrangements to be adopted when the new Signal Box was opened

Robert Ferris

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