GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Soho and Winson Green: gwrswg2286

Looking towards Birmingham along the sweep of the Up Main platform, the tail end of a parcels train on the up main line has just past the Soho and Winson Green Signal Box. The last wagon in the train appears to be a Monster Wagon with end opening doors. The signal in front of the standard Great Western Railway type 27C timber Signal Box has a tubular steel post with a braced gantry platform. This design was introduced during the Second World War when the traditional timber posts were unavailable. Above the gantry platform, the two semaphore signals on the tallest post were the up main starter and distant signals. The slightly lower two semaphore signals on the middle post were for the crossover to the up relief line, while the single stop semaphore signal on the right hand post was the cross over to the up goods line.

The track has been relaid with flat bottomed track and is secured to the sleepers by 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. Other dated photographs indicate that the pre-nationalisation bullhead rail track was still in use at this location in late 1956, indicating that this photograph must be later than this date.

Robert Ferris

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