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GWR Route: Alcester to Hatton Junction
GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line
Bearley Junction: sig-diag-bearley-west
A low resolution version of the Signalling Diagram for
Bearley West Junction Signal Box produced courtesy of the Signalling Record
Society (S.R.S.). Details of how to purchase their full resolution content is
available here. Bearley
West Junction Signal Box opened on 5th June 1907. The Signal Box was a standard
Great Western Railway brick built design with a hipped roof and stovepipe
chimney (type 7D). The operating floor was 25 feet long and 12 feet wide with
the characteristic three up two down window panes. It housed twenty-five levers
in a horizontal tappet, three bar locking frame. Bearley West Junction Signal
Box opening hours for a selection of years are given:
Service Time Table |
Signal Box Opened |
Signal Box Closed |
Summer 1916 |
Open continuously |
Summer 1929 |
Open continuously |
Winter 1930 |
Open continuously |
Summer 1939 |
Open continuously |
Winter 1945 |
Open continuously |
The Signal Box here controlled the block sections on the
main double line and double branch line to Bearley. The Signalman sent messages
to the preceding Signal Box to give permission for trains to enter the block
section on their line and used signals to indicate to train drivers when 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 junction.
The Signalman could set a route with the point switch
levers. These were interlocked with various types of signals (including ground
signals and route indicators), operation of which informed the locomotive
driver of the selected route and when to proceed. This interlocking with
signals ensured that these 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.
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