Birmingham New Street Station: lnwrbns_str1911

An aerial view of New Street station's 1884 No 5 Signal Box which was 80 feet long and equipped with 152 levers on 4th May 1938. Richard Foster states in the third volume of his history on the station that the signal box was a LNWR Type 4 design and of size T meaning that it was 80 feet 4½ inches long. The signal box was subsequently destroyed during a Luftwaffe raid on Birmingham at 8pm on the night of 16th October 1940 when it was hit by a high explosive bomb. The blast destroyed most of the brickwork of the signal box base and damaged the timber superstructure beyond repair. Richard notes that some 40 levers in the frame, the instrument shelf, block instruments, telephones, batteries, relays and other equipment were totally destroyed.

The speedy use of modified emergency standard LMS design timber signal boxes and other equipment resulted in the signal box being reopened by 6pm on 27th October 1940 although the reinstatement of full interlocking wasn't complete until 1pm on 7th November 1940. The lines adjacent to the signal box were only closed for a short periods after the bombing to allow for removal of the debris and the erection of the new structure. In between time trains were controlled from a temporary block post set up in the signal linesman's room near the signal box. This saw signalmen directing handsignalmen and pointsmen who set and locked the points for the appropriate route and flagged the trains in and out of the station.

back