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Wenlow Junction

Signal box, 1964

Wenlow Junction

The box stands where the Pell Wood branch leaves a double-track main line. Callow Bank, to the west, Marsh Lane, to the east, and Pell Wood, up the branch, offer you their trains by bell.

Accept a train on the block instrument, set the road with the levers, offer it on to the next box, and clear it out of section once its tail lamp has gone by. The frame is interlocked: a lever that would make a conflict won't move.

The guide is on: it names each next move and rings the control to use. Turn it off once you have the knack.

Working the box

Only one train may be in a block section at a time. A section runs from one box's last signal to the next box's, and the two signalmen agree every train by bell, with the block instrument keeping a record of the answer: Line blocked, Line clear, or Train on line.

A train from Callow Bank

  1. Callow Bank rings 1, call attention. Answer it with 1.
  2. They ring the train's code, say 3-1 for an ordinary passenger. Repeat it to accept, and turn their handle to Line clear.
  3. When it sets off they ring 2, Train entering section. Acknowledge, and turn the handle to Train on line.
  4. Offer it on: 1 and the code to the box ahead. Their needle on your instrument goes to Line clear.
  5. Set the road. Points first, then the facing point lock, then the starting signal, the home, and the distant last.
  6. When it has passed, ring 2 to the box ahead, and put the signals back.
  7. Once the tail lamp has gone by, ring 1 and 2-1, Train out of section, to Callow Bank, and turn their handle back to Line blocked.

The frame

Red levers work stop signals, yellow the distants, black the points, blue the facing point lock that holds the junction points under a train. The numbers along the bottom of each plate are the levers that must be pulled first. A starting signal can only be pulled while the box ahead shows Line clear, and a home signal only while the track beyond it is clear; the lamps on the diagram light where trains stand.

Tapping a code

Beats close together make a group; a pause starts the next group; a longer pause sends it. Keep a steady hand. If you ring Train entering section too soon, 3-5 cancels it.

Wenlow Junction and its neighbours are made up. The bell codes follow British Railways' 1960 regulations for train signalling; lever colours and the absolute block method are as they were worked.