Kirkby South Junction Signal Box Track Diagram
Kirkby South Junction Signal Box was the first operational box I visited. To recognise that I've made a special feature of it within my album.
I first visited this box on 3 July 1965. It was the only box I went in that day, see my "boxes visited" log
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51602593738/in/album-...
Generally, I added the dates to my diagrams some time after I drew them. Normally the date was correct for the diagram as shown. However, in Kirkby South Junction's case, the diagram is not the one which I saw when I first visited on 3 July 1965. Annesley North Jn's Up distant was still below the starting signal 20 and Kirkby South's Down distant (no. 7) was below Annesley North's starting signal.
It would be just over 2 months before I started venturing to other boxes.
Some history:
In 1892, as part of its plan to drive southwards, the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway (MS&L) extended its line from Staveley to Annesley. Passing through Kirkby-in-Ashfield it cut through the Robin Hood Hills via Annesley Tunnel before joining the Great Northern Railway (GNR) Leen Valley line over which it had running powers to gain access to Nottingham. We know, though, that London (and beyond) was where the company (later 1897 formed Great Central Railway, GCR) had their sights.
Back at Kirkby, the GNR was keen to gain access to the coalfields and they promoted the Leen Valley Extension line from Kirkby to Langwith Junction. In 1895 work commenced on the route which started at Kirkby South. However the magnesiam limestone rock proved difficult to penetrate and so a Kirkby North to East Kirkby curve was built (opened 1896) which gave the GNR & MS&L access to the coal at Summit Colliery. The South to East curve was finally built and Kirkby South Junction box opened on Friday 1st April 1898. The GNR notice can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51941611359/in/datepo...
The North to East curve was taken out of use in 1905. The embankment of that formation is still visible today. I have produced a photomontage of that here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51959792448/in/album-...
On 4 September 1916 the Mansfield Railway from Kirkby South Junction to Clipstone Junction was opened and the box then controlled the lines I became familiar with during my spotting days at Lindley's Lane bridge.
A 1946 track diagram sketch is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940254753/in/album-...
In early 1960 Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central box closed and the next box on the Mansfield Line was Sutton-in-Ashfield Central.
I learnt quite a lot about signalling from my visits to the box, including the lack of creature comforts! There was no electric power for lights, kettles or heating. The kettle was boiled on the coal stove and a Tilly lamp provided the light.
I witnessed the application of Regulation 11 (Engine running round its train). For a while there used to be an Up train which arrived on the GN line from the Summit Colliery direction. It was always hauled by a BR Standard 9F 2-10-0. It had a brake van at each end and would stop to detach the engine which then went through Annesley Tunnel. At Annesley North Junction the engine would cross over to the Down and return before collecting its train via crossover no. 11 at Kirkby South. The additional bell codes in the Regulations were 2-1-3 (Engine arrived) and 3-2-3 (Train drawn back clear of section). I remember the whole process being quite a collection of bell codes and I'm a bit annoyed at myself for not writing the sequence down. For instance, I can't recall if the train fitted within the Up blades of the crossover and the section signal no. 20 so I'm not sure how it was offered to Annesley North. After running round the 9F would head off on the main line towards Kirkby Bentinck.
Another memory I have is being told that the box was going to open one Sunday during the day for a special train coming along the Up Mansfield line. Now that had to be unusual! I wondered what sort of train it would be and, I must admit, I was rather disappointed when it turned out to be a rake of 16T mineral wagons hauled by 2 Brush Type 2s (later Class 31s). It was interesting, though, because the block section that Sunday was from Kirkby South to Nottingham Victoria South! It seemed an eternity before Vic South gave us 'Train out of Section'.
I remember the Signalman telling me one day that, during his night shift, he saw the electric indicator for the Up Mansfield Line Distant (no. 26) suddenly go to 'wrong'. That was suspicious and the police were informed via Control. Sure enough a few weeks later a piece in the local newspaper reported that a man had been charged with stealing signalling cables.
There were catch points on the Down near the tunnel mouth, 340 yds from the Home signals on a rising 1 in 132 gradient. During all my spotting days on Lindley's Lane bridge I didn't see any mishaps involving those catch points. It was only when I started visiting Kirkby South box I realised that some loose coupled trains might come to grief if they were held at the Home signals 8/5/2. I asked the question and it turned out there used to be a special 'Is Line Clear' code to identify trains which, because of their length, could potentially be derailed by the catch points if held at the Home signals. These trains wouldn't be accepted unless the road could be set and the relevant Home signal cleared. In practice, though, I believe that dispatch from Annesley Yard for trains needing to cross the Up Main would be regulated according to what was due on the Up. In fact, in my spotting days I rarely, if ever, saw trains held at the Down Home signals. (There were occasions when some trains emerged from Annesley tunnel and started whistling their "road codes" as the wrong road was signalled). I should, at this point, say that when I started visiting the box Annesley Yard had just closed and the box was obviously a shadow of its former self. I have been told the box was so busy during the war years that a booking lad worked there alongside the Signalman. I can't confirm that, though.
There was one quirky experience which manifested itself at random times. Sometimes you could lift the omnibus phone and hear a BBC radio broadcast. (The omnibus circuit was the "open" one to which all the boxes on particular sections had immediate access).
I found this entertaining but I later learnt that the phenomenon sometimes caused quite a conflict between Signalmen and their Inspectors. At that time the rules were quite strict on not allowing radios etc in boxes. I've been told of occasions when an Inspector rang a particular box and was convinced that the Signalman was listening to a radio in his box!! I believe some heated exchanges ensued.
I mentioned this recently to Peter Churchman and he then remembered that he had been told about this by a former Telegraph lineman he worked with. Apparently it was due to the diode effect, caused by the formation of rust between the iron ties that held the copper line wires around the insulator pots.
On the subject of the omnibus phone circuits these were similar to the party lines which were not well liked on the public telephone system - any Signalman could simply lift the handset, cover the mouthpiece with his hand and then just listen to whatever gossip etc was going on. Each box had a specific ring code e.g. 3 long 2 short so as soon as someone rang a code everyone knew that a call was about to take place. So, if you were a bit bored it would be tempting to just listen into the call in case you heard anything interesting or scandalous!
You wouldn't, though, really want to sit there listening if nothing was going on.
So, there was a way of speaking to your mate at an adjacent box without attracting the attention of all the Signalmen. You would check that no one was speaking on the omnibus phone circuit then, in GC boxes, you would send, without Call Attention, the bell code 1 pause 2 to the box you wished to speak to. Now, some boxes had specific block phones which were private between two signal boxes. If you had one of those then obviously that would be the phone circuit you'd use. But if that wasn't available you could use the omnibus and have a reasonable chance of not being overheard. The bell code used between MR boxes was 1 pause 1.
On Saturday 13 August 1966 the RCTS operated its 'Great Central Rail Tour' see Six Bells Junction www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/660813gc.html
I was at Kirkby South that day and photograped the train taking the Mansfield Line see here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940256308/in/album-... I believe that was the last train to travel the full length of the Mansfield Railway.
I then visited Annesley North box www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51609305431/in/album-...
Later that day I went, with my brother and our friend Stuart, to Nottingham Victoria to see the returning RCTS special. My photos are here:
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940495464/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940495089/in/album-...
So to the first weekend in September 1966. The last through trains on the ex GCR actually passed Kirkby South on the Down in the early hours of Sunday 4 September 1966. They were 1M10, the 22:45 Marylebone to Manchester and 1N34, the 22:25 Swindon to York.
The Working Timetable page for 1966 which shows 1M10 & 1N34 is here on Mister C's flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/mrc31176/51067288557/in/album-72157...
The official closure date was Monday 5 September 1966, the first day when no through trains operated.
However it was on Saturday 3rd September 1966 that most focus was given, especially because that was the day the last semi-fasts between Nottingham Victoria & London Marylebone ran.
I was at Kirkby South that day and I saw the two Wakefield (56A) allocated B1s pass as light engines heading for Nottingham Victoria www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940174941/in/album-...
They returned, storming past with the LCGB 'The Great Central Rail Tour' which I photographed, seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940255233/in/album-...
A few seconds later Joe Street took his photo of the special thundering along towards Kirkby Bentinck www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940790975/in/album-...
The Six Bells Junction page is here www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/660903lc.html
I then left but, at about 12:30, the last Newcastle-Poole train (1042) with D1572 in charge passed by. A photo of 1O42 passing Kirkby South box with a Brush type 4 in charge can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940792210/in/album-...
I went to Nottingham Victoria to see the LCGB special depart behind 35030 'Elder Dempster Lines', my photo is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940254668/in/album-...
Also on 5 September 1966 the Mansfield line closed to traffic between Kirkby South Jn and Sutton Central. However the lines were commandeered to be used for wagon storage so there were trains on and off and the line remained connected at Kirkby South Jn.
Apparently in Branch Line News someone went to investigate this in early 1967 because they couldn't understand what was happening and they confirmed 2 lines full of standing wagons south of Sutton Central. Owen Llewellyn can recall the wagons standing under Sutton Middle Lane bridge and through the platforms at Kirkby Central.
With the GC line closures and a significant downfall in traffic the block switch was reconfigured in favour of the GN line, working between Annesley (GN) Jn and Summit Box.
Owen has found a scribbled note: "11 September 1966 - 7 distant fixed - problem maintaining wire through tunnel" - to be honest I'd expect they considered it pointless maintaining it as being working because from 5 September 1966, when GC route closed Bulwell North Jn to Annesley North Jn and also beyond New Hucknall Sidings to Duckmanton North Jn there were very few trains actually going that way and none of any importance to travel at speed though Kirkby South Jn.
A Track Diagram dated 1 September 1966 is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940174531/in/album-...
On 2 October 1967 the Mansfield line closed completely Mansfield Colliery Sidings to Kirkby South Jn (wagons removed).
I last saw the box operational during Easter 1968. Tom Dabell was the Signalman and there are 2 photos of him here:
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940791235/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940492494/in/album-...
Tom's Train Register entries had a distinctive style and I show a couple of extracts via the links below:
1) www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51939184957/in/album-...
This 1959 extract shows, on the Up, the 3 fish trains from Hull & Grimsby which passed via the Mansfield Line.
2) Three pages, starting here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940173171/in/album-... show, for the weekend 8/9 August 1964, the number of Class 1 trains (4 bells) which passed. 1964 was the last year that Summer Saturday cross country trains operated.
Also, at Easter 1968, I took a photo looking towards Kirkby South which shows the height gained by the Mansfield Railway from it's parting with the GC main line, here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51960302655/in/album-...
On 3 May 1968 the GC Line to Kirkby Bentinck was closed. Probably, though, by this time Kirkby South Junction box was mostly switched out.
On 27 May 1968 Kirkby South Junction box closed with line.
Today, the Robin Hood Line from Nottingham to Worksop uses the area en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_Line
I have produced two photomontages to show how the area around Lindley's Lane bridge has changed, seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51955454737/in/album-...
and
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51958820924/in/album-...
If you travel through Kirkby-in-Ashfield on the Robin Hood Line today you can, with a bit of imagination, visualise where the signal box once stood!
My external photos of the box are here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940176226/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940791470/in/album-...
My photos taken inside the box are here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940256458/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51939187737/in/album-...
My transcribed copy of the box Special Instructions is here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51941260666/in/album-...
A gradient chart titled "Duckmanton South Junc to Hucknall" is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52142273702/in/album-...
The Sectional Appendix pages are here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51607126645/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51954405043/in/photos...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51606248506/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51954411813/in/datepo...
The quite accurate location of the box was 450034 (Easting) 355253 (Northing), seen here on the NLS maps maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16&lat=53....
A more detailed 25 inch to the mile map is here maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16&lat=53....
Kirkby South Junction Signal Box Track Diagram
Kirkby South Junction Signal Box was the first operational box I visited. To recognise that I've made a special feature of it within my album.
I first visited this box on 3 July 1965. It was the only box I went in that day, see my "boxes visited" log
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51602593738/in/album-...
Generally, I added the dates to my diagrams some time after I drew them. Normally the date was correct for the diagram as shown. However, in Kirkby South Junction's case, the diagram is not the one which I saw when I first visited on 3 July 1965. Annesley North Jn's Up distant was still below the starting signal 20 and Kirkby South's Down distant (no. 7) was below Annesley North's starting signal.
It would be just over 2 months before I started venturing to other boxes.
Some history:
In 1892, as part of its plan to drive southwards, the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway (MS&L) extended its line from Staveley to Annesley. Passing through Kirkby-in-Ashfield it cut through the Robin Hood Hills via Annesley Tunnel before joining the Great Northern Railway (GNR) Leen Valley line over which it had running powers to gain access to Nottingham. We know, though, that London (and beyond) was where the company (later 1897 formed Great Central Railway, GCR) had their sights.
Back at Kirkby, the GNR was keen to gain access to the coalfields and they promoted the Leen Valley Extension line from Kirkby to Langwith Junction. In 1895 work commenced on the route which started at Kirkby South. However the magnesiam limestone rock proved difficult to penetrate and so a Kirkby North to East Kirkby curve was built (opened 1896) which gave the GNR & MS&L access to the coal at Summit Colliery. The South to East curve was finally built and Kirkby South Junction box opened on Friday 1st April 1898. The GNR notice can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51941611359/in/datepo...
The North to East curve was taken out of use in 1905. The embankment of that formation is still visible today. I have produced a photomontage of that here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51959792448/in/album-...
On 4 September 1916 the Mansfield Railway from Kirkby South Junction to Clipstone Junction was opened and the box then controlled the lines I became familiar with during my spotting days at Lindley's Lane bridge.
A 1946 track diagram sketch is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940254753/in/album-...
In early 1960 Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central box closed and the next box on the Mansfield Line was Sutton-in-Ashfield Central.
I learnt quite a lot about signalling from my visits to the box, including the lack of creature comforts! There was no electric power for lights, kettles or heating. The kettle was boiled on the coal stove and a Tilly lamp provided the light.
I witnessed the application of Regulation 11 (Engine running round its train). For a while there used to be an Up train which arrived on the GN line from the Summit Colliery direction. It was always hauled by a BR Standard 9F 2-10-0. It had a brake van at each end and would stop to detach the engine which then went through Annesley Tunnel. At Annesley North Junction the engine would cross over to the Down and return before collecting its train via crossover no. 11 at Kirkby South. The additional bell codes in the Regulations were 2-1-3 (Engine arrived) and 3-2-3 (Train drawn back clear of section). I remember the whole process being quite a collection of bell codes and I'm a bit annoyed at myself for not writing the sequence down. For instance, I can't recall if the train fitted within the Up blades of the crossover and the section signal no. 20 so I'm not sure how it was offered to Annesley North. After running round the 9F would head off on the main line towards Kirkby Bentinck.
Another memory I have is being told that the box was going to open one Sunday during the day for a special train coming along the Up Mansfield line. Now that had to be unusual! I wondered what sort of train it would be and, I must admit, I was rather disappointed when it turned out to be a rake of 16T mineral wagons hauled by 2 Brush Type 2s (later Class 31s). It was interesting, though, because the block section that Sunday was from Kirkby South to Nottingham Victoria South! It seemed an eternity before Vic South gave us 'Train out of Section'.
I remember the Signalman telling me one day that, during his night shift, he saw the electric indicator for the Up Mansfield Line Distant (no. 26) suddenly go to 'wrong'. That was suspicious and the police were informed via Control. Sure enough a few weeks later a piece in the local newspaper reported that a man had been charged with stealing signalling cables.
There were catch points on the Down near the tunnel mouth, 340 yds from the Home signals on a rising 1 in 132 gradient. During all my spotting days on Lindley's Lane bridge I didn't see any mishaps involving those catch points. It was only when I started visiting Kirkby South box I realised that some loose coupled trains might come to grief if they were held at the Home signals 8/5/2. I asked the question and it turned out there used to be a special 'Is Line Clear' code to identify trains which, because of their length, could potentially be derailed by the catch points if held at the Home signals. These trains wouldn't be accepted unless the road could be set and the relevant Home signal cleared. In practice, though, I believe that dispatch from Annesley Yard for trains needing to cross the Up Main would be regulated according to what was due on the Up. In fact, in my spotting days I rarely, if ever, saw trains held at the Down Home signals. (There were occasions when some trains emerged from Annesley tunnel and started whistling their "road codes" as the wrong road was signalled). I should, at this point, say that when I started visiting the box Annesley Yard had just closed and the box was obviously a shadow of its former self. I have been told the box was so busy during the war years that a booking lad worked there alongside the Signalman. I can't confirm that, though.
There was one quirky experience which manifested itself at random times. Sometimes you could lift the omnibus phone and hear a BBC radio broadcast. (The omnibus circuit was the "open" one to which all the boxes on particular sections had immediate access).
I found this entertaining but I later learnt that the phenomenon sometimes caused quite a conflict between Signalmen and their Inspectors. At that time the rules were quite strict on not allowing radios etc in boxes. I've been told of occasions when an Inspector rang a particular box and was convinced that the Signalman was listening to a radio in his box!! I believe some heated exchanges ensued.
I mentioned this recently to Peter Churchman and he then remembered that he had been told about this by a former Telegraph lineman he worked with. Apparently it was due to the diode effect, caused by the formation of rust between the iron ties that held the copper line wires around the insulator pots.
On the subject of the omnibus phone circuits these were similar to the party lines which were not well liked on the public telephone system - any Signalman could simply lift the handset, cover the mouthpiece with his hand and then just listen to whatever gossip etc was going on. Each box had a specific ring code e.g. 3 long 2 short so as soon as someone rang a code everyone knew that a call was about to take place. So, if you were a bit bored it would be tempting to just listen into the call in case you heard anything interesting or scandalous!
You wouldn't, though, really want to sit there listening if nothing was going on.
So, there was a way of speaking to your mate at an adjacent box without attracting the attention of all the Signalmen. You would check that no one was speaking on the omnibus phone circuit then, in GC boxes, you would send, without Call Attention, the bell code 1 pause 2 to the box you wished to speak to. Now, some boxes had specific block phones which were private between two signal boxes. If you had one of those then obviously that would be the phone circuit you'd use. But if that wasn't available you could use the omnibus and have a reasonable chance of not being overheard. The bell code used between MR boxes was 1 pause 1.
On Saturday 13 August 1966 the RCTS operated its 'Great Central Rail Tour' see Six Bells Junction www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/660813gc.html
I was at Kirkby South that day and photograped the train taking the Mansfield Line see here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940256308/in/album-... I believe that was the last train to travel the full length of the Mansfield Railway.
I then visited Annesley North box www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51609305431/in/album-...
Later that day I went, with my brother and our friend Stuart, to Nottingham Victoria to see the returning RCTS special. My photos are here:
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940495464/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940495089/in/album-...
So to the first weekend in September 1966. The last through trains on the ex GCR actually passed Kirkby South on the Down in the early hours of Sunday 4 September 1966. They were 1M10, the 22:45 Marylebone to Manchester and 1N34, the 22:25 Swindon to York.
The Working Timetable page for 1966 which shows 1M10 & 1N34 is here on Mister C's flickr site www.flickr.com/photos/mrc31176/51067288557/in/album-72157...
The official closure date was Monday 5 September 1966, the first day when no through trains operated.
However it was on Saturday 3rd September 1966 that most focus was given, especially because that was the day the last semi-fasts between Nottingham Victoria & London Marylebone ran.
I was at Kirkby South that day and I saw the two Wakefield (56A) allocated B1s pass as light engines heading for Nottingham Victoria www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940174941/in/album-...
They returned, storming past with the LCGB 'The Great Central Rail Tour' which I photographed, seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940255233/in/album-...
A few seconds later Joe Street took his photo of the special thundering along towards Kirkby Bentinck www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940790975/in/album-...
The Six Bells Junction page is here www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk/60s/660903lc.html
I then left but, at about 12:30, the last Newcastle-Poole train (1042) with D1572 in charge passed by. A photo of 1O42 passing Kirkby South box with a Brush type 4 in charge can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940792210/in/album-...
I went to Nottingham Victoria to see the LCGB special depart behind 35030 'Elder Dempster Lines', my photo is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940254668/in/album-...
Also on 5 September 1966 the Mansfield line closed to traffic between Kirkby South Jn and Sutton Central. However the lines were commandeered to be used for wagon storage so there were trains on and off and the line remained connected at Kirkby South Jn.
Apparently in Branch Line News someone went to investigate this in early 1967 because they couldn't understand what was happening and they confirmed 2 lines full of standing wagons south of Sutton Central. Owen Llewellyn can recall the wagons standing under Sutton Middle Lane bridge and through the platforms at Kirkby Central.
With the GC line closures and a significant downfall in traffic the block switch was reconfigured in favour of the GN line, working between Annesley (GN) Jn and Summit Box.
Owen has found a scribbled note: "11 September 1966 - 7 distant fixed - problem maintaining wire through tunnel" - to be honest I'd expect they considered it pointless maintaining it as being working because from 5 September 1966, when GC route closed Bulwell North Jn to Annesley North Jn and also beyond New Hucknall Sidings to Duckmanton North Jn there were very few trains actually going that way and none of any importance to travel at speed though Kirkby South Jn.
A Track Diagram dated 1 September 1966 is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940174531/in/album-...
On 2 October 1967 the Mansfield line closed completely Mansfield Colliery Sidings to Kirkby South Jn (wagons removed).
I last saw the box operational during Easter 1968. Tom Dabell was the Signalman and there are 2 photos of him here:
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940791235/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940492494/in/album-...
Tom's Train Register entries had a distinctive style and I show a couple of extracts via the links below:
1) www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51939184957/in/album-...
This 1959 extract shows, on the Up, the 3 fish trains from Hull & Grimsby which passed via the Mansfield Line.
2) Three pages, starting here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940173171/in/album-... show, for the weekend 8/9 August 1964, the number of Class 1 trains (4 bells) which passed. 1964 was the last year that Summer Saturday cross country trains operated.
Also, at Easter 1968, I took a photo looking towards Kirkby South which shows the height gained by the Mansfield Railway from it's parting with the GC main line, here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51960302655/in/album-...
On 3 May 1968 the GC Line to Kirkby Bentinck was closed. Probably, though, by this time Kirkby South Junction box was mostly switched out.
On 27 May 1968 Kirkby South Junction box closed with line.
Today, the Robin Hood Line from Nottingham to Worksop uses the area en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_Line
I have produced two photomontages to show how the area around Lindley's Lane bridge has changed, seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51955454737/in/album-...
and
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51958820924/in/album-...
If you travel through Kirkby-in-Ashfield on the Robin Hood Line today you can, with a bit of imagination, visualise where the signal box once stood!
My external photos of the box are here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940176226/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940791470/in/album-...
My photos taken inside the box are here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51940256458/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51939187737/in/album-...
My transcribed copy of the box Special Instructions is here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51941260666/in/album-...
A gradient chart titled "Duckmanton South Junc to Hucknall" is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52142273702/in/album-...
The Sectional Appendix pages are here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51607126645/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51954405043/in/photos...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51606248506/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51954411813/in/datepo...
The quite accurate location of the box was 450034 (Easting) 355253 (Northing), seen here on the NLS maps maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16&lat=53....
A more detailed 25 inch to the mile map is here maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16&lat=53....