Sutton Junction Station Signal Box Track Diagram
I first visited this box on 18 January 1966. It was the only box I went in that day, see my "boxes visited" log
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51602593738/in/album-...
Dates:
1 November 1875 - A box already existed here named Sutton Station.
Unknown date - Renamed Sutton Junction Station.
24 April 1893 - Renamed Sutton Junction North. A drawing of the 1897 layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503398414/in/album-...
18 September 1910 - New box (this).
xx-xx-1925 - Down Outer Home (at south end of platform) removed.
A photo of a 1936 box diagram is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490858700/in/album-...
A photo of a 1946 track diagram, from my collection of original Track Diagrams, can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490387456/in/album-...
28 February 1960 - South box closed - Ground frame provided, key release from this box. This box was renamed Sutton Junction Station.
A drawing of the 1966 layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52489903602/in/album-...
10 December 1967 - Sutton Forest Crossing box closed - Automatic Half Barriers (AHB) provided, supervised from here. Illingworth's Siding GF provided released by 6. Signal 12 abolished and crossover along with South GF secured "Emergency use only". The crossover at Sutton Junction was inside the strike-in area for Sutton Forest LC, therefore movements towards that LC via the crossover may not activate the LC equipment in sufficient time for safe operation. If a movement over the crossover was required (i.e. for engineering work) Sutton Forest LC would need to be manned and operated manually using the Local Control Unit (LCU), under the instruction of the Sutton Junction Signalman.
xx December 1968 - Secured crossover and South GF removed.
2 April 1972 - new Kirkby Deviation line brought into use and Sutton Junction Station box now working to the new signal box "Kirkby Summit". A drawing of the layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503677373/in/album-...
28 May 1978 - the level crossing gates were replaced by Manually Controlled Barriers. The layout drawing is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503677373/in/album-...
and the Weekly Operating Notice starts here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503398364/in/album-...
Before or during 1985 - Stokes, Taylor & Shaw siding points out. A drawing of the 1987 layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503600395/in/album-...
24 January 1988 - Sherwood Colliery Sidings South box closed, 2 GF's (North & South) provided released by 6 (North) and 7 (South). Signals 9 and 11 abolished. A drawing of the 1988 layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503128436/in/album-...
15 January 1995 - Both Sherwood GF's were abolished (over 2 years after the pit had closed). However the notices covering this work are a bit confusing but I think it is safe to say "early 1995"!
The notice dated 14 to 20 January 1995 is starts here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490054207/in/album-...
and the notice dated 1 to 7 April 1995 is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490540166/in/album-...
Explanatory notes from Peter Churchman are included as text for those two notices.
On the subject of the Sherwood South GF there is another debate as to why that GF was only released by Sutton - in other places it would have been a joint release by Shirebrook Sidings box but by this time that was the garden shed ground frame and not always open??
Between 2 September & 11 September 1995 work was carried out to decommission the box as part of Kirkby Summit re-signalling. The Weekly Operating Notice for that starts here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503128406/in/album-...
24 September 1995 - Box reduced in status to "Crossing Keepers Shelter" (because CCTV from Kirkby Summit not operative yet). The box had no signalling controls so it is assumed that trains were talked by red signals either side and then flagged across the crossing.
29 October 1995 - CCTV at crossing commissioned, box abolished.
12 September 2011 - Signalling and level crossing recontrolled from Mansfield Workstation at the East Midlands Control Centre.
Before leaving the history it's worth looking at the "Sutton Jnc" Ground Frame, shown on the Down line on my diagram and released by key.
This was actually where the branch to Sutton-in-Ashfield Town went off (known as the "Penny Emma"). This line was 3/4 mile long and opened on 1 May 1893. It certainly brought the Midland Railway within the town of Sutton-in-Ashfield. However it had a chequered life with the passenger services being withdrawn (wd) and then re-instated (rei) a couple of times (1917 wd 1923 rei, May 1926 wd Sep 1926 rei). Finally, the passenger service was withdrawn 26 September 1949 with the rest of the traffic withdrawn 1 October 1951.
The junction was controlled by Sutton Junction South box. That opened in 1892, for the ‘new’ branch, it originally housed a 28 lever Midland (tumbler) frame.
There's the 1903 Board of Trade Sketch for Sutton Junction South here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490387351/in/album-...
and the locking is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490858500/in/album-...
A great 1906 photo of the box and the junction is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52489903607/in/album-...
John Gough ("The Midland Railway A Chronology") records the box as being re-framed in 1924, so this explains a later rear frame. This must have been at 4 ½” centres, otherwise it wouldn’t have fitted in the box! However, by 1924 the REC tappet was the standard frame anyway.
There's a Board of Trade inspection sketch 28 May 1925 here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52577369514/in/album-...
and the locking is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52577272403/in/album-...
I believe the South Junction box closed 28 February 1960 and then Sutton Junction North controlled the "Penny Emma" junction via a ground frame.
The Penny Emma is featured in a Web article called "Sutton in Ashfield Photographic Memories, Stories and More Sutton Memories" seen here suttoninashfield.wixsite.com/sutton-railways/photos
Returning to Sutton Junction Station box:
My external photo of the box is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490672259/in/album-...
I took a photo of RDB977020 BRE-Leyland Railbus (LEV3) heading towards the box, seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52489903997/in/album-...
There are photos courtesy of the Peter Churchman Collection, part of the excellent "Tillyweb" website. tillyweb.biz/index.htm The three photos (external views) can be seen here:
1) tillyweb.biz/pmc/suttonjunctionnorth1976pmc2.jpg
2) tillyweb.biz/pmc/suttonjunctionnorth1981pmc1.jpg
3) tillyweb.biz/pmc/suttonjunctionnorth1976pmc1.jpg
2) A YouTube video of stills "Rest Day Worked: Sleights East to Sutton Junction in the 80s and 90s" by madmax200769. The box features at 15:07 to 16:24 www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=eggJOwrkLOo%22
The Station is featured in a Web article called "Sutton in Ashfield Photographic Memories, Stories and More
Sutton Memories" seen here suttoninashfield.wixsite.com/sutton-railways/home
The Sectional Appendix pages are here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51607126625/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52031646604/in/datepo...
The quite accurate location of the box was 450993 (Easting) 358481 (Northing), seen here on the NLS maps maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16.0&lat=5...
A more detailed 25 inch to the mile map is here maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16.0&lat=5...
Sutton Junction Station Signal Box Track Diagram
I first visited this box on 18 January 1966. It was the only box I went in that day, see my "boxes visited" log
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51602593738/in/album-...
Dates:
1 November 1875 - A box already existed here named Sutton Station.
Unknown date - Renamed Sutton Junction Station.
24 April 1893 - Renamed Sutton Junction North. A drawing of the 1897 layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503398414/in/album-...
18 September 1910 - New box (this).
xx-xx-1925 - Down Outer Home (at south end of platform) removed.
A photo of a 1936 box diagram is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490858700/in/album-...
A photo of a 1946 track diagram, from my collection of original Track Diagrams, can be seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490387456/in/album-...
28 February 1960 - South box closed - Ground frame provided, key release from this box. This box was renamed Sutton Junction Station.
A drawing of the 1966 layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52489903602/in/album-...
10 December 1967 - Sutton Forest Crossing box closed - Automatic Half Barriers (AHB) provided, supervised from here. Illingworth's Siding GF provided released by 6. Signal 12 abolished and crossover along with South GF secured "Emergency use only". The crossover at Sutton Junction was inside the strike-in area for Sutton Forest LC, therefore movements towards that LC via the crossover may not activate the LC equipment in sufficient time for safe operation. If a movement over the crossover was required (i.e. for engineering work) Sutton Forest LC would need to be manned and operated manually using the Local Control Unit (LCU), under the instruction of the Sutton Junction Signalman.
xx December 1968 - Secured crossover and South GF removed.
2 April 1972 - new Kirkby Deviation line brought into use and Sutton Junction Station box now working to the new signal box "Kirkby Summit". A drawing of the layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503677373/in/album-...
28 May 1978 - the level crossing gates were replaced by Manually Controlled Barriers. The layout drawing is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503677373/in/album-...
and the Weekly Operating Notice starts here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503398364/in/album-...
Before or during 1985 - Stokes, Taylor & Shaw siding points out. A drawing of the 1987 layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503600395/in/album-...
24 January 1988 - Sherwood Colliery Sidings South box closed, 2 GF's (North & South) provided released by 6 (North) and 7 (South). Signals 9 and 11 abolished. A drawing of the 1988 layout is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503128436/in/album-...
15 January 1995 - Both Sherwood GF's were abolished (over 2 years after the pit had closed). However the notices covering this work are a bit confusing but I think it is safe to say "early 1995"!
The notice dated 14 to 20 January 1995 is starts here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490054207/in/album-...
and the notice dated 1 to 7 April 1995 is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490540166/in/album-...
Explanatory notes from Peter Churchman are included as text for those two notices.
On the subject of the Sherwood South GF there is another debate as to why that GF was only released by Sutton - in other places it would have been a joint release by Shirebrook Sidings box but by this time that was the garden shed ground frame and not always open??
Between 2 September & 11 September 1995 work was carried out to decommission the box as part of Kirkby Summit re-signalling. The Weekly Operating Notice for that starts here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52503128406/in/album-...
24 September 1995 - Box reduced in status to "Crossing Keepers Shelter" (because CCTV from Kirkby Summit not operative yet). The box had no signalling controls so it is assumed that trains were talked by red signals either side and then flagged across the crossing.
29 October 1995 - CCTV at crossing commissioned, box abolished.
12 September 2011 - Signalling and level crossing recontrolled from Mansfield Workstation at the East Midlands Control Centre.
Before leaving the history it's worth looking at the "Sutton Jnc" Ground Frame, shown on the Down line on my diagram and released by key.
This was actually where the branch to Sutton-in-Ashfield Town went off (known as the "Penny Emma"). This line was 3/4 mile long and opened on 1 May 1893. It certainly brought the Midland Railway within the town of Sutton-in-Ashfield. However it had a chequered life with the passenger services being withdrawn (wd) and then re-instated (rei) a couple of times (1917 wd 1923 rei, May 1926 wd Sep 1926 rei). Finally, the passenger service was withdrawn 26 September 1949 with the rest of the traffic withdrawn 1 October 1951.
The junction was controlled by Sutton Junction South box. That opened in 1892, for the ‘new’ branch, it originally housed a 28 lever Midland (tumbler) frame.
There's the 1903 Board of Trade Sketch for Sutton Junction South here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490387351/in/album-...
and the locking is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490858500/in/album-...
A great 1906 photo of the box and the junction is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52489903607/in/album-...
John Gough ("The Midland Railway A Chronology") records the box as being re-framed in 1924, so this explains a later rear frame. This must have been at 4 ½” centres, otherwise it wouldn’t have fitted in the box! However, by 1924 the REC tappet was the standard frame anyway.
There's a Board of Trade inspection sketch 28 May 1925 here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52577369514/in/album-...
and the locking is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52577272403/in/album-...
I believe the South Junction box closed 28 February 1960 and then Sutton Junction North controlled the "Penny Emma" junction via a ground frame.
The Penny Emma is featured in a Web article called "Sutton in Ashfield Photographic Memories, Stories and More Sutton Memories" seen here suttoninashfield.wixsite.com/sutton-railways/photos
Returning to Sutton Junction Station box:
My external photo of the box is here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52490672259/in/album-...
I took a photo of RDB977020 BRE-Leyland Railbus (LEV3) heading towards the box, seen here www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52489903997/in/album-...
There are photos courtesy of the Peter Churchman Collection, part of the excellent "Tillyweb" website. tillyweb.biz/index.htm The three photos (external views) can be seen here:
1) tillyweb.biz/pmc/suttonjunctionnorth1976pmc2.jpg
2) tillyweb.biz/pmc/suttonjunctionnorth1981pmc1.jpg
3) tillyweb.biz/pmc/suttonjunctionnorth1976pmc1.jpg
2) A YouTube video of stills "Rest Day Worked: Sleights East to Sutton Junction in the 80s and 90s" by madmax200769. The box features at 15:07 to 16:24 www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=eggJOwrkLOo%22
The Station is featured in a Web article called "Sutton in Ashfield Photographic Memories, Stories and More
Sutton Memories" seen here suttoninashfield.wixsite.com/sutton-railways/home
The Sectional Appendix pages are here
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/51607126625/in/album-...
www.flickr.com/photos/192151030@N08/52031646604/in/datepo...
The quite accurate location of the box was 450993 (Easting) 358481 (Northing), seen here on the NLS maps maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16.0&lat=5...
A more detailed 25 inch to the mile map is here maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=16.0&lat=5...