Somerset and Dorset Railway, Midsomer Norton Signal Box.
Richard Billington was the duty signaller and was good enough to explain some of the workings of the box to me even though I had roused him from a moment resting his eyes in the chair between trains with my gentle knock on the window at the top of the stairs.
In 1969 the station site was acquired by the Somerset Education Authority and then sold in 1995 to the former Wansdyke District Council, who in turn leased it to the Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust (S&DRHT) in 1996. Since then the S&DRHT has restored the station buildings and platforms and converted the goods shed into a workshop, whilst the former stable block at the rear of the goods yard has been converted into a museum. The track has been relayed at the station and the line is being extended southwards towards Chilcompton (extension towards Radstock is hampered by the lack of a bridge over Silver Street). The Type 2 signal-box has been recreated on its original site, including the re-use of the original stonework reclaimed from the demolished base; it houses a 26-lever Stevens & Sons lever-frame (recovered from the former L&SWR SB at Branksome), which is longer than the original in order to cater for the more extensive signaling now required for current-day operations. The new SB was commissioned in March 2016 (50 years after the closure of its predecessor) and there is now operational signaling once again at Midsomer Norton.
Info from www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/sdjr/msnorton.html
Somerset and Dorset Railway, Midsomer Norton Signal Box.
Richard Billington was the duty signaller and was good enough to explain some of the workings of the box to me even though I had roused him from a moment resting his eyes in the chair between trains with my gentle knock on the window at the top of the stairs.
In 1969 the station site was acquired by the Somerset Education Authority and then sold in 1995 to the former Wansdyke District Council, who in turn leased it to the Somerset & Dorset Railway Heritage Trust (S&DRHT) in 1996. Since then the S&DRHT has restored the station buildings and platforms and converted the goods shed into a workshop, whilst the former stable block at the rear of the goods yard has been converted into a museum. The track has been relayed at the station and the line is being extended southwards towards Chilcompton (extension towards Radstock is hampered by the lack of a bridge over Silver Street). The Type 2 signal-box has been recreated on its original site, including the re-use of the original stonework reclaimed from the demolished base; it houses a 26-lever Stevens & Sons lever-frame (recovered from the former L&SWR SB at Branksome), which is longer than the original in order to cater for the more extensive signaling now required for current-day operations. The new SB was commissioned in March 2016 (50 years after the closure of its predecessor) and there is now operational signaling once again at Midsomer Norton.
Info from www.trainweb.org/railwest/railco/sdjr/msnorton.html