Image Magdalen Road signal box (GC, 1927)
Magdalen Road signal box (GC, 1927)
Magdalen Road signal box (GC, 1927) Magdalen Road signal box looks very neat and tidy and as if it has recently had a coat of paint. Eagle-eyed readers will also recognise that this is a Great Central box that is way off GCR territory deep into GE/LNER land. It was moved here by the LNER (the parent company of the GC after grouping took place) in 1927. Another curiosity is its name, it is located adjacent to Magdalen station which takes its name from the village, Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen over a mile to the west. The station and the box are actually in the village of Watlington so why the box and station took the name of the more distant village is a railway mystery! However, matters were addressed somewhat in 1975 when BR reopened the station (following closure just seven years earlier in 1968) at Watlington. My notebook from the day of this visit states ‘LNER blue enamel on the entrance gate to the signal box’ but I suspect that this was a BR (E) variant. Keywords: Magdalen Road signal box GCR Great Central Railway 1927
Magdalen Road signal box (GC, 1927) Magdalen Road signal box looks very neat and tidy and as if it has recently had a coat of paint. Eagle-eyed readers will also recognise that this is a Great Central box that is way off GCR territory deep into GE/LNER land. It was moved here by the LNER (the parent company of the GC after grouping took place) in 1927. Another curiosity is its name, it is located adjacent to Magdalen station which takes its name from the village, Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen over a mile to the west. The station and the box are actually in the village of Watlington so why the box and station took the name of the more distant village is a railway mystery! However, matters were addressed somewhat in 1975 when BR reopened the station (following closure just seven years earlier in 1968) at Watlington. My notebook from the day of this visit states ‘LNER blue enamel on the entrance gate to the signal box’ but I suspect that this was a BR (E) variant. Keywords: Magdalen Road signal box GCR Great Central Railway 1927


Magdalen Road signal box looks very neat and tidy and

as if it has recently had a coat of paint. Eagle-eyed readers will also recognise that this is a Great Central box that is way off GCR territory deep into GE/LNER land. It was moved here by the LNER (the parent company of the GC after grouping took place) in 1927. Another curiosity is its name, it is located adjacent to Magdalen station which takes its name from the village, Wiggenhall St. Mary Magdalen over a mile to the west. The station and the box are actually in the village of Watlington so why the box and station took the name of the more distant village is a railway mystery! However, matters were addressed somewhat in 1975 when BR reopened the station (following closure just seven years earlier in 1968) at Watlington. My notebook from the day of this visit states ‘LNER blue enamel on the entrance gate to the signal box’ but I suspect that this was a BR (E) variant.