4. Essendine to Lincoln-20.08.80

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-1980 > 14. East of England Summer Tour-17-22.08.80 > 4. Essendine to Lincoln-20.08.80

After a very stormy night camping in a field by the East Coast Mainline at Essendine we made our way further east towards Lincoln where we finished up at the end of the day with the weather improving a little. We enjoyed a raft of mechanical signalling throughout the day with some superb signal boxes. In the evening we found a camping spot near to Saxilby and in the night it absoluteky poured with rain - the British summer stikes again!

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Images 1-40 of 40 displayed.

55006, 05.50 London King's Cross-Aberdeen (1S12), Essendine TF043129
With just five months left in service 55006 'The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry' leads the 1S12 05.50 King's Cross to Aberdeen. In rather dull weather after a nighttime gale had nearly pulled our tent out of the ground, the train is seen passing Essendine between Peterborough and Grantham. In less than a year, this fine locomotive would be reduced to a pile of scrap at Doncaster works.

There is an audio recording of this event on my youtube channel, see.... https://youtu.be/l34GrAuurDE
Keywords: 55006 05.50 London King's Cross-Aberdeen 1S12 Essendine TF043129 The Fife and Forfar Yeomanry

40101, up parcels working, Essendine TF043129
40101 takes the up slow line past Essendine working an unidentified up parcels train. The Class 40 motherlist site that contains a huge amount of information about the workings of this class have no information on what 40101 was working so if anybody has any information as what this train could have been please get in contact with me. It is so niticeable to see how 'open' the the scene is at Essendene, and the rest of the ECML for that matter with in these pre-electrification days! By way of a comparison, please see......https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/26500879204/x43311-0 that shows the scene nealy forty years later.
Keywords: 40101 up parcels working Essendine TF043129

55011, 08.05 London King's Cross-Hull (1D00), Essendine TF043129
55001 'The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers' leads the 08.05 King's Cross to Hull express past Essendine on the southern flank of Stoke bank. The Deeltics were as well suited to these shorter diagrams with plenty of stops and starts as they were to to the longer distance workings with more sustained periods of high speed running. As with the last photograph, the scene is very different now, see..... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/26500882204/x801201-09-41-peterborough-doncaster
Keywords: 55011 08.05 London King's Cross-Hull 1D00 Essendine TF043129 Deltic The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers

55007, up LE, Essendine TF043129
We saw 55007 'Pinza' working the down Hull Executive the previous evening, see....https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/29672776804/x55007-17-05-london-king-s-cross just south of Grantham. For some reason, BR did not diagram the Deltic that worked the down service to work the following morning's up Executive often preferring a Class 47 and to run the Class 55 back to London light engine. Pinza passes Essendine on the up fast no doubt heading for Finsbury Park. However, this it at odds with the website The Chronicles of Napier that has it already in London and preparing to lead the 08.31 Peterborough to King's Cross 'fast'.
Keywords: 55007 up Light engine Essendine TF043129 Deltic Pinza

55015, 07.00 Hull-London King's Cross, The Hull Executive (1A04), Essendine TF043129
The 07.00 Hull to King's Cross was the named the Hull Executive and ran fast to the capital after its final stop at Newark (added from the start of the summer 1980 timetable). It is seen here passing Essendene at the southern end of Stoke bank with what I have recorded as being 55015 'Tulyar' leading. This would appear to tie in with the records on the Chronicles of Napier website but does throw into doubt some of the other workings recorded the previous eveing?
Keywords: 55015 Tulyar 07.00 Hull-London King's Cross The Hull Executive 1A04 Essendine TF043129 Deltic

55021, 08.05 York-London King's Cross (1A05), Essendine TF043129
55021 'Argyll and Sutherland Highlander' leads the 08.05 1A05 York to King's Cross semi-fast past Essendine. After the previous night's gales the wind is still blowing hard witnessed by the grass in the forground over at a fair angle! The train has just about reached the bottom of Stoke bank and would be at full line speed of one hundred miles per hour as it contiues its journey south with just under ninety miles to go.
Keywords: 55021 08.05 York-London King's Cross 1A05 Essendine TF043129 Argyll and Sutherland Highlander

Former M&GN bridge, Counter Drain TF178208
The Midland & Great Northern Railway (M&GN) had a network of lines all over East Anglia. Most of their lines were closed both before and as a result of the Beeching report with many of them passing through virtually empty countryside. A remnant of their infrastructure is seen crossing Counter Drain. This stretch of the M&GN ran between Spalding and Bourne. There was once a station of the same name at this location that closed in 1959 when passenger services were withdrawn along the whole line. Freight lingered on until 1964 when the last train will have traversed the bridge. A study of Google Earth's Street View reveals the bridge still standing with the former station building just across the road. Notice in this photograph 'UAM' the orange Mini parked up just beyond the bridge.
Keywords: Former M&GN bridge Counter Drain TF178208

Spalding No. 1 signal box (GN, 1921) & gates
A scene familiar to many a Spalding resident over the years but one that has not looked quite like this for some time. Dominating the photograph is the magnificent Spalding No. 1 signal box constructed by the Great Northern in 1921 that originally controlled the station approach, the junctions with the Bourne, Wisbech and March lines and, of course, the level crossing over Winsover Road. Notice the brick base to the box that was constructed during the war as a blast protection measure with the timber base behind it. There is so much railway infrastructure in this that dates from another era for example notice the two gas lamps on the footbridge and the LNER signal box nameplates.
Keywords: Spalding No. 1 signal box (GN, 1921) gates Great Northern Railway

Enamel, Spalding Station
Whilst Graham and I were exploring the delights of Spalding station we stumbled across this enamel sign laying on its front in the undergrowth on next to a closed platform. It was a non-flanged British Railways (ER) large sign that had simply been tossed away I suspect when the station received its BR corporate identity black and white signage. Interestingly, the sign refers to Spalding Town station suggesting that another station existed; there was no other so why it was simply not called Spalding (as is the case today) I do not know? We did toy with the idea of saving it but it would not fit in the back of the Mini and we did not have the roof rack so reluctantly we returned it to where we found it; I wonder if a Spalding resident rescued it and if it still exists?
Keywords: Enamel Spalding Station

Disused gas lamp, footbridge, Spalding
Situated on a footbridge that spanned the lines to the north of Spalding station was this gas lamp. I suspect that this particular example was a replacement for an earlier and far more ornate type that would have burnt town gas. However, this slightly later example would probably have burnt LPG either from the mains supply or from a cylinder located safely nearby. I also think that at the time that this photograph was taken that the lamp had fallen out of use but it does appear to have an intact mantle in front of the reflector disk.
Keywords: Disused gas lamp footbridge Spalding

Spalding No. 2 signal box (GN, 1920)
A little photographed signal box was Spalding No. 2 to the north of the station on the route to Sleaford. It was built relatively late in 1920 by the Great Northern as part of a rationalisation of signalling in the Spalding area whereby six boxes was reduced to just two. Notice the rather overgrown sidings in the background. For fifty-one weeks of the year, these would see very little or no use only to be packed with charter trains during the town's flower festival in early May an event that sadly took place for the last time in 2014. Notice the signalman keeping a careful eye on Graham and I as we take our photographs. Interestingly, the same character also features in another photograph of the box taken a year later also keeping an eye on the photographer on that occasion too, see..... https://www.flickr.com/photos/47422047@N07/17006342146
Keywords: Spalding No. 2 signal box

Mill Green Signal Box (GE, 1882)
Mill Green signal box was located on the northern edge of Spalding where the railway crossed Woolram Wygate Road. In this photograph the Great Eastern 1882 box still controlled mechanical gates and a crossover between the up and down lines. The box survived until 2014 when the whole line from Spalding to Lincoln was 'modernised' in Network Rail parlance in one fell swoop. Notice in this photograph the signalman's rather natty green Škoda 120 parked close to the box.
Keywords: Mill Green Signal Box

Gosberton signal box (GE, 1882)
Gosberton signal box was a Great Eastern Railway structure dating from 1882. It looks to be good condition and with its telegraph wires would be an ideal modelling opportunity. The box was open until 2012 when it was replaced by a temporary structure a little further along the line that only was in operation for two years with control moving to the Lincoln Control Centre when all mechanical signalling along the length of the line was replaced
Keywords: Gosberton signal box Great Eastern GER

Donington Road signal box (GE, date not known)
I can find precious little out about Donington Road signal box located between Gosberton and Helpringham. It appeared to be switched out on the day of our visit and it looks a little run down with its nameboard missing. I suspect that the Great Eastern box will have dated from around the same time as the others along this stretch of line, c. 1880.
Keywords: Donington Road signal box Great Eastern Railway GER

Helprinham signal box (GE, 1882)
Another superb GER signal box at Helpringham. This box dates from 1882 and was located close to the former station that closed relatively late in 1970. All of the boxes along this stretch of line were similar in design with all having a small hut at the foot of the steps that I can only assume was for the personal needs of the signalman?
Keywords: Helprinham signal box Great Eastern Railway GER

Former LNER cast sign, weighbridge, Helpringham
A remarkable survivor discovered on the former weighbridge adjacent to the closed station at Helpringham. The former LNER cast sign still wears some of its original red paintwork. As with all old artefacts that I have photgraphed, I wonder if it still survives today?
Keywords: Former LNER cast sign weighbridge Helpringham

Heckington signal box (GN, 1876)
A typically hackneyed photograph of Heckington signal box usually includes the grand windmill in the background and mine is no exception! However, back in 1980, when this one was taken, tree growth allowed for a far more open view than is possible today. Notice the small shrubs on the up platform, they have now morphed into huge trees that tower above the signal box! The Great Northern Railway box was built in 1876 and is now Grade II listed. According to Historic England's reasons for designation, 'it is a particularly good example of the Type 1 (box), an especially attractive signal box design with a great deal of character. The box has elaborate detailing, such as the pointed Gothic arch polychromatic windows which are thought to be unique for the GNR.' It is located in the village of the same name on the Skegness line east of Sleaford. Notice the GER slotted concrete signal post next to the box.
Keywords: Heckington signal box

Running in board, Heckington station
A superb timber running in board at Heckington station. This particular example on the eastbound platform (towards Skegness) still exists today. Notice 'UAM' the orange Mini parked in the station car park behind the sign. Close examination of the car reveals that Graham was happy with two rearview mirrors both on the offside but none on the near side. However, he did have one of those extra-wide rear view mirrors that attached over the original with springs that were so popular in the 1970s!
Keywords: Running in board, Heckington station

Enamel & tap, Sleaford station
I am not at all sure if I would want to drink from the tap seen here on Spalding station? However, my attention was drawn due to its enamel sign. I am not sure if this was of LNER or of later British Railways (Eastern) origin; although I suspect the latter as I don't think that the font is quite correct for the former. Either way, the whole thing is a very quaint piece of station infrastructure dating from a past railway era.
Keywords: Enamel & tap, Sleaford station

Sleaford East signal box (GN, 1882)
Sleaford East signal box is located (as it still is due its Grade II listing) between the eastern end of the station and the level crossing with Grantham Road. It's an 1892 Great Northern building that has been somewhat spoilt by the crass application of one of BR's corporate image signs. In this view notice the 'Coke bottle' Ford Cortina Mk. III crossing the level crossing. The large building behind the Esso petrol station is still in existence and looks exactly the same but the Ford dealership has now gone to be replaced by an Aldi supermarket. The superb pair of twin doll brackets on slotted posts round off a really interesting scene in this small Fenland town.
Keywords: Sleaford East signal box Great Eastern Railway

Class 105 DMU (E51286 & E56444), 12.38 Doncaster-Ely, Sleaford West
With the post of Sleaford's Castle Causway level crossing to the right, a Cravens Class 105 DMU enters the town working the 12.38 Doncaster to Ely service. E51286 leads E56444 off the one hundred and eighty degrees curve from Sleaford North Junction in order to reach the station rather than take the avoider. Of note in this photograph is the number of point rods in the foreground operated by Sleaford West signal box just to my right. Both the cars of this Cravens DMU did another ten years of service before withdrawal came in 1990 with the latter spending its final eight years as a route learner numbered TDB977125.
Keywords: Class 105 DMU E51286 E56444 12.38 Doncaster-Ely Sleaford West First-generation DMU

Sleaford West signal box (GN, 1882) & level crossing
Until Network Rail commissioned the Lincoln Signalling Centre in 2014 (delayed from 2013) Sleaford was the only rail centre in the UK to still retain four working signal boxes named as North, South, East and West. Here Sleaford West box is seen with its associated manually operated level crossing gates. The box is a Great Northern box built in 1882 and at the time of writing is still in use controlling the crossing but its operation of the wonderful semaphores has ceased. Notice the twin permissive arms and shunting disk on the post directly in front of the box.
Keywords: Sleaford West signal box level crossing Great Northern GNR

37153, unidentified down working, Sleaford North signal box (GE, 1882)
37153 speeds north past Sleaford North signal box working an unidentified down working heading towards Lincoln. The relatively small 1882 Great Northern box controlled the junction to the north of the Lincolnshire town where the station avoider went to the east to then cross the Skegness route and rejoin the Spalding line again, complicated; have a look at a map! It also controlled the level crossing seen here where a minor road crossed the line. The large embankment in the background carries the A17 relief road around the north of Sleaford.
Keywords: 37153 unidentified down working Sleaford North signal box

Scopwick signal box (LNER, 1937)
Wreaking of railways from another era is this delightful scene at Scopwick where the B1191 road crosses the Sleaford to Lincoln line. The signal box is a superb example of an LNER box dating from 1937 seen here with its associated manually operated gates with a red oil lamp. It is scenes such as this that typified rural Linconshire's railways, a situation that continued largely unchanged until Network Rail dragged the line into the modern era in 2014. The box has now gone with the gates replaced by standard barriers. Notice our orange Mini parked in the distance with the former station master's house beyond it. Incidentally, the station here was names Scopwick & Timberland and was closed on 07.11.55.
Keywords: Scopwick signal box London and North Eastern Railway LNER

Martin Road crossing box & gates (LNER, date not known)
Located on the Great Northern & Great Eastern Joint line between Sleaford and Lincoln, Martin Road was downgraded from a full box to a crossing box. It was an LNER box but its date of construction does not appear to be recorded so if anybody can furnish me with any information it would be appreciated. Having enlarged the original scanned negative it appears that it has its LNER blue nameplate above the door. The box was abolished on 15.12.85 but the crossing and gates, as seen here, remain with it now being a UWC (user-worked crossing).
Keywords: Martin Road crossing box gates

Ruskington signal box (GE, date not known)
Ruskington signal box was located at the southern end of the station and is seen here in front of the former goods shed. It is a superb example of a GER signal box but I do not have its year of construction. The station was closed by British Railways on 11.09.61 and after a long and protracted campaign it was reopened again by BR on 05.05.75. The box is now no more but one of the wooden nameboards sold at auction in November 2016 for what I think was a resonable price at £240.
Keywords: Ruskington signal box Great Eastern Railway GER

Blankney signal box (GN, 1928)
An utterly antiquated scene at Blankney level crossing! Where do we start with the list of railway infrastructure from a bygone era? We could begin with the superb array of telegraph wires and posts that carried communications between the boxes. The Great Northern slotted concrete signal post stands protecting the crossing complete with two LNER cast notices. The superb box is a Great Northern structure dating from 1928 and is what appears to be original condition having not been modified, outwardly at least! Finally, notice the LNER small blue enamel nameplate on the end of the box. The whole scene here evokes an atmosphere that has completely disappeared from today's railways that makes this one of my all-time top ten favourite photographs!
Keywords: Blankney signal box Great Northern GNR

Potterhanworth signal box (GN, 1883)
The delightfully named Potterhanworth signal box looks absolutely superb in the afternoon sunshine. The Great Northern always made a great deal of effort with the details of their boxes when they were constructed and this 1883 example was no exception. The ornate wooden gable end detailing is superb especially the way that it seamlessly blends into the finials. This Type 1 box is the second at this location with the first one only being a year older but that was destroyed by a storm. The thirty-two lever Saxby & Farmer frame was rescued from the debris and reused in this box.
Keywords: Potterhanworth signal box Great Northern Railway GNR

Greetwell Junction signal box (GN, date not known)
On the eastern outskirts of Lincoln close to the city's main cemetery and crematorium, Greetwell Junction was where the former GER and GNR joint avoider line swept south to rejoin the mainline again at Pywipe Junction. The box was a superb and substantial Great Northern structure but without its nameboards that was abolished when the avoider line was closed shortly after this photograph was taken.
Keywords: Greetwell Junction signal box GNR Great Northern Railway

Sinsil Bank signal box (GE, 1882) & gates
For me, the star of this photograph is not the 1882 Great Northern signal box but the incredibly ornate twin doll bracket signal just in front of it. This is despite what appears to be the crass removal of the higher doll using what looks to be oxyacetylene? This scene is at Sinsal Bank just east of Lincoln's city centre where the appropriately named Great Northern Terrace crosses the Sleaford line. The layout is very similar today with all the land to the left occupied by Network Rail and indeed today the rather austere Lincoln Signalling Centre is built where the vehicle is parked in front of the former shed. Notice 31153 stabled at the head of a rake of stock just to the right of the box and the rare blue car that has just crossed the level crossing; when did you last see a Simca 1501 estate or even knew of its existence?
Keywords: Sinsil Bank signal box Great Eastern Railway GER

Pelham Street (GN, 1873) & Sinsil Bank (GN, 1882) signal boxes
Standing on Lincoln's Pelham bridge that acts an eastern relief road to the town and feast of former Great Northern Railway infrastructure is revealed. In the distance is Sinsal Bank signal box at the level crossing with Great Northern Terrace. The line branching off to the left in the centre lead to the railway depot and carriage sidings, indeed 31153 can just be seen stabled. This line still exists today leading to the now Network Rail facility. In the foreground is the rather run-down looking Pelham Street signal box, a Great Northern structure dating from 1882. The line crossing diagonally over the diamond crossings is now closed and has been lifted with just the twin curves seen here still in existence heading off towards Grimsby and Immingham via Market Rasen. The closed former Midland Railway route was often seen as Lincoln's mainline that went straight through the city with the rather grand Lincoln St.Marks station located slightly further south of the present station on the High Street.
Keywords: Pelham Street Sinsil Bank signal boxes Great Northern Railway GNR

Lincoln St. Marks station looking east
Lincoln St. Marks station looks quiet in this early evening photograph looking east towards the town's High Street. As can be seen here, the station only had two platforms with two former centre passing lines that were truncated at just before the level crossing with the aforementioned High Street. These two stubs of track were used for light DMU and stock servicing hence the raised wooden platforms for staff to access the units. Signalling was controlled by a Midland box located a short distance behind me with a gatekeeper operating the barriers at the other end at the High Street. The station was opened by the Midland Railway in 1846 as the town's first station simply named Lincoln, the suffix of St. Marks was applied surprisingly late by British Railways in 1950. BR undertook a huge rationalisation of its operations in Lincoln a few years after this photograph was taken with the closure of the through route, along with St. Marks station coming in May 1985. The site lay derelict for a number of years until be turned into a shopping centre.
Keywords: Lincoln St. Marks station

Frontage, Lincoln St. Marks station
The grand ionic portico frontage of Lincoln St. Marks station is seen in the evening sunshine. The station was opened by the Midland Railway in 1846 with direct trains being able to connect the south Humberside coast directly to London. Thankfully, when the station was closed in 1985 the building seen here was not demolished but has been incorporated into the appropriately named St. Marks Shopping Centre that now sprawls across the whole site The collection of cars somewhat chaotically scattered about outside the station are nearly all British in origin with just one foreign interloper in the form of a Mk. 1 VW Polo. Of all those that I can identify the VRN of only the white Rover P6 is on the DVLA database. This 1975 registered 2,200 variant was last on the road in the autumn of 1985 a little after the station it is parked outside of closed.
Keywords: Frontage Lincoln St. Marks station Midland Railway MR

Lincoln Station signal box (Mid, date not known)
The rather tired-looking Lincoln Station signal box is seen in the evening sunshine. This is a Midland box but its date of construction is a bit of a mystery unless anybody can furnish me with some information on this? Graham and I must have wandered off the end of the platform to take this photograph in full view of the signalmen unless we asked permission that I very much doubt! The box carries its original name, unlike that station that was renamed by British Railways to become Lincoln St. Marks from 1950. It was closed along with the station in May 1985 but stood derelict for a few years after that. In a nod to its heritage, the retail park that now occupies the site has a mock signal box that is the home to the management centre.
Keywords: Lincoln Station signal box

East Holmes signal box (GNR, 1873)
Despite being out of use since 2008 East Holmes signal box is still standing due to it being Grade II listed by Historic England. When it closed it was the oldest working Great Northern Box and the second oldest in existence opening in 1873. It controlled the entry to the station from the western end with a very short block section to Lincoln High Street box just the other side of the rather brutalist 1960s tower block and car park, no wonder the former was to let! The level crossing with Brayford Wharf Road can be seen and the former swing bridge that crossed the River Witham. At some time after this photograph was taken, the bracket signal at the crossing was moved to stand at this end of the box blocking the view from the west-facing windows for the signalman.
Keywords: East Holmes signal box Great Northern Railway GNR

37018, tanker train, East Holmes crossing
This photograph would not have worked so successfully without the low evening sun. It picks out the gothic grandeur of Lincoln's fine eleventh-century cathedral yet at the same time plunges part of the foreground in deep and atmospheric shadow complete with some swans to just lift things a little. 37018 is seen leading a tanker train, probably heading for Immingham (local advice anybody?) crossing the River Witham. The mechanical level crossing gates have been closed preventing the red Mk. 1 Vauxhall Cavalier from driving down Brayford Wharf towards Wigford Way. The Class 37 is still with us today and operational as one of WCR's fleet of drably painted locos. renumbered as 37518 and now having lost its square headcode boxes as seen here, see..... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/27362599004/x37706-37518-cosham-completer-05
Keywords: 37018 tanker train East Holmes crossing

31180, unidentified parcels working & 31228, 17.20 Skegness-Sheffield (1J20), Lincoln Central station
With the sun dropping low in the sky now most of Lincoln's High Street signal box is in shadow as its level crossing but the station is still in the light. To the left at platform five is 31180 waiting at the head of a parcels working, local knowledge would probably be able to inform as to what this working may have been...anybody? To the right waiting at platform six is 31228 that will soon leave with the 1J20 17.20 Skegness to Sheffield service. The High Street signal box looks empty and closed but that could not be further from the truth. It was a very busy box where one of the signalman's main challenges was to keep the users of the very busy High Street as happy as possible by keeping the gates closed to them for as little time as he could but still permitting the passage of the trains in and out of the station. Road users had the tricky situation to deal with of not only this level crossing but another one some few hundred yards further south from here where the line through St. Marks station also crossed the road. The rather grand tower above the station building stands proud in the evening sunshine as does Canwick Hall high on the hill to the extreme right of the photograph.
Keywords: 31180 parcels working 31228 17.20 Skegness-Sheffield 1J20 Lincoln Central station

Lincoln High St. Crossing signal box (GN, 1874)
The superb and ornate-looking Lincoln High Street signal box stands controlling the signalling of the station and the very busy level crossing on which I am standing. The box is a Great Northern early Type 1 dating from 1874 but has been shorn of a number of its original features that were thankfully reinstated with the box was restored by British Rail in the mid-1990s. The curious extension added at this end of the box was constructed a lot later in 1925 and is an exact match of the original structure that is a little unusual. It once housed the electronic controls for a new set of electric crossing gates added to try and ease congestion on the High Street. As a yeller (sic) belly (somebody born and bred in Lincoln), my grandfather used to regale me with tails of the waits he had to endure whilst on his bike riding in this part of the city as an insurance rep. (the man from the Pru.) in the 1920s and 1930s. The box closed in 2008 but is still extant and is Grade II listed so while a decision is yet to be made on its future use, it is safe for the moment.
Keywords: Lincoln High St. Crossing signal box Great Northern Railway GN

Signalling, Lincoln Central station
With no fewer than ten semaphore arms in view, the eastern end of Lincoln station is seen on this pleasant late summer's evening. In the foreground are four up homes all controlled by Pelham Street Junction box that is seen in the distance just under the Pelham Street/Canwick Road viaduct constructed in 1958 to replace yet another congestive level crossing. In the centre distance is the impressive junction bracket. The left-hand doll was for the former Midland and Great Central Market Rasen route to Grimsby whilst the home and distant to the right were for the Sleaford route. The two smaller signals in the centre controlled entry to the depot and yard roads. Whilst then track layout in Lincoln's station throat is similar today all this delightful signalling was wiped away when the Lincoln Signalling Centre opened in 2008.
Keywords: Signalling Lincoln Central station semaphores

Pyewipe Junction signal box (GN, date not known)
This was a very eerie place to be at dusk on a late summer's evening! I am not sure how Graham and I managed to get this close to Pyewipe Junction and its associated signal box but it did enable me to take this very atmospheric photograph looking east back towards Lincoln. The area was once home to an extensive area of sidings and a large shed that was jointly run an operated by various railway companies such as the GN, the GN & GE Joint and the Great Central. The facing bracket with three dols permitted trains to enter Lincoln to the left, enter the former shed sidings or via the former Joint avoider route to Greetwell Junction to the right. The twin dolls on the bracket to the right are the homes for either the route to Doncaster (via Gainsborough) or the former GC route to the Midlands via Clipstone Junction. Most of this latter route is now closed and the tracks lifted but for the section of test track at High Marham. Note that a train is pegged for the Doncaster route. The box is superb Great Northern structure but I have no date for its construction. I have read reports from signalman that this was an incredibly quiet place to work surrounded by flat land and bird song but it was a tricky box to operate described a 'bit of brain teaser'*. It was certainly very atmospheric when we visited as seen in this photograph!

* https://www.photrek.co.uk/?page_id=974
Keywords: Pyewipe Junction signal box Great Northern Railway GNR

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