Signals at Moreton-in-Marsh

22/8/07

Moreton-in-Marsh is a small Gloucestershire town on the Cotswold line where the single-track section from Evesham doubles for the next section to Ascott-under-Wychwood. This is the view of the station from the Evesham direction.

The line towards Evesham, with a rear view of the up home.

The track layout at the other end of the station, with the signalbox at the end of the up platform. On the left is the down innerhome; to the right is the up starter.

The starter at the end of the down platform, and the double-to-single line junction.

Down starter and double-to-single junction

The track layout south of the station. The down intermediate home can be seen beyond the road bridge.

The signalbox.

An old-style elevated disc controls the exit from the up siding.

The track layout under the road bridge, with the up advanced starter beyond.

A closer view of the south end of the station. To the left of the down innerhome is a yellow disc.

The line towards Ascott-under-Wychwood. On the right are the down home and intermediate home and a siding exit signal.

The approach from Ascott-under-Wychwood, with the down home in the foreground. Unlike the other signals, it has a white-on-black numberplate. Bizarrely, you can see the posts of all four down stop signals in this photo, but only two of their arms!

The cubicle on the platform behind the up starter contains an auxiliary token instrument so drivers can collect tokens for the single-line section without the signaller having to cross over the track. This is a recent addition to reduce delays to trains.

A three-quarter view of the signalbox showing the porch and steps.

23/8/11

Network Rail redoubled the line between here and Evesham this summer. Whilst Evesham and Ascott-under-Wychwood signalboxes have had their lever frames replaced with panels, Moreton remains an island of semaphore signalling. This is the view towards Evesham with the double-to-single junction removed. Good riddance!

The signal visible on the right by the bridge in the photo above is this new-style, LED-illuminated Limit of Shunt marker. The line has now been formally remamed the Up Cotswolds, hence the 'UC'.

The previous colour-light up home has now been replaced with this LED signal, placed further back so there's a full clearing point between this and the limit-of-shunt marker in the photo above.

The layout at the London end has been simplified. The up siding (erstwhile Shipston-on-Stour platform) and down tamper line have been abolished, and the former down innerhome removed, but in its place a new 'down to up' starter (right) has been erected to allow trains to reverse directly back towards Oxford from the down platform.

A closer view of the new down to up starter, with the up starter in the background. Interestingly, this signal has its counterbalance lever mounted in the traditional way - at the side of the post - unlike the new signals installed in 2010 at Banbury. It turns out this is because those were newly manufactured signals, whereas this one was built from re-used parts. The post came from the former Evesham down home, after shortening, and the arm from the former down innerhome here.
The disc at the foot replaces the one that previously existed, but now reads only the down 'long' siding, beyond the road bridge, which has been renovated to replace the ones removed.

The view under the road bridge, with the two starters in the foreground and the up advanced starter beyond.
Note the different signal numberplate styles. The standard today is to have white letters and symbols on a black background, but the plates for the Worcester area signals were originally installed before that style was universally adopted, and had followed the older style that had been used in large 1960s and 70s resignalling schemes.

A closer view of the up starter.

Mechanical signalling lives on!

30/9/11

Ironically, in the September 2011 timetable, the weekday mid-afternoon Turbo that terminates here and returns to Paddington still has to shunt into the up platform, because the following down train is timetabled to come through before this one departs. Still a good shot of the new signal in use, though!

This axle counter, immediately beyond the down starter, is the first of a pair which cover the down section from here towards Evesham. The traditional Absolute Block signalling method has been reinstated but, because the block section runs only to Honeybourne, the signaller at Evesham cannot see the trains' tail lamps there to check they've arrived complete. These axle counters have therefore been provided so that, when trains do reach Honeybourne, the counter there can verify the correct number of axles have left the section and it is hence clear. The result is indicated to the Evesham signaller, who can then send 'train out of section' and accept the following train, if another one is coming.

June 1983

A view of the down platform with the down inner home, and yellow disc, clearly visible.

The up home, when it was still a semaphore. Prior to singling, however, this signal had been part way up the bank on the left-hand side of the line.

My train enters the up platform.

The signabox, as we await departure.

More information about Moreton-in-Marsh signalbox can be found on the Signalling Notices and Signal Box sites.