When will Littleworth SB be demolished?

[railnerd]

Hi.

Subject close to my heart this one, but does anyone have any idea when the disused GN box at Littleworth (Deeping St. Nicholas) be grounded?

All the non preserved boxes have gone now. At Spalding, if you didnt know there was a box there, you'd never know!

As far as I know, Littleworth SB does not have any preservation order on it. I think the group who tried (trying) to save St. James Deeeping SB, almost got Littleworth too.

So, any news anyone? :cry:

 

[linkyork]

Hi.

Subject close to my heart this one, but does anyone have any idea when the disused GN box at Littleworth (Deeping St. Nicholas) be grounded?

All the non preserved boxes have gone now. At Spalding, if you didnt know there was a box there, you'd never know!

As far as I know, Littleworth SB does not have any preservation order on it. I think the group who tried (trying) to save St. James Deeeping SB, almost got Littleworth too.

So, any news anyone? :cry:

When the St James Deeping and Spalding boxes were in the news Network Rail said that as the Littleworth box was in the way of nothing it would not be demolished.
However I noticed that the staircase has gone.

 

[railnerd]

Hi.

The staircase was removed as people would have to go trackside to gain entry to the stairs and doorway.
The hand gate from the road is locked (as it usually was when the box was open!)

It would be nice if the box could be opened for people to look in, anoraks etc. Various problems leap to mind tho. The main one being that the windows would have to be locked or boarded up as they overlook the tracks. A different staircase would need to be erected so as not to go trackside.

I do not see NR being interested in doing any of this. I see it being left to rot and when it becomes dangerous and needs maintaining, it will be demolished.

 

[bramling]

Hi.

The staircase was removed as people would have to go trackside to gain entry to the stairs and doorway.
The hand gate from the road is locked (as it usually was when the box was open!)

It would be nice if the box could be opened for people to look in, anoraks etc. Various problems leap to mind tho. The main one being that the windows would have to be locked or boarded up as they overlook the tracks. A different staircase would need to be erected so as not to go trackside.

I do not see NR being interested in doing any of this. I see it being left to rot and when it becomes dangerous and needs maintaining, it will be demolished.

I hope a use can be found for it. An attractive box, and always a poignant feature to pass when driving from London to Lincolnshire.

 

[John Webb]

Littleworth signal box in Deeping St Nicholas

© Copyright Richard Humphrey and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
(Click on the picture to go to the larger original.)

A new staircase going towards the back of the box would allow access from behind the box without exposure to the railway.

But the main problem would be the continued maintenance of the box. While the base and back is brickwork, the top front and ends are timber, and will need access for minor repairs and repainting preferably every 3 years or more often. The front in particular would be very difficult to work on due to its proximity to the track.

The closeness of the box to the road will make it easy for visitors to access; regrettably, however, it would also give easy access to vandals, which may result in more repairs being needed than would otherwise be the case.

Not an easy box to preserve, but it does look nice!

 

[railnerd]

Hi.

I agree entirely with Mr. webbs comments.

Interestingly enuff, Littleworth SB is one of the oldest signal Boxes in the country (1875) and it pre dated St. James Deeping by a year!

Sadly tho, the windows were replaced sometime ago. At least they didnt put plastic windows in! Heres a few more fun facts...

It had a 30 lever frame (which is still in the box) and at the time of closing it had 5 working levers...

1 - Barrier Interlocking
4 - LW4 - Up Main Distant
5 - LW5 - Up Main Home
28 - LW28 - Down Main Home
30 - LW30 - Down Main Distant

All the signals were semaphore with mechanical pulls and all the spare levers were full length (not shaved tops) painted white. The track diagram only had 4 track circuits (2 on each line).