Signal box diagram after the closure of the associated Station?

[Chrius56000]

. . .What was the practice on B.R. as regards to the S.B. diagram when a local passenger station was closed on a main–line route but the associated S.B. remains open, e.g. Ashwell on the Leicester – Peterborough line that closed in 1966?

. . .Did B.R. replace the S.B. diagram immediately the passenger station closed, mark the platforms "out of use" or were the platforms simply papered over on the diagram until a new diagram was made with the platforms removed?

Chris Williams

 

[Andy873]

. . .What was the practice on B.R. as regards to the S.B. diagram when a local passenger station was closed on a main–line route but the associated S.B. remains open, e.g. Ashwell on the Leicester – Peterborough line that closed in 1966?

. . .Did B.R. replace the S.B. diagram immediately the passenger station closed, mark the platforms "out of use" or were the platforms simply papered over on the diagram until a new diagram was made with the platforms removed?

Hi Chris,

Good question, have a look at this box diagram:

https://signalbox.org/~SBdiagram.php/?id= 1145

It's one from the BR London Midland region (1960), this station closed three years before to passengers although the goods yard was still open. This station was on a branch line not a main line.

As far as I understand it, unless something physical changes such as signals, points or track then the diagram remains the same, and platforms are a visual reference point.

Note that on the above diagram, drawn accurately by Chris Littleworth the platforms are shown, and not marked out of use (which they were).

Chris is sadly no longer with us but the best place to get an answer on signalling is:

The Signal Box site.

Hope that helps,
Andy.

 

[John Webb]

. . .What was the practice on B.R. as regards to the S.B. diagram when a local passenger station was closed on a main–line route but the associated S.B. remains open, e.g. Ashwell on the Leicester – Peterborough line that closed in 1966?

. . .Did B.R. replace the S.B. diagram immediately the passenger station closed, mark the platforms "out of use" or were the platforms simply papered over on the diagram until a new diagram was made with the platforms removed?

Chris Williams

We at St Albans South have the diagram from Napsbury Box, the next to us in the London direction. The station closed in 1959 and the buildings and platform (a single island between the two slow lines) was removed some time before Napsbury box, like ours, closed in December 1979. But the diagram, altered to show the connection to the Lafarge stone terminal, still showed the platform present!
The removal of the platform led to no change in the signalling, so I suppose they felt it wasn't worth altering the diagram.

 

[Gloster]

There is no fixed pattern to this: it presumably depended on things like local workloads and practices. Minor changes, including the removal of signals or points, would often just be dealt with by painting over or blanking out the point or signal. Larger areas might be dealt with by a properly redrawn section of the diagram, copied from the drawing office master, being pasted over the area. If there was a major, long term change then a complete new diagram might be provided, but if there were to be a series of changes over a period then a new diagram would only be provided once all was completed.

It is a bit less clear where platforms were concerned, but I think that they would probably remain on the diagram as long as the structure was there, although things like Train Ready to Start indicators and the like might be blanked out. I would suspect that blanking out the platform on the diagram once the structure was removed would be done, but it probably had a pretty low priority as it isn’t S&T.

But there were no doubt many exceptions…

 

[Magdalia]

Quite a few stations kept their platforms after loss of timetabled service and still had occasional excursion traffic.

 

[MadMac]

Quite a few stations kept their platforms after loss of timetabled service and still had occasional excursion traffic.

E.G. Wadsley Bridge.

 

[Dalmeny Jct]

From various box visits I made in the 70s and 80s, diagrams would have been altered only in relation to layout or equipment changes. I never noted any that were altered, or had wording added, solely to indicate station platforms as being out of use. By way of example, I am thinking of the likes of Burton Agnes and others on the Hull-Scarborough line. (Of course, it was often the case that the platforms remained physically in situ).

If, for example, sidings were removed, then a paper overlay may have been added to blank out what had been removed and replace it with plain line. On hardboard / formica type diagrams (as opposed to paper) then such alterations may have been "scraped off" and re-drawn.