adrock1976
Established Member
I read a while ago in one of the West Midlands (or Cotswolds/GWR threads - I've tried a quick search but could not find the post) that being as the signalling is more or less life expired in the Worcester area, will the former Rainbow Hill Junction be reinstated when reksignalling is due?
Before the present setup that took place in 1973 where at Foregate Street where now Platform 1 is for trains to/from Shrub Hill/Oxford/Cheltenham whereas Platform 2 is for trains to and from Droitwich, trains from Droitwich were able to use Platform 1, and trains to Shrub Hill were able to use Platform 2.
Also, before the Stourbridge resignalling back in 1991, I can recall that from Droitwich or Kidderminster at least to just beyond Langley Green and before the former Smethwick West station, the mechanical semaphores were unusually the upper quadrant type (the clear or "off" position is raised to the eleven o'clock position) being as the Stourbridge route was a former Great Western Railway line, whereas in typical GWR style (and at Worcester) the semaphores were the lower quadrant type (the clear or "off" is lowered to the seven o'clock position).
Back in 1991 when Stourbridge converted from semaphore to colour lights, with the signal box at Stourbridge Junction controlling the line (and the signal boxes at Cradley Heath and Langley Green being demolished), was it intended to continue to Worcester/Malvern at the time?
On a final point, if the Worcester resignalling goes ahead, is it also intended as part of the works to reinstate the double track between Malvern Wells and Shelwick Junction (except both Colwall and Ledbury Tunnels, as those have always been single track)? This would help to reduce delays and have a robust timetable, especially as there is an aspiration from the West Midlands PTE (Centro/whatever corporate identity is used nowadays) to double the frequency of the Birmingham - Hereford via Bromsgrove trains. The only place where trains can pass each other in opposite directions beyond Malvern Wells is at Ledbury. For example, on Friday 12 February according to the Real Time Trains website, the Hereford - Birmingham via Bromsgrove (or the London train, cannot remember which one) got held at Shelwick Junction for 22 minutes as a train had not long departed Ledbury in the opposite direction.
Before the present setup that took place in 1973 where at Foregate Street where now Platform 1 is for trains to/from Shrub Hill/Oxford/Cheltenham whereas Platform 2 is for trains to and from Droitwich, trains from Droitwich were able to use Platform 1, and trains to Shrub Hill were able to use Platform 2.
Also, before the Stourbridge resignalling back in 1991, I can recall that from Droitwich or Kidderminster at least to just beyond Langley Green and before the former Smethwick West station, the mechanical semaphores were unusually the upper quadrant type (the clear or "off" position is raised to the eleven o'clock position) being as the Stourbridge route was a former Great Western Railway line, whereas in typical GWR style (and at Worcester) the semaphores were the lower quadrant type (the clear or "off" is lowered to the seven o'clock position).
Back in 1991 when Stourbridge converted from semaphore to colour lights, with the signal box at Stourbridge Junction controlling the line (and the signal boxes at Cradley Heath and Langley Green being demolished), was it intended to continue to Worcester/Malvern at the time?
On a final point, if the Worcester resignalling goes ahead, is it also intended as part of the works to reinstate the double track between Malvern Wells and Shelwick Junction (except both Colwall and Ledbury Tunnels, as those have always been single track)? This would help to reduce delays and have a robust timetable, especially as there is an aspiration from the West Midlands PTE (Centro/whatever corporate identity is used nowadays) to double the frequency of the Birmingham - Hereford via Bromsgrove trains. The only place where trains can pass each other in opposite directions beyond Malvern Wells is at Ledbury. For example, on Friday 12 February according to the Real Time Trains website, the Hereford - Birmingham via Bromsgrove (or the London train, cannot remember which one) got held at Shelwick Junction for 22 minutes as a train had not long departed Ledbury in the opposite direction.