Liverpool Lime Street Station

Lime Street: the Train Sheds viewed from the car park off Lord Nelson Street.

The railways around Liverpool have always had a fascination for me, particularly because of Liverpool's position at one end of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway which was the "first main line passenger railway in the world".

Then and Now

Click for larger image.
Liverpool Lime Street on 13th June 1959. View looking westward towards the buffers, with LMS Fowler 6P 4-6-0 No. 45515 'Caernarvon' ready to leave on the 10.05 express to Bournemouth West, which will run via Crewe, Birmingham New St., Bath and the Somerset & Dorset line (Photo: Ben Brooksbank via Wikimedia Commons [CC-BY-SA-2.0]).

Liverpool Lime Street on 19th May 2012. View westward towards the buffers on Platform 8 with 4-car EMU 350 115 (almost hidden) ready to leave for Birmingham New St.

Brief History

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened in 1830 but the original passenger terminus at Liverpool was not at Lime Street but at Crown Street, Edge Hill. First Class passengers were provided with a horse-drawn carriage service between Crown Street and Dale Street, near the commercial centre of the city. From Edge Hill, there was also an inclined tunnel just over 2 km long cut through sandstone, shale and clay to Park Lane Depot near Wapping Dock. Locomotives were initially prohibited from this tunnel so passenger and goods trains descended to Park Lane by gravity, controlled by Brakemen on the train and trains were hauled back up to Edge Hill by rope, using stationary steam winding engines.

The success of the railway meant that these arrangements proved inadequate and a further Act authorised a new tunnel from Edge Hill to Lime Street Station. This tunnel was just over 2 km long, principally through sandstone, and inclined at a gradient of around 1 in 93. Further winding engines were provided at Edge Hill (together with a new station) and the approach to Lime Street was rope worked from 1837 until 1879. The first station buildings at Lime Street (completed in 1836) were designed by John Foster Junior and had a 2-storey classical facade.

In 1845 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was absorbed by the Grand Junction Railway which, the following year,became part of the London and North Western Railway.

In 1849, the original Lime Street Station was replaced by a design by Sir William Tite extending along Lord Nelson Street. This included an iron segmental-arched train shed by Richard Turner, following his success in creating the Palm House at Kew.

The present train sheds were built in two stages. The north shed by William Baker has a span of 200 feet - the largest in the world at the time it was built. It was completed in 1867, together with the North Western Hotel in French Renaissance style by Alfred Waterhouse which is now accommodation for university students.

Alfred Waterhouse's French renaissance frontage masks William Baker's north train shed.

The south train shed (by Francis Stevenson and E. W. Ives) followed in 1879.

View of the road frontage of the south train shed.

The Railway Act of 1921 grouped the railways into the 'Big Four' (L.M.S., G.W.R., L.N.E.R. and S.R.) and Lime Street became part of the L.M.S. Upon Nationalisation in 1948, the London Midland Region of British Railways took over many of the L.M.S. assets.

The Approach to Lime Street

After 1879, locomotives started to haul trains in and out of Lime Street Station. Conditions passing through a busy 1-mile long tunnel were hardly ideal and, in 1882, the tunnels were 'opened-out' leaving a deep cutting with various short tunnels and a myriad of criss-crossing bridges carrying streets. For trains leaving Lime Street, with a 'green' fire and an engine not yet 'warmed through', the gradient of 1 in 93 for about a mile up to Edge Hill was something of a challenge to enginemen throughout the steam era,


Gradient diagram Weaver Junction - Liverpool Lime Street, showing (right) the approach to Lime Street on a 1 in 93 incline.

Lime Street: Looking towards Edge Hill from Platform 7 with a DMU approaching the local platforms on the north side of the station.

Signalling

The 'A.R.P.' style signal box at Liverpool Lime Street in May 2012. The route is set for a departure from Platform 9 to the Up Fast.

The Westinghouse Style 'L' 'All Electric' power frames introduced electrical interlocking between miniature levers as a development of the earlier Style 'K' which had miniature levers but mechanical interlocking. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway installed a number of the Style 'L' frames, including the one at Liverpool Lime Street. In 1940, an order was placed for a 95-lever frame for the new 'ARP' style signal box at Lime Street with 31 point levers, 58 signal levers and 6 spare levers.

A similar Style 'L' miniature lever frame in Crewe North Junction.

For more information about the Style 'L' frame, refer to Book Reference [1] 'The Style L Power Frame'. For more information about Liverpool Lime Street signal box, click here. This page is part of the splendid site 'Westinghouse Brake and Saxby Signal Co. Ltd miniature power lever frames'.

External Links

Liverpool Lime Street railway station (Wikipedia).
Liverpool Lime Street (Network Rail).
Liverpool and Manchester Railway (Wikipedia).
London and North Western Railway (Wikipedia).
London, Midland and Scottish Railway (Wikipedia).

Map References

You can find a detailed signal box diagram for Liverpool Lime Street in the excellent series of publications from the Signalling Record Society publication 'British Railways Layout Plans of the 1950's'. Liverpool Lime Street is in 'Volume 9: LNW Lines Crewe to Euxton Junction, Liverpool to Manchester (and associated branches)' (ISBN: 1 873228 11 2).

For details of the layout in 2005, refer to 'Railway Track Diagrams Book 4: Midlands & North West', Second Edition, published by Trackmaps (ISBN: 0-9549866-0-1).

Book References

[1] 'The Style L Power Frame' written and published by J. D. Francis 1989 (ISBN 0 9514636 0 8).
[2] 'Liverpool & Manchester Railway 1830-1980' by Frank Ferneyhough published by Book Club Associates.
[3] 'A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain': Volume 10 The North West by G. O. Holt, Second Edition published by David & Charles (ISBN 0946537 34 8).

My Pictures

Liverpool: The City.
Liverpool Area Railways.

Railway Signalling in Britain: Part 5 - Signal Arm, Slot and Lamp Repeaters

Each signalman is responsible for monitoring the signals he controls. In a previous part of this series (Part 4 - Semaphore Signal Aspects by Night) I outlined how some signals leading to the advance section were visible to the signalman from the front whilst the use of 'Backlights' allowed the signalman to confirm that some signals in the rear of his box were displaying a 'Stop' aspect. But not all signals could be observed by the signalman like this. In particular, the all-important Distant signals were generally not visible from the signal box.

Just as electrical techniques were adopted by railways to create the Block System, electricity offered methods of repeating the aspect shown by a signal back to the signal box and proving whether the signal lamp was lit.

1. SIGNAL ARM REPEATERS

Detecting the Arm Position

The signal arm was coupled to an electrical contact box fixed to the signal via a solid rod. As the arm moved, a moveable contact in the contact box moved between two fixed contact. Depending upon the type of contact box, the moveable contact had linear or rotary motion. In each case, one contact was closed with the arm 'On', the other contact was closed with the arm 'Off'. In between 'On' and 'Off', no contact was made and the signal aspect was described as 'Wrong'. By providing an electrical supply at the signal location, the contact box could connect a direct current to a repeater wire taken back to the signal box. The return for this direct current was via the earth, usually with a bond to one of the running rails. The connections were arranged so that, with the signal arm 'On' one polarity would be connected to the repeater wire, with the signal arm 'Off' the opposite polarity would be connected. With the signal arm in an intermediate ('Wrong') position, neither polarity would be connected to the repeater wire.


Western Region pattern linear contact box with cover removed and displayed as a working demonstration (Exeter West box, Crewe).

During steam days, there was rarely electric power available trackside so batteries (normally primary cells with large capacity) were provided, typically mounted in a battery box at the side of the track near the signal post.


Typical battery used on railways (One pound coin for scale).

Transmitting the Arm Position to the Signal Box

In general, electrical circuits on railways (whether for telegraph, telephone, block signalling or signal repeating) were carried on an 'Open Wire' route as bare copper wires strung between porcelain insulators mounted on the cross-arms of a series of 'telegraph poles' extending alongside the railway. The repeater wire from a signal would join the main 'Open Wire' route either as a bare wire connected to a porcelain insulator on the signal post or as an insulated cable. The 'Open Wire' route was then used to lead the repeater wire back to the supervising signal box.

Indicating the Arm Position to the Signalman

At the signal box, current of one polarity in the repeater wire represented 'On', current of the other polarity represented 'Off' and no current implied the signal was 'Wrong'.

Indication was made using a galvanometer where the repeater wire current passed through an electrical coil with a slot arranged through the middle. A small metal 'flag' was mounted in the slot on a pivot so as to swing to the left or right of the 'rest' position under the influence of the magnetic field produced when the associated signal was 'On' or 'Off' and a current flowed through the repeater wire. The direction of movement of the 'flag' depended upon the polarity of the current. The pivot extended through the front plate of the indicator so as to turn the miniature signal arm on the front of the indicator as the current moved the 'flag'.


An early signal repeater viewed from the right with the wooden case removed. Left to right: Cast metal model signal post and miniature signal arm visible to signalman, metal front plate, oval mounting bracket, electrical coil (note slot), wooden backplate.


Close-up of the electrical coil showing the slot and the pivoted metal 'flag' which deflected under the influence of the magnetic field so that the position of the miniature signal arm corresponded with the actual signal arm being repeated.

In early indicator designs, the galvanometer was mounted in a glass-fronted wooden cabinet which was fixed near the lever controlling the repeated signal. More modern indicators were more compact, in a circular glass-fronted housing simply screwed to the front of the block shelf so as to be readily visible to the signalman.

Examples of Signal Arm Indicators

Typically, indicators had a model of a signal, with the miniature arm moving up or down to indicate 'Clear', according to the design of the actual signal being repeated.


Upper-quadrant Distant Signal Arm Repeater in a round case (Displayed at Shackerstone Railway Museum).


Signal Arm Repeater for a lower-quadrant stop signal. Here a round case has been mounted in a wooden box to allow fitting where there is no block shelf (Part of a display at Exeter West box, Crewe).

Sometimes, there was no attempt to model a signal post, but the paint scheme of the miniature arm would reflect the full-size signal.


Signal Arm Repeater intended for use with a Subsidiary Signal - showing 'Wrong' (In use at the Battlefield Line).


Signal Arm Repeater intended for use with a Subsidiary Signal - showing 'On' (In use at the Battlefield Line).

A more abstract display featured a simple pointer. In the example below, the pointer is painted yellow to indicate its use on a Distant Signal. This type of indicator with a pointer was also used where a lever controlled a colour-light, rather than a semaphore, signal.

A Signal Arm Repeater with a yellow pointer, rather than a signal model. The round case is metal (Displayed at Shackerstone Railway Museum).

The two indicators below have the upper half of the front plate painted to represent the signal type. In this case, round engraved labels fitted inside the case neatly identify the controlling lever but identification was often by an external engraved label mounted adjacent to the indicator.

Signal Repeaters mounted on Block Shelf (Lever 1, Up Distant, Lever 2, Up Home at Exeter West box, Crewe).

Where a lever controlled a slot (for instance, a distant signal mounted under a stop signal controlled by another box), the position of the weight bar, not the arm, was repeated and the pointer was shaped to represent the weight bar.


Weight Bar Repeater for slotted signal (Displayed at Shackerstone Railway Museum).

However, if the slot was associated with a Stop signal, it was sometimes necessary to give assurance to the signalman that the signal arm (not just the slot) was correctly 'On'. Contact boxes were fitted on both the arm and the weight bar and inter-wired as necessary.

In this case, the Repeater can indicate that not only the Weight Bar (Slot) is 'On' but that also the associated signal arm is actually 'On' (Displayed at Shackerstone Railway Museum).

2. SIGNAL LAMP REPEATERS

Pyrometers

Paraffin signal lamps were normally continuously lit. The hot air produced by the small flame rose through the chimney at the top of the lamp housing. The Pyrometer was a device fixed in the hinged lid of the housing so that the hot air passed over it, closing an electrical contact. If the flame became extinguished, the electrical contact opened.

Metals expand when heated. The measure of how much each metal expands is called its Coefficient of Linear Expansion. A Bimetal strip is made of two metals with markedly different coefficients of expansion alloyed together. If such a strip is mounted with one end clamped and the other free, when it is heated, the strip will bend away from the metal with the larger coefficient of expansion. This movement of the strip when heated can be used to close an electrical contact. This is the principle used by simple thermostats.

The picture below shows one design of pyrometer used in signal lamps. The mounting frame is in the form of a ring. Two bi-metal strips are clamped to the frame at one end only, electrically insulated from the frame. The strips extend across the ring so as to be exposed to the rising hot air. When the bimetal strips are heated, they deflect and make contact with a bridging piece also mounted on the frame but insulated from it. Two flexible bare copper wires are attached to the fixed ends of the bimetal strips, insulated by porcelain 'beads' threaded onto the wires. The two wires lead to two substantial insulated electrical terminals mounted on the hinged top of the lamp housing. Provided the lamp is burning, there is electrical contact between the two insulated electrical terminals mounted on the lamp housing. If the lamp is extinguished, the bimetal strips cool and move away from the bridging piece, breaking the electrical circuit.

Close-up of a Pyrometer mounted in the hinging top of a lamp housing (Displayed at Shackerstone Railway Museum).

Electrical batteries were provided at the signal location so that the pyrometer could connect a direct current to a lamp repeater wire taken back to the signal box, provided the lamp was lit. The return for this direct current was via the earth, usually with a bond to one of the running rails. On signals with more than one arm, it was possible for two or more pyrometers to be wired in series so that an alarm was given if any of the group of lamps was 'Out'.

Transmitting the Lamp Status to the Signal Box

The arrangements for transmitting lamp status were exactly as described above for 'Transmitting the Arm Position to the Signal Box'

Indicating the Lamp Status to the Signalman

At the signal box, current flowing in the lamp repeater wire represented 'Lamp In', no current represented 'Lamp Out'. Indication was made using a galvanometer similar to that described above for 'Indicating the Arm Position to the Signalman', except that it had only two positions, not three. To quickly alert the signalman to a lamp failure, the 'Lamp Out' indication would sound a bell or buzzer until the signalman acknowledged the alarm by operating a switch.

Early indicator designs featured glass-fronted wooden cabinets (as for Signal Arm Repeating), fixed near the lever controlling the signal being repeated. This eventually evolved into a modular system, outlined below.

Examples of Signal Lamp Indicators


Great Western Lamp Repeater in wooden case. Note the switch to silence the alarm (Lever 1, Up Distant, at Exeter West box, Crewe).

Midland Railway Lamp Repeater in wooden case. Note the Midland Wyvern and letters 'M.R.' (Displayed at Shackerstone Railway Museum).

As more signals were equipped with lamp repeaters, the need for a more compact arrangement for displaying lamp status was met by a modular system. The picture below shows the lamp repeater for Bloomfield Junction which was the simplest possible form, comprising a common Test/Buzzer unit with a larger 2-circuit display unit mounted on top. More complex installations required one common unit plus a number of 2-circuit display units bolted together. Normally, indicator lamps were out and there was no buzzer alarm. The indicator lamps could be tested by pressing the test pushbutton on the common unit. Failure of a signal lamp would light the appropriate indicator lamp and sound the buzzer. The buzzer was silenced by operating the toggle switch next to the lit lamp to the 'B' position. When the signal lamp was restored, the buzzer would sound until the toggle switch was placed in the 'A' position.


Modular Signal Lamp Repeater used by British Railways (10p coin for scale).

3. COMBINED SIGNAL ARM AND LAMP REPEATERS

J. W. Fletcher patented a combined signal arm and lamp repeater which was used on the London and North Western Railway. Only one wire was needed between the signal and signal box, rather than two (one for arm repeating, one for lamp repeating). Despite this advantage, more modern installations usually adopted the 2-wire approach.

The signal arm detection operated in the manner described in section 1 above. Failure of the signal lamp placed a resistance in series with the repeater wire, restricting the current flowing. The galvanometer repeating the arm position was designed to be sufficiently sensitive to carry on working correctly on the reduced current but a second galvanometer controlling the Lamp In/Lamp Out display window was designed to show the 'Lamp Out' condition with the reduced current. When the signal lamp was restored, the pyrometer contact would short out the resistor and the increased current caused the display window to show 'Lamp In'.


Fletcher's Arm and Lamp Repeater (displayed in Crewe Heritage Centre) only required one wire from the signal to the signal box.

4. INDICATORS USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES

2-position and 3-position indicators were used for various other purposes. The examples given below are not exhaustive.

2-position indicators were also used, for instance, to show that at electrical release was available at a Ground Frame.

Indicator for remote electrical release on a set of mechanically-operated points side-by-side with an Arm Repeater for an Upper Quadrant Stop Signal (displayed in Crewe Heritage Centre).

The picture below shows a 2-position indicator used to show whether a remote electrical release was available. This is side-by-side with a 3-position indicator used to repeat the position of a set of points provided with Electrical Detection.

Indicator for remote electrical release on a set of mechanically-operated points and Repeater for a set of points with Electrical Detection (displayed in Crewe Heritage Centre).

Before track circuiting was common, a 'Fireman's Call Plunger' was sometimes provided to alert the signalman to a train detained at a signal. A 2-position indicator was used to remind the signalman of the waiting train. The indication was cancelled when the signal was cleared, allowing the train to proceed.

'Train Waiting at Signal' Indicator (Displayed at Shackerstone Railway Museum).

Even when track circuiting was installed, it was frequently done piecemeal. If only a few track circuits required indication to a signalman, they would normally be indicated to the signalman by a series of 2-position indicators provided with a distinctive black bar which moved through 45 degrees. The black bar was horizontal when there was no current through the galvanometer (representing 'Track Occupied').

Track Circuit Indicator showing 'Track Clear' (Displayed at Shackerstone Railway Museum).

My Pictures

There are pictures of signalling equipment in various sets and the links below are not exhaustive:-
Shackerstone Railway Museum.
Signalling at Peak Rail.
British Railway Signalling Equipment.
Exeter West Signal Box.
Signalling Displays at Crewe Heritage Centre.

More

Go to Part 6 - Mechanical Operation of Points

[Link to Part 6 added: 18-Sep-2014]

'Elf and Safety

This sign (in a factory washroom) neatly reminds workers to take responsibility for their own safety. Or, at least, it would if somebody hadn't broken the darn mirror!

Old Locomotive Committee A.G.M. 2013

The Museum of Liverpool. I'm still not a fan of the building's architecture (it's sometimes called "the dented shoebox") but it is certainly attracting the public.

The 29th A.G.M. of the Old Locomotive Committee (OLCO) was held in the Museum of Liverpool on Saturday, 18th May 2013. The museum was opened to the public on 19th July 2011, prior to the Official Opening by Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, on Thursday 1st December 2011. There's a report on the Official Opening here. The new museum has been a spectacular success in terms of number of visitors and has become the country's most visited museum outside London. Star museum exhibit 'Lion' received an Engineering Heritage Award in 2012.

Through the courtesy of the Museum's Transport Curator Sharon Brown, this was the second time that the A.G.M. has been held at the Museum. There's a brief report on the A.G.M. in 2012 here.

Once again, we were accommodated in one of the Education Rooms on the first floor with a glazed wall offering a panoramic view of the River Mersey. Sharon had also arranged a supply of tea, coffee, biscuits and cakes for which members were very grateful.

Liverpool may no longer be the 'Great Port' celebrated by the museum gallery where 'Lion' is displayed but there was still considerable activity around Pierhead. The Celebrity 'Infinity' had docked just after 6.00 a.m. that morning from Dublin, giving its passengers a few hours to explore the city before leaving around 8.00 p.m. the same day for Belfast. The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company's futuristic-looking wave-piercing catamaran 'Manannan' has an interesting history outlined in a 'Wikipedia' article.

View of the Mersey from our meeting room. Left to right: Isle of Man ferry 'Manannan' manoeuvres away from the dock, the Mersey Ferry sets course for Seacombe, the Stena Line ferry to Belfast makes its way downstream and the Celebrity Cruises ship 'Infinity' discharges a couple of thousand passengers to explore the city (Click on picture for uncropped image).

The Museum frequently provides talks to visitors about the history of the locomotive 'Lion' and at noon the OLCO Chairman, John Brandrick, delivered an interesting talk next to 'Lion'.


The OLCO Chairman talks about 'Lion'.

There are also audio-visual presentations about 'Lion' both on-demand and automatically every half-hour (see the article here for more information).

'Lion' displayed in the Great Port Gallery. The three low-level screens rather restrict the view of the right hand side of the exhibit. I'm afraid that's Jan on the left hand screen in the short video 'The Old Locomotive Committee discusses Lion'.

The Chairman of OLCO, John Brandrick, opened the formal A.G.M. at 1.30 p.m. and welcomed those attending. The Agenda items were dealt with enthusiastically and the Election of Officers resulted in no changes to those serving in the previous year. There was animated discussion, particularly when 'Any Other Business' was reached. The meeting was closed at 4.00 p.m. Members of the Old Locomotive Committee will receive details of the proceedings in due course.

My photographs taken around the museum on the day are here.
My (expanded) set of pictures around Liverpool are here.
My (expanded) set of pictures of the railways around Liverpool are here.

There are a number of articles in my blog about 'Lion' and her 'supporters club' OLCO - you can find them all here.

A Wolverhampton Butcher's Shop

Wolverhampton is the home of an award-winning butcher's shop, Michael Kirk, which was founded in 1934. There are usually a couple of chalkboards outside the shop with details of special offers. I couldn't resist taking a (rather fuzzy) picture below of the message I saw the other day.



All part of the frenzy surrounding the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, I suppose.

Clapham Junction Station, London

On 11th and 12th April 2013, I re-visited some of the lines around Clapham Junction, London, which has the distinction of being "Britain's Busiest Railway Station" (in terms of number of trains). Trains today are principally Electric Multiple Units of various classes.

Then and Now

In the 'Southern' era, 'Schools' 4-4-0 No. 927 hustles the Down 'Bournemouth Limited' express through Clapham Junction, passing a Down electric train. Clapham Junction 'A' signal box, built over the tracks, is visible on the left (Photo: British Railways).

A modern view taken from (more or less) the same location, looking towards the centre of London. Two multiple units are approaching and two heading away. Clapham Junction 'A' signal box has gone and the area is controlled from Victoria Area Signalling Control (which is actually situated at Clapham Junction).

Pre-Grouping History

Clapham Junction would be impressive if only for the number of trains using the station but looking the historical reasons for the tangle of lines in the area makes the location even more interesting. The London and South Western Railway were first on the scene, with their initial line from Nine Elms to Southampton. A branch to Richmond was opened next. As traffic grew, an extension from Nine Elms to Waterloo Station was brought into use.

Both the London Brighton and South Coast Railway and the London and Chatham Railway (which later became the South Eastern and Chatham Railway) had their initial terminal stations at London Bridge, which was fairly convenient for businessmen travelling to the City. But these railways had aspirations to create a new terminus in the West End, north of the Thames. A number of new lines fulfilled these ambitions.

The London Brighton and South Coast Railway constructed a new line from East Croydon to Clapham Junction which then ran parallel to the South Western lines before crossing under them to head north to the River Thames. The South Eastern and Chatham Railway extended its lines to similarly cross under the London and South Western route to Waterloo. The new route for the two railways crossed over the Thames on Grosvenor Bridge, to reach the two side-by-side stations at Victoria.

The success of Victoria brought congestion, neccessitating the widening of Grosvenor Bridge. The South Eastern and Chatham Railway paralleled their original line to Victoria with a new route between Battersea Pier Junction and Wandsworth Road which, in addition to crossing over the South Western lines to Waterloo, crossed the original route twice! The London Brighton and South Coast Railway built its own high-level parallel routes between Battersea Pier Junction and Clapham Junction with a new branch at Battersea Park to Wandsworth Road.

All the major stations in central London were termini, set in a 'ring' within which railways were prohibited until the advent of underground railways. This was inconvenient for those passengers whose destinations lay on the far side of London and railways desired the possibility of through working. The West London Railway connected major railways like the London and North Western Railway and the Great Western Railway with destinations on the north bank of the Thames in the west of London. The West London Extension Joint Railway (jointly owned by the London and North Western Railway, the Great Western Railway, the London and South Western Railway and the London Brighton and South Coast Railway) extended the West London Railway south across the Thames and then split into four branches which joined the London and South Western Railway (both eastbound and westbound) and the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (both eastbound and westbound). The diagram below shows the layout of the various lines at the time of the First World War.

Click for larger image.
Details of the junctions between various railways in the vicinity of Clapham Junction. This diagram is one of a series prepared by the Railway Clearing House in 1914 which appear in the reprint 'Pre-Grouping Railway Junction Diagrams 1914', published by Ian Allen (ISBN 0 7110 1256 3).

The following railways appear on the diagram:-

Great Western Railway.
London & North Western Railway.
London Brighton and South Coast Railway.
London and South Western Railway.
Midland Railway.
South Eastern and Chatham Railway.
West London Extension Joint Railway.

Three goods yards, whilst owned by one railway, were only rail-accessible by using "Running Powers" over another railway, making the situation even more complicated:-

Clapham Goods and Coal Wharf (London and North Western Railway).
Midland Coal Depot (Midland Railway).
South Lambeth Goods (Great Western Railway).

Years ago, I remember being puzzled, looking down on South Lambeth Goods from an electric multiple unit, seeing a 'Pannier' tank locomotive and a Great Western 'Parachute' water tank in the shadow of the huge warehouse building. I didn't know then that the Great Western had once been part owners of the Eastern Section of Victoria (which was originally dual gauge!) and that the secret behind these incursions of other railways was the West London Extension Joint Railway.

Signalling

Clapham Junction is now controlled from a rather grim-looking building on the south side of the lines, just to the east of Clapham Junction Station.

The sombre building in the background is the present Victoria Area Signalling Centre.

Victoria Area Signalling Centre replaced a number of signalboxes. I remember West London Junction, an elderly structure on a bridge spanning the London and South Western lines and Clapham Junction 'A', a similar structure nearer the station. These boxes controlled the former London and South Western Railway lines to Waterloo. I remember Clapham Junction 'B', a brick and concrete structure in the 'modernist' style beloved by the Southern Railway. The structure still overlooks the Brighton Lines to the east of the station. I'm afraid I don't remember Clapham Junction 'C', which stood at the west end of the station on the Richmond Lines. This originally had a pneumatic frame from the British Pneumatic Railway Signal Company (briefly mentioned in my post on A. F. Bound), although this was later modified for all-electric operation.

The Southern Railway had successfully used Westinghouse Style 'K' power frames (with mechanical interlocking between the miniature levers) at various locations. When the Style 'L' (with electrical interlocking between the miniature levers) was introduced, the Southern Railway adopted this design.

A Style 'L' miniature lever frame in Crewe North Junction, similar to those used on the Southern Railway.

For more information about the Style 'L' frame, refer to Book Reference [8] 'The Style L Power Frame'.

In 1935, an order was placed for a 59-lever frame for West London Junction with 16 point levers, 32 signal levers and 11 spare levers. A larger 103-lever frame was ordered at the same time for Clapham Junction 'A' with 29 point levers, 66 signal levers and 8 spare levers. The 103-lever frame for Clapham Junction 'B' was not ordered until October 1949 with 25 point levers, 65 signal levers, 2 special levers and 11 spare levers.

More details of these boxes can be found on pages of the excellent 'Westinghouse Brake and Saxby Signal Co. Ltd miniature power lever frames' site, as below:-
West London Junction
Clapham Junction 'A'
Clapham Junction 'B'
Clapham Junction 'C'

An idea of the problems of working the area in the days of mechanical signalling with semaphore signals, see Book Reference [7] 'London Brighton & South Coast Railway: Signal Boxes in 1920-1922'.

Clapham Junction Station Architecture

A long, wide footbridge spans the station. The width of the bridge has allowed a long string of retail outlets (mainly food) to be set up. The earliest section of the bridge covering the original platforms on the London and South Western Railway side has a bit of 'ornamentation' but the additional footbridges covering the newer platform are of plainer design.

Clapham Junction: View from west end of the 'South Western' side looking east, showing the largely un-modernised covered footbridge with a new lift-tower on the left.

The 'Brighton' side footbridge is of plainer design and this connects with the main station building which offers vehicle access from St. John's Hill. Clapham Junction: View from west end looking south, showing the less-ornate newer covered footbridge on the 'Brighton' side, with a new lift-tower. The main station building is in the background.

On the 'Brighton' side new stairs to access the platforms from the footbridge incorporating modernised accommodation have recently been provided. These are in the 'all steel and glass' style that modern architects seem to favour and visually jar with the rest of the station.

Modernised platform access on the 'Brighton' side, with lots of glass.

There is also pedestrian access further along St. John's Hill which leads, via an arcade of shops, to a subway spanning the station.

Passenger Information

There are now modern passenger information displays everywhere which are helpful (if a bit overwhelming). There appear to be two automated public address systems. As far as I could work out, a female voice announces trains on the 'Brighton' side and a male voice deals with 'South Western' trains. In many parts of the station, both systems are audible, often talking at once. I was reminded of the opening scene from the film 'Airplane' (where male and female voices describe the parking arrangements at the airport before descending into an argument).

London Overground

Clapham Junction is now a station on the London Overground network. Platforms 1 and 2 are now used by Class 378 electric multiple units which provide a regular service via the West London Extension line to Willesden Junction and beyond.

Clapham Junction: View from east end of platform 3 looking west with Overground train in platform 2 and Overground train (covered in 'official graffiti') in platform 1.

Environs of Clapham Junction

In between Clapham Junction and Waterloo, there are two stations - Queenstown Road and Vauxhall. Queenstown Road (originally called Queen's Road) is a typical, fairly modest L.S.W.R. affair.


Queenstown Road station showing the relatively undamaged road frontage. The original name (Queen's Road Station) and owner (L.S.W.R.) still appears.

On my recent brief visit to Vauxhall, its 8 platforms received a bewildering succession of stopping and through trains.

Vauxhall Station, looking towards Waterloo.

Click for larger image
Aerial view of Vauxhall. Vauxhall Bridge over the Thames is in the top left corner, with Vauxhall station nearby. The lines to Waterloo Station are top right and the lines to Clapham Junction left middle. The Oval (which we are now supposed to call 'The Brit Insurance Oval), is bottom right.

In between Clapham Junction and Victoria, there is one station - Battersea Park.

Battersea Park station, seen from a train on the Down Brighton Fast (platform 5).

Book References

[1] 'The London & South Western Railway' O.S. Nock, published by Ian Allen.
[2] 'Locomotives of the London and South Western Railway Part 1' by D.L. Bradley, published 1965 by RCTS.
[3] 'The South Western Railway' by Hamilton Ellis, published 1956 by George Allen and Unwin.
[4] 'History of the Southern Railway' by C. F. Dendy Marshall, revised by R. W. Kidner reprinted 1982 by Ian Allen (ISBN 0 7110 0059 X).
[5] 'Great Locomotives of the Southern Railway' by O. S. Nock, Guild Publishing, 1987 edition by Book Club Associates.
[6] 'Southern Steam' by O. S. Nock, published by David & Charles (ISBN 0 7153 5235 0).
[7] 'London Brighton & South Coast Railway: Signal Boxes in 1920-1922' from the J.M.Wagstaff Collection Part 1 - London to Brighton', published by the Signalling Record Society (ISBN No. 1 873228 08 2).
[8] 'The Style L Power Frame' written and published by J. D. Francis 1989 (ISBN 0 9514636 0 8).

Maps

'Pre-Grouping Railway Junction Diagrams 1914', published by Ian Allen (ISBN 0 7110 1256 3).

Details of the modern railways around Clapham Junction are shown in one of the 'Quail Track Diagrams' books:-

'Railway Track Diagrams Book 5: Southern and TfL' Third Edition, published by TRACKmaps (ISBN 978-0-9549866-4-3).

External Links

London and South Western Railway (Wikipedia).
South Eastern and Chatham Railway (Wikipedia).
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (Wikipedia).

Related articles in this Blog

Waterloo Station, London
Waterloo Station, London (Part 2).
Victoria Station, London.
The West London Line.

My Pictures

Clapham Junction.
London: former 'Southern' lines (includes Queenstown Road and Vauxhall).
London's Railways.

[Links to Waterloo pt 2 and WLE added 25-Mar-2020]