Exeter West

October 1984

Exeter West signalbox, behind its up innerhomes bracket. The main arms signalled trains into (L-R) the up relief, main and middle platform lines, and carried Exeter Middle's inner distants. The two discs below the main bracket had replaced two previous goods arms, bracketed to the very left, that read to the up goods line and goods sidings.

The view from the up relief platform. On the right are the goods lines. The signal in the centre allowed trains to depart back westbound from here - the disc to its right read for shunting moves down the up main.
The lines up the bank to Exeter Central can be seen behind the signalbox. On the extreme left is a signal that allowed trains to reverse out of the up middle platform. Originally this had only allowed passenger trains to depart towards Newton Abbot, but the route indicator was added later when the signalling was changed to allow departures back to Central from that platform.

This idiosyncratic gantry carried Exeter West's down homes. The arms on its left post controlled the down main platform line, from which trains could only depart westwards or run into a siding. The signals on the top of the gantry were not a three-way splitting signal. The two on the left applied to the down main, for movements up the bank and towards Newton Abbot respectively. The third was for movements from the down middle platform towards Central, with the centre-pivoted signal on the right directing trains from the same platform westwards.

The up main intermediate home, with Middle's intermediate distant beneath. Just beyond it is an old-style limit of shunt sign.

The signalbox. Behind it, a class 50 loco heads a train from Waterloo down the bank from Exeter Central.

The up main home, with Middle's outer distant beneath. Behind it the down main starter, with Exeter City Basin's distant, can also be seen.

The up Central starter, with Central's distant beneath.

The goods and carriage lines on the up side, with the new PSB building behind.

29/5/74

The down homes gantry from the down middle platform.

A closer view of the down main platform homes, with the main arm cleared for a westbound departure. The arm on the left led to the South Devon siding.

This view of the South Devon Siding arm reveals that it had previously carried the letters 'SDG'.

A view of the junction from the middle platforms. On the very left were the South Devon sidings. The down Central home can also be glimpsed immediately right of the left-hand telepgraph pole.
As can be clearly seen, trains coming down the bank from Central could only run into the up middle platform.

29/8/2010

Exeter West signalbox has been preserved by the Exeter West Group at Crewe Heritage Centre, and can be visited whenever the centre is open. The box has been restored to the layout it had around 1960, and the group have developed a sophisticated computer simulation which runs the trains while trained volunteers 'work' the signalbox. Most days you can see a busy summer Saturday timetable being operated, with the levers and block instruments all being worked accordingly.
So here are a few shots taken on a visit there, to give a taster of what you'll see if you visit. Here's the lever frame and the block shelf.

The left-hand portion of the diagram...

...and the other half.

The block instruments for the relief, Central and middle lines, and the goods lines bell.

A superb PC-based computer simulation of the box is also available for £30, from either the EWG or directly from its developers Blockpost Software. For each copy sold, £10 is donated to the EWG. Unquestionably the best signalling simulation I have so far played!

A great SimSig simulation is also available for Exeter PSB, free of charge.