Signals at (Lincoln) High Street

March 1983

High Street crossing and Central station

High Street crossing and the western end of Central (now, just plain Lincoln) station. An annex had been added to the signalbox to house the level crossing controls - it had motor-operated gates in 1983.

The up home bracket, from the other side of the level crossing.

The signalbox interior. Here, the diagram was suspended above the block shelf.

The signalbox diagram, with Central station to the left.
The coloured track sections denoted track circuits, where a small electrical current through the rails is used to detect trains on the lines. The grey ovals were indicators which lit up when a train was present on the track circuit in question. Each track circuit was identified by a code letter, shown on the diagram adjacent to the corresponding oval indicator.

The block shelf. These block instruments were older, GNR/LNER models which required separate instruments for every line. Because there are five separate lines through the station (one up and two down platforms, and the two through lines in the centre) as well as the double line to East Holmes, there were seven instruments. The ones with the control handles were for the sections on which trains approach this box; these are known as pegging instruments. The others, with needles only, were non-pegging. The smaller boxes were bell instruments.

Two of the non-pegging instruments. The one on the left was for the up main (through) line, the other for Platform 5. Both of these selctions ran from here to Pelham St Jct. Because permissive block is also used in the platforms here, the latter had line occupied against a yellow background instead of train on line, just like the Greetwell Jct instrument in Boultham Jct. To the left of each block instrument was the corresponding bell and tapper unit.

A pair of pegging instruments. These were for Platform 6 and the down main, which ran from Pelham St Jct to here. Again, the platform line was worked by permissive block. In the centre is the bell unit for the down main.

The level crossing controls. The left-hand lever opened or closed the gates; after they had been closed across the road, the right-hand lever could be operated to lock the gates and allow the signals to be cleared.

The rear of the up homes bracket, with the line to East Holmes beyond. The latter's level crossing, and down home, can be seen in the background.

The down main home - an underhung bracket known colloquially as a "gallows signal". It is also unusual, for an upper-quadrant, in that the arm was operated by a rod rather than just wires. This is because it was driven from the right-hand angle crank on top of the bracket, from where a rod was needed to push downwards on the right-hand side of the signal head. The signal wire from the counterbalance lever at the base of the post pulled the left-hand angle crank downwards (clockwise); the rod from there turned the right-hand crank in the same direction and hence raised the signal arm.

24-26/6/08

The signalbox from just over the level crossing.

The station throat from the up platform.

The down main home was one of several signals here that had been renewed like-for-like, since my original visit, with more recent constructions of basically the same signal patterns.

The signalbox viewed from the opposite direction.

High Street from East Holmes level crossing. The up home had also been renewed.

The view from the station footbridge with East Holmes beyond, showing just how close together these two boxes actually were.

The station as seen from the level crossing.

The calling-on arm cleared for a train to come into the platform behind another one.