Lostwithiel signal box, August 2011

Lostwithiel signal box is a Grade II listed former Great Western Railway signal box, located on Lostwithiel railway station in Cornwall, England. The signal box is situated at the northern end of Platform 1, adjacent to the level crossing.

Area of control

The signal box opened in 1893 with just 35 levers. A separate signal box at the south end of the station controlled the junction with the Fowey branch line but this closed on 16 December 1923 when the station signal box was enlarged to 63 levers.[1]

It exchanges trains with Liskeard signal box[2] (Bodmin Road until 1985)[3] to the east and Par (Treverrin until 1956) to the west.[4] It also used to work with the signal box at Carne Point or Fowey but this line has operated without signal boxes since 1968.[5]

Grade II listing

In July 2013, it was one of 26 "highly distinctive" signal boxes listed by Ed Davey, Minister for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, after a joint initiative by English Heritage and Network Rail to preserve and provide a window into how railways were operated in the past.[6][7][8] Historic England list the reasons for its designation as; intactness (it remains one of the best-preserved examples of what was once a standard signal box on the GWR network; date (it is considered to be the earliest known surviving GWR-designed type 5; and fittings (it retains original operating equipment including a lever frame and some train control instruments).[9]

Closure

The signal box will be closed and its semaphore signals replaced during 2023-24 with new electric signals installed and controlled from Exeter.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Pryer, GA (2000). Signal Box Diagrams of the Great Western & Southern Railways, Volume 14: GWR Lines Plymouth and East Cornwall. Weymouth: GA Pryer. p. 31. ISBN 0-9532460-5-1.
  2. ↑ Pryer 2000, p. 25.
  3. ↑ Pryer 2000, p. 30.
  4. ↑ Pryer 2000, pp. 33–34.
  5. ↑ Pryer 2000, pp. 50–51.
  6. ↑ CGHollie (25 July 2013). "Historic signal boxes in Par and Lostwithiel are Grade II-listed". Cornish Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Railway signal boxes granted Grade II listed status". BBC News. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Historic railway signal boxes get listed status". The Guardian. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  9. ↑ National Heritage List for England reference 1413727
  10. ↑ "Cornish resignalling gears up". Modern Railways. No. October. 2023. p. 27.

50°24′25″N 4°39′57″W / 50.40700°N 4.66577°W / 50.40700; -4.66577

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