PHOTO GALLERY: SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY

Torquay South

OPENED: c1873 CLOSED: 1984

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Saxby & Farmer were contracted to provide most of the signalling on the South Devon Railway, and two signal boxes at Torquay were provided around 1873 to signal the station at this important town on the line to Paignton which diverged from the main Penzance route near Newton Abbot.

This design of box replaced S&F’s first type from 1868 by the addition of small additional windows above the main ones, although these were often subsequently boarded over, as has been done here. The type was common around the country, but most examples were constructed entirely in timber, or with brick bases. A few examples on the SDR were built in a later Saxby & Farmer style, similar to the Bristol & Exeter Railway box illustrated at Stoke Canon Crossing.

When first opened, the line south of Torquay was single, doubling not coming until 1910. At the same date, the North box was reduced to ground frame status and the name of this cabin was truncated to Torquay.

The layout was originally controlled from a 16 lever frame, but this was renewed around 1902 with one of 18 levers and again in 1925 (when the station was enlarged to handle tourist traffic) with 27 levers.

The box had originally appeared taller, but the extension of the platforms around it in 1925 changed its appearance – the sunken entrance to locking-room door gives the game away.

The signal box remained in use, albeit only opened at peak holiday times in later years, until abolition on 15th November 1984. It has been “listed” by English Heritage as being a building of historic interest, and has thus escaped demolition.