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Reigate

PHOTO GALLERY: SOUTHERN RAILWAY

Reigate

OPENED: 1929      CLOSED: —-

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The Southern Railway was quick to introduce a standard design of box as it had already been designed! It was a gabled version of the South Eastern & Chatham Joint Committee’s design, one of which had apparently been built before the Southern Railway took charge.

However, there was so much detail difference between some of them that it is difficult to say what was actually THE standard design – they frequently incorporated features from architectural practice of the Southern’s constituent companies. Reigate is the nearest to “standard” I can find:

Reigate SB
John Hinson, 1974

This signal box opened in 1929. Distinctive features of most Southern Railway boxes of this type, which were built between 1923 and 1935, are all-brick construction apart from the portion of the gable above windows, two-by-two main window sections with a small glazed area above, and shallowly-arched locking room windows. The window layout is reminiscent of Saxby & Farmer designs which were adopted from the SEC’s architecture, but the glazing layout was not consistent across all boxes of this type. Reigate is the only example I am aware of where the small upper window sections open hopper-style, but there may of course have been some at other boxes which were rarely opened.

Until 1929, pre-grouping lever frame types were used, but Reigate was one of the first SR boxes to adopt the Westinghouse A2 type lever frame, the use of which (with its successor the A3) continued through to the last lever frames purchased by the Southern Region of British Railways in the 1960s.

Reigate’s lever frame consisted of just 24 levers. The box was constructed to effect staff economies and improve supervision of the busy level crossing. The pre-1929 signal box had been at the opposite end of the station to supervise the goods yard, with the gates managed by a separate gate-keeper.

Reigate SB
John Hinson, 1974

This close-up view of some sign-written lever plates shows some interesting detail to the sharp-eyed. The plate on lever 17 is a standard Southern Railway/Southern Region type, but the remainder are original Westinghouse ones supplied with the lever frame based on Saxby & Farmer (a constituent of Westinghouse) design.

Levers 18 and 19 are out of use (they used to control ground frames at the Redhill end of the yard) and bolted plates have been fixed to the bottom of the lever to prevent their being operated.

Reigate SB
John Hinson, 1974

Signalling to (at the time of the photographs) Betchworth and Redhill “B” utilised SR three-wire, three-position block instruments – that and its associated bell shown here control the section to Betchworth.

Along the front face of the shelf are brass-cased signal repeaters and track circuit indicators. The one with a black enamelled face example repeats a distant arm. More modern equipment exists in the form of a bakelite colour-light signal repeater (which displays all aspects the signal can show), lamp indicator and bell plunger.

Behind the bell, in a glazed frame, are the local instructions applicable to this box which detail variations to the standard Rules and Regulations.

Reigate SB
John Hinson, 1974

The track layout is shown on the signal box diagram, also in a glazed wooden case. The style adopted by the Southern Railway was copied from the London & South Western Railway and showed more detail than would be found elsewhere in the country. It includes a full locking table and even shows compass points!

Reigate SB
N L Cadge, 5/7/77

A general view looking towards Redhill with a BR 4-VEP unit in the platform awaiting departure. The line from Redhill was electrified but onward to Guildford was not. It was clearly a warm summer’s day as one of the box’s hopper windows is open.

At the time of writing (2020) Reigate box is still operational, but trains are now controlled under the Track Circuit Block system.