Introduction

This page describes the signalling at the main intermediate stations of the former narrow-gauge Lynton & Barnstaple Railway (L&BR) in North Devon. Please see the separate Introduction page for general background information and details of other pages on RailWest about the signalling of the L&BR. Click here for more general historical details about the L&BR and a Bibliography.

Passing-loops were provided at the four main intermediate stations on the line, namely Chelfham, Bratton Fleming, Blackmoor and Woody Bay. A separate page describes the actual L&BR signals themselves. There was no signalling at any of the later halts (Snapper, Parracombe and Caffyns), although there is a curious reference in the Board of Trade Inspection Report produced by Colonel Yorke in 1898, wherein he says that “...there is a siding connection at Parracombe which is not yet brought into use...the points are at present padlocked and spiked...”. This siding may not have been at the same location as the later halt, and both its purpose and fate are unknown. There was also a passing-loop (but no station) at Pilton Yard, where the L&BR had their works, but this location is the subject of a separate page in RailWest.

Basic Layout

The four intermediate stations were almost identical in their basic design, each consisting of a passing-loop and a single connection providing access to a siding (or set of sidings). There was an exception to this general arrangement at Blackmoor, where there was an additional siding connection in the Down loop, but it is believed that this was not part of the original layout. A further commonality in design can be seen in the fact that, with the exception of Chelfham and the additional Down siding at Blackmoor, all the sidings connections were made by facing points, something which at one time would have been carefully avoided. In later years the provision of signals was identical at all four locations, consisting merely of a Home and Starting signal in each direction, although the original arrangements were slightly different. Even the lever-frames appear to have been identical in size, being quoted by Col Yorke as 7 levers at each location.

The intermediate passing-loops may seem to have been signalled in a simple and straightforward manner, but there are a few interesting points of note and some queries to be raised. For example, Col Yorke reported at the time of his Inspection that starting signals were not provided at the intermediate loops and certainly an early photograph (probably pre-opening) of Bratton Fleming does not show the starting signals that existed there in later years - so when were they added? The L&BR used ‘economic’ type Facing Point Locks (FPL), where the FPL was operated from the same lever as the point. This arrangement gives an initial requirement of only 5 working levers at each loop (2 x Home signals, 2 x loop facing points, plus 1 x siding point) and this matches the Inspection Report details given for Chelfham, Blackmoor and Woody Bay. It is curious therefore that Col Yorke mentioned six different lever numbers when asking in his Report for some interlocking modifications at Chelfham.

One result of this method of operation was that the ETT instruments were housed in the station buildings rather than the signal-boxes. The L&BR tablet instruments have been described in various references as "No 1 Hopper" instruments, but this is an unrecorded pattern. It appears likely now that, after the line was taken over by the Southern Railway (SR) in 1923, this term was invented by someone in the SR simply in order to describe a type of machine previously unknown to them. From work done by various other researchers it can be stated now with some certainty that the L&BR used the Tyers No 7A pattern of instrument. Very few examples of the 7A are known to have been installed in Great Britain and the L&BR was the most extensive user. Click here for more details of the L&BR single-line sections and ETT configurations.

Lever Frames

All the four intermediate station signal-boxes were orientated in the same way, so that the Up direction was from left to right across the lever-frame. A common numbering sequence was used for all the four lever-frames, as follows:-

Although the arrangements for laying-out a lever-frame varied between different railway companies and signalling contractors, in general the numbering sequence for a simple passing-loop would follow the pattern Home - Starting - Points - Starting - Home, whereas clearly on the L&BR the pattern was Starting - Home - Points - Home - Starting. This suggests that (with the exception of Bratton Fleming as mentioned below) levers 1 and 7 were the spare levers in the original installations, subsequently used when Starting signals were added to avoid the cost of the additional locking alterations that would have been required in order to provide the ‘normal’ sequence. In turn this suggests that perhaps the spare levers were provided with Distant signals in mind rather than Starting signals, as in the latter case one would have expected to see the Homes on 1 and 7, with 2 and 6 as the spares.

Each lever carried a description plate with a painted legend, containing the following components from top to bottom:-

One small variation between the four signal-boxes concerns the method of working the siding connection. At Chelfham and Bratton Fleming the siding point and its associated exit trap were both worked from lever 4. However at Blackmoor and Woody Bay the facing points into the sidings were sufficiently close to the Down Loop facing points to be in effect a crossover and apparently were worked together from lever 5, with lever 4 working the siding exit trap only. This arrangement had the advantage that it provided protection of the single line from any accidental over-run in the Up loop. Photographic evidence is remarkably elusive, but in a view of Blackmoor (by Knight) the siding point can be seen to lie set for the siding after the road has been set for a Down train and the Down Home is ‘off’.

Chelfham

Chelfham was the 'odd one out' of the passing-loops, as it had a trailing connection into a single short siding at the Barnstaple end of the Down loop. A photograph (by Wheeler) of the inside of Chelfham signal-box, where it is possible to see most of the lever description plates, enables us to verify the general lever-frame numbering sequence used at the L&BR station passing-loops. (Unfortunately lever 1 is out of view, but by coincidence lever 1 is the solitary lever in view in a similar photograph of Blackmoor signal-box.) The Chelfham lever descriptions appear to read as follows (extrapolating from Blackmoor for lever 1):-

In his 1898 Inspection Report Col Yorke asked at Chelfham for “No 5 lever not to release No 2”, which suggests that, in the original installation without Starting signals, the Home signals were released by the reversal of the point at the exit end of the loop. This would be understandable, in so far as the Home signal protected that point in the absence of a Starting signal, but it would make for extra lever work when crossing trains - having reversed the Down Facing points in order to clear the Up Home to admit an Up train into the loop, the points would have to be returned to normal in order to admit the Down train, then reversed again in order for the Up train to leave, with corresponding activity at the other end of the loop. Unfortunately the similar request for “No 6 lever not to release No 3” does not fit in with the later numbering arrangement, but if one could assume that the Colonel got his numbers reversed accidentally, then the release of 6 by 3 matches the theory above exactly!

Bratton Fleming

The sidings at Bratton Fleming were accessed by a facing connection about mid-way along the Down loop. Col Yorke listed Bratton Fleming as having seven working levers with no spares (apparently the only L&BR signal-box to have no spare levers initially) and his Report also contained elsewhere the intriguing statement that “...distant signals only exist where home signals cannot be seen for a distance of a quarter of a mile ...”. It is believed that Bratton Fleming was one - if not the only - L&BR location to be equipped with working Distant signals, in this case presumably in both directions. There is further evidence for this in that an early photograph shows two separate signal wire pulleys on each side of the Down Loop at the Lynton end - the Up Home would account for one wire and the other surely must be for the Up Distant, as there was no Down Starting at that time. One may assume that the Distant levers were re-used in due course to work the later Starting signals, but were the Distants abolished altogether or just converted to ‘fixed’ form, and was this work done specifically in order to free up two levers?

The passing-loop at Bratton Fleming was taken out of use as an economy measure on 16-June-1931, after which all trains used the former Up loop and platform. All the signals were abolished, but the signal-box was retained as a ground-frame (GF) to work the points. The box ceased to be a block-post, the ETT section becoming Chelfham - Blackmoor, and thereafter the lever-frame in the box was released by a tablet for that section. Then on 25-May-1932 the old Down loop was abolished and the siding was connected directly into the former Up loop, now the single-line, by a new point (facing to Down trains) provided with an ordinary (non-economic) FPL. At the same time the former signal-box was replaced by a new GF, which was located on the platform close to the Barnstaple end and positioned so that the operator faced towards Lynton. From a partial photographic view the GF seems to be of the Stevens-pattern ‘knee’ type favoured by the SR and equipped with 3 levers, working as follows:-

Curiously this was a rather generous provision for an ‘economy’ alteration, as the SR normally did not bother with a separate Release lever in such cases, but fitted the ETT release lock directly to the FPL lever.

Blackmoor

At Blackmoor station a facing connection at the Barnstaple end of the Up Loop lead to a headshunt, which gave access to two sidings. There was also a short siding off the Down loop, which apparently was used (mainly) to stable the extra coach provided in connection with traffic for the horse coach link to Ilfracombe. It is unclear exactly when this siding was installed, but it is believed to have been in place within a short time of the opening of the line. This siding connection was not worked directly from the signal-box, but by a separate 1-lever ground-frame (GF) situated at the Barnstaple end of the Down platform and mounted with the lever parallel to the track. Perhaps the provision of a separate GF was seen as a cheaper or easier option than the extension and re-locking of the signal-box lever-frame. Despite its location this GF seems to have escaped the photographic record almost entirely and only two distant views of it have come to light.

There is some uncertainty over the manner by which this GF was locked, as some undated sources state that it was released by a key from the signal-box, whereas SR records of 1930 specify an ETT release (apparently using a tablet for the section to Bratton Fleming). The use of tablet release on a GF that was within station limits seems most unusual (but not unknown) and a key release would seem more appropriate, probably an Annetts key interlocked in the signal-box lever-frame so that its withdrawal would lock the Down Home signal. Perhaps the control method was altered at some unknown date? Both the Down siding and its GF were taken out of use on 19-Aug-1930 and certainly the relevant notice mentions abolition of a "tablet lock".

Woody Bay

The layout at Woody Bay was essentially the same as Blackmoor, except that there was no additional siding on the Down side. A facing connection at the Barnstaple end of the Up Loop lead to a headshunt, which gave access to one siding.

Conclusion

Apart therefore from the addition of Starting signals at some unknown early date, and the 1930s alterations at Bratton Fleming, the basic signalling at the intermediate station passing-loops remained virtually unchanged throughout the life of the L&BR until the closure of the line. However a number of the actual signals at the intermediate stations were replaced or modified in a variety of ways (probably due mainly to routine maintenance and repair) and these changes are listed in a separate L&BR Signal Register. There can not have been many (if any) other railways where a (virtually) identical arrangement was provided at four consecutive passing-loops. By good fortune two of the original L&BR 'hut' signal-boxes, from Chelfham and Woody Bay, both still exist today (sadly without their original lever-frames) in or close to their original locations and are under restoration (along with their respective stations) by the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway Trust.

© Chris Osment 1999 & 2010.
Chelfham lever descriptions GIF courtesy of John Hinson.