Bailey Gate Crossing

Introduction

Bailey Gate Crossing was located at the southern end of the 'main line' of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR) between the station at Bailey Gate and the junction at Corfe Mullen, where the S&DJR routes to Wimborne and Broadstone diverged. Apart from the crossing-keeper's house and a signal-box this location was simply an intermediate level-crossing on the railway line, although some sidings were provided here during World War I to serve a pumping-station for the Admiralty.

The southern part of the S&DJR had been constructed originally by the Dorset Central Railway (DCR) as a single-track line running northwards from Wimborne Junction. The first station north of Wimborne was at Bailey Gate and between those two stations there were three manned level-crossings:- Lake Crossing, Corfe Mullen Crossing and Bailey Gate Crossing itself. Bailey Gate Crossing was about half a mile south of Bailey Gate station, on the main road from Wimborne to Dorchester (later the A31), whilst the other two crossings were over minor roads. All three crossings were provided with resident crossing-keepers and some form of signalling, although only the latter two are believed to have had actual gate boxes.

The New 'Cut-Off' Line

S&DJR trains originally had to reverse at Wimborne in order to run over the L&SWR to Bournemouth. To ease this problem a new "cut-off" line was constructed eventually, which left the S&DJR route at Corfe Mullen (just south of the level-crossing) and ran southwards to rejoin the L&SWR at Broadstone Junction. Known officially as the ''Poole & Broadstone Junction Railway", it was brought into use for goods traffic in December 1885 and for passenger traffic in November the following year. (This new line was the first section of the S&DJR to be worked by the Electric Train Tablet (ETT) method.) Although the actual divergence from the original DCR route was at Corfe Mullen there was no physical junction here - instead the Wimborne and Broadstone lines continued northwards as parallel single-lines as far as Bailey Gate station, where the actual junction was made. Consequently the gate box at Bailey Gate Crossing now controlled two parallel single-lines, but no details of the signalling for this period are known.

Change to Double-Track

The use of two parallel single-lines came to an end in 1905, when a physical junction between the 'old' and 'new' lines was constructed at Corfe Mullen and a new Corfe Mullen Junction signal-box was opened on 16th April that year to replace the original gate box at that location. The junction at Bailey Gate was removed and henceforth the two separate single lines from Bailey Gate to Corfe Mullen Junction were worked as ordinary double-track and controlled by standard S&DJR block telegraph. As Bailey Gate Crossing itself was only about half a mile north of Corfe Mullen Junction its gate box continued to be worked as a simple non-block post. This box had some features of an S&DJR TYPE 2, with a brick base, but it was modified extensively over the years - although the 1905 Board of Trade Inspection Report for Corfe Mullen Junction mentions it specifically as an existing box, it may not have been the first structure at that location.

Signal Diagram for 1905

Block Post Status

During World War 1 some new sidings were constructed for the Admiralty on the down side of the line between Bailey Gate Crossing and Corfe Mullen Junction and these were connected into both the Up and Down lines. The precise date for this work is unknown, but it is believed to have been completed during 1915. The new connections were worked from Bailey Gate Crossing, where the frame was increased from 7 to 14 levers - at this time the frame was recorded as being of the Stevens 4.1/8" pattern. The signal-box itself was extended by 6 feet at the north end and upgraded to block-post status. (Click for 1915 Signal Diagram.) The new connection into the Up line meant that Bailey Gate Crossing's Up Home signal had to be moved some distance further south towards Corfe Mullen Junction, after which it was slotted to act also as Corfe Mullen Junction's Up Starting signal and the existing Corfe Mullen Junction Up Starting was removed. However Bailey Gate Crossing did not retain its new block-post status for very long after the end of the War and on 5-Apr-1923 the box was reduced to ground-frame status again - the connection into the Up line was removed, although the sidings and connection into the Down line remained in use, as did the arrangement of the combined Bailey Gate Crossing Up Home/Corfe Mullen Junction Up Starting. (Click for 1930 Signal Diagram.)

Later Alterations

With the passage of time the rail traffic over the 'cut off' line to Broadstone increased to such an extent that plans were prepared during the 1920s for the doubling of the single-line section from Corfe Mullen Junction to Broadstone Junction. At the same time it was proposed to eliminate Bailey Gate level crossing by replacing it with an overbridge and as a result of those works Bailey Gate Crossing box would have been closed. However the proposals never came to fruition and so the crossing box remained in use for many more years.

The level-crossing gates were repaired on many occasions after being damaged by cars, although on at least one occasion they were hit by a train. The Down Home and Corfe Mullen Down Distant signals were converted to upper-quadrant arms in September 1953, whilst the same conversion was done to the Up Home signal four years later in 1957. The following year, in November and December 1958, the gates layout was altered and as part of this work there were changes to the interlocking of the associated levers, which resulted in the re-allocation of the functions of some of the levers at the right-hand end of the frame. The Admiralty sidings were abolished on 12 December 1959.

Closure

On 7-Mar-1966 passenger services ceased on the whole of the S&DJR. All the signals at Bailey Gate Crossiing were disconnected, but curiously the actual gate locking mechanism remained worked from the signal-box. Although most of the S&DJR was now closed a few sections remained open for goods traffic and this included the line from Broadstone as far north as Blandford. The line from Corfe Mullen Junction through Bailey Gate Crossing to Blandford remained as double-track initially, but eventually the Up line was taken out of use and traffic was worked in both directions over the Down line. Bailey Gate Crossing remained in use for a couple more years, but eventually it was closed on 7-May-1968. The line itself was closed finally on 6-Jan-1969. The crossing-keeper's house remained as a private residence for many years, complete with the shell of the brick base of the signal-box in its garden, but both eventually were demolished in 1999 and a new bungalow was built on the site.

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