Introduction

The station and signal-box at Binegar were situated on the main line of the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), on the section from Bath Junction to Evercreech Junction in the county of Somerset which was known historically as the 'Bath Extension'. The Somerset and Dorset Railway (S&DR) opened its 'Bath Extension' from Evercreech Junction to Bath in 1874 and a station was provided at Binegar. At first the line was single-track throughout with just a few passing-places, but the line through Binegar was doubled in stages in 1885 and 1892. [Click here to read more about early S&DR/S&DJR Signalling and the Bath Extension]. The S&DR became the S&DJR in 1875 when the line was leased jointly by the Midland Railway (MR) and London & South Western Railway (L&SWR).

After the Grouping of the railways of Great Britain in 1923 the S&DJR became a Joint line under the control of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS) and the Southern Railway (SR), who were the successors to the MR and L&SWR respectively. When the railways were nationalised in 1948 the Joint line came under the control of British Railways (Southern Region) (BR(SR)), but in due course control of the old Bath Extension section passed to British Railways (Western Region) (BR(WR)) until the line closed on 6-March-1966.

Exterior and interior views of Binegar signal-box in British Railways days

To be continued...

© CJL Osment 2021
Signal-box interior photograph © Ian Scrimgeour courtesy Signalling Record Society, exterior photograph WCRA collection.