S&DJR Shunting Staffs

Introduction

There were three known examples on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR) of the use of equipment that can be described under the general heading of 'shunting staffs'. Two of these staffs were used on single-line sections, whilst the third staff was used for a period on a section that initially was single-line and then was re-introduced at a later date after that section of line had been doubled. These notes are provided as a supplement to other RailWest pages on the history of S&DJR Block Working and details about the various methods and instruments used for single-line and double-line control.

Bath Bank Engine Staff

Many Down goods trains were banked up the steep gradient out of Bath on the single-line section from Bath Single Line Junction (later Bath Junction) signal-box to Midford, but assistance was required actually only as far as the northern entrance to Combe Down tunnel, which marked the summit of that section. To avoid the need for the banking engine to go all the way through the section to Midford it carried a special 'bank engine' staff, which gave its driver authority to return to the signal-box at the junction whilst the Down train itself continued on to Midford in possession of the Electric Train Tablet (ETT) for the section. It is not known exactly when this bank staff working was introduced, but certainly it was in use before the advent of ETT working on this section in 1886 and it continued to be used there until the line closed.

The staff took the form of a large metal key with an annular handle engraved "Bath Bank Engine" and a photograph appears here on the right. The staff was kept in a locking mechanism attached to the ETT instrument at Bath (Single Line) Junction box, from which it could be removed only when a tablet had been drawn there for a Down train. Once the staff was removed then, even when the tablet had been placed in the ETT instrument either at Midford or Bath Junction, no further tablet withdrawal could take place until the staff had been replaced in its lock, thus ensuring the protection of the bank engine.

The Bath bank staff served a secondary purpose of unlocking the ground-frames which controlled the intermediate May's and Twerton sidings. The use of the staff for this purpose, rather than the single-line tablet, arose probably because of the practice of taking inward traffic for those sidings out sandwiched between the banking engine and the rear of a Down train, to be shunted by the banker on its return trip (when, of course, the driver of the bank engine was not in possession of the tablet).

Binegar Bank Engine Staff

Another bank staff (labelled "Binegar Bank Engine") was used at Binegar when banking Down trains to Masbury Summit; the date of introduction is unknown but it pre-dated the introduction of ETT working in 1886. It is believed that its use ceased with the doubling of the line from Binegar to Shepton Mallet on 20-Nov-1892, after which banking engines ran as far as the new signal-box at Masbury where they crossed to the Up line and returned to Binegar. However during the 1920s the night shift at Masbury signal-box was abolished as an economy measure, so in order to avoid the need for banking engines to go all the way to Shepton Mallet (the intervening box at Winsor Hill being closed at night also) special arrangements came into force with effect from 10-Oct-1927.

A new bank staff (labelled "Masbury Summit") was provided at Binegar, in the form of a large metal key (similar to that used at Bath Junction, but with a T-shaped handle) kept in a lock attached to the lever-frame, from which it was released by pulling lever 5. Trains to be banked were signalled forward in the usual way on the block instruments (as the line here was now double-track), but the banking engine carried the staff and this permitted it, once the train had reached the summit, to return 'wrong line' to Binegar where it would cross back to the Up line. Protection of the bank engine was afforded by the block instruments (see other RailWest pages about S&DJR double-line equipment), rotational locking on the Down line running signals until the key lever was replaced, and by the fact that the key lever locked certain points and ground signals at Binegar which led onto the Down line in the rear of the section signal.

In this new form 'bank staff' working resumed at Binegar and continued until the line closed in 1966. To enable transfer of the bank staff without slowing the trains a Whittaker automatic tablet exchange apparatus was installed at Binegar and a special pouch was provided to hold the staff. The normal banking engines were provided with a Whittaker catcher and a 'pick-up' post was erected at Binegar at the south end of the Down platform. A spare staff was kept for emergencies in the S&DJR Superintendent's office at Bath Green Park station.

Pylle Lime Siding Staff

The other known S&DJR 'shunting staff' is that used at one time for unlocking the ground-frame at Pylle Lime Siding, west of Pylle station. This was in use by 1-Mar-1886 in conjunction with Train Staff and Ticket working, and it survived both the introduction of Electric Train Tablet (ETT) to that section and also the installation of the new lever-frame at Pylle signal-box in 1891 (when the Board of Trade Inspection Report referred to the staff as an "Annetts Key" locked in the lever-frame). The retention of this staff into the period of ETT working is a puzzle; it cannot have been retained to avoid drawing a tablet from the non-returnable No 3 instrument, because the 1905 WTT Appendix states specifically that any train entering the section from Pylle to shunt the siding must be in possession of a tablet as well as the staff. However by the time of the 1909 WTT Appendix the use of the staff had ceased and the ground-frame was released by the tablet.