| THE SIGNAL BOX |
PHOTO GALLERY |
|
Great Northern Railway |
|
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Opened: 1913 |
Closed: |
Location code: E9/16 |
A late arrival on the Boston
to Grimsby route was Bellwater Junction. Replacing a smaller cabin by the name
of Bellwater Bank, the box was provided to control the junction with a new
cut-off line which allowed direct running between Lincoln and Skegness.
The box itself contrasted with the other cabins on the line in being built to the Great Northern's final design of box, introduced in 1907. It was only with the appearance of this type that the elegant 1870's designs were finally phased out, and this can only be due to the fact that this new type existed in brick or all-timber form. By the time this design appeared, the frantic expansion of the railways was slowing, so rather fewer of this type were built than the type illustrated at Tempsford. Like that box, these structures featured four-pane-high windows - the set adjacent to the door would seem to have been renewed at some date.
Notice how this design has reinstated a little of the charm of bargeboard design, although the style adopted would have involved the minimum of carpentry. A small and inconspicuous finial is provided, too. A few cabins of this type (mostly later examples) were built with plain bargeboards - see Spalding No.1 for an example.
Bellwater Junction houses a 25-lever Saxby & Farmer frame, still
retaining, like Heckington, its original rocker
interlocking mechanism. This frame was supplied second-hand when the box
opened, but is still in use today.
Additional notes by Stuart Johnson
All photographs copyright © John Hinson unless otherwise stated