Western Junction box was located on one
corner of the triangular junction formed where the North London Railway's lines
from Broad Street, Kentish Town and Poplar converged. This box was the only
location between Broad Street and Kentish Town Junction (these days known as
Camden Road Junction) that was always worked by one box and not by separate
boxes as were most locations prior to about 1909.
The box is of the North London's own design, introduced from 1890 to replace the hipped roof designs such as Dalston Junction which was just around the corner. The large locking-room windows are actually detachable, and could be easily removed to facilitate changes of equipment.
The walls are, unusually, timbered both inside and out, giving improved insulation although there were disadvantages. A rat once got itself between the two skins, and proceeded to die there. As a relief signalman I was called out to reopen the box one day, but was not told that the previous signalman had closed the box because the stench of the dying rat was intolerable. Eventually the rat-man arrived, and declared that he could do nothing about it without dismantling the box! He did, however, leave some Rodent Deodorant which did something to control the smell for the week or so it took for the animal to fully decompose.
Stepping inside the box, we find Relief
Signalman Hinson at work, offering the Up Motor to Broad Street No.2
which is already approaching on the No.2 Up line. All running signals
were three (or less) aspect colour-lights by this date and the levers over in
the frame are 10 (No.2 Up Canonbury IB Home) and 9 (No.2 Up Home). When the
train is accepted, lever 8 (Up Dalston Junction IB Home) will be cleared, by
which time it will be possible to replace lever 10 and send Train out of
section to Camden Road Junction. With such a range of Intermediate Block
signals, both in rear and in advance, the straightforward methods described in
the