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Blackrod
Junction
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 Blackrod
Junction Signal Box was built in 1879 for the Lancashire and Yorkshire
Railway Company by the Gloucester Wagon Co. Some sources quote 1881 for
this, but the GWC had fallen out of favour with the LYR by then, so the
earlier date seems the more likely.
The box was built to the Gloucester Wagon
Company Limited’s Standard design but was fitted with the current 37
lever Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Tappet frame in 1890. By the late
70s, around half of those levers were still in operation, but now just six
are used; 3 for the colour light signals either side of the station and 3
for the crossover.
[left] Viewed from the branch, Blackrod Junction Signalbox in the
1990s, shortly before the line was lifted. The Manchester - Preston line
runs past the box, left-to-right. Catch points immediately in front of the
camera protect the main line.
(Harry Gardner)
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Junctions
Signals &
Signalboxes |
| Signalling
Around Blackrod |
| Horwich
Fork Junction |
| Horwich
Loco Junction |
| It may seem odd that such an antique would
still have a place in today's railway, but it is thanks to the
incompatibilities between Preston and Manchester Piccadilly power boxes,
that it survives into the 21st century. The section of track controlled by Blackrod
Junction changed over the years as adjacent boxes were closed (see below
for details of these). In 1990,
Blackrod Junction (it is still named that despite the absence of a
junction) became the "Fringe" box linking the computerised systems to the
north and south. It still controls the crossover (visible in the photo at
the top of this page and on the diagram above), which is used to reverse
football specials which run to Horwich Parkway for matches at the Reebok
Stadium.
In
1989, a plan to use some of the Horwich Works site for landfill was
considered. This would have involved the reopening of the junction at
Blackrod and at least one track up the Branch to carry waste trains and
empties from the site. In some ways, it seems a shame that the plan never
came to fruition - seeing trains on the branch once more would have been
interesting. However, since the plan involved "abolishing" the
box, it is perhaps a good thing that the plan was scrapped.
[right] The illuminated diagram
in the Blackrod box as it was on 23rd April 1988 and 14th Sept 1999
(inset) after the closure of the branch.
(David Ingham)
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The old and the new... The 100 year old L&Y tappit frame
alongside the computer terminal linked to Manchester Piccadilly
"power box". The large black box next to the diagram is
the train describer for Preston "power box".
(Harry Gardner) |
 The signal box in 1979 viewed across the main line at the
point where the branch diverges. Rodding on the right of the
picture will have been to control the semaphore signal and
crossover on the branch, by this time downgraded to "siding"status.
(Jon Fitness)
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Another shot of the L&Y lever frame, still with many of the levers
still in use.
(Harry Gardner) |
(Robert Gregson)
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Blackrod
Junction Photo Gallery (click
images to enlarge)
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 Thanks to Haydn Tomlinson for the
original information on this page, and to David Ingham for the detailed
signalling history and photographs used here.
Gavin Thrum from Adelaide, South Australia
sent this photograph. He used this website as reference material to
scratchbuild a model of the Blackrod signalbox. The model was built to
enter a competition in 2007, and won the lineside structures "STANIER
TROPHY" award for best model. - it's easy to see why.
[click the image to enlarge]
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Do you have any photos of the signal
box? I'm particularly interested in photos from before 1980 and any
interior shots. Drop me a line if you have anything I could use.
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