District Railway Power Signalling

When the District was electrified, power-operated signalling was introduced. Thoughout the central area this involved the introduction of track circuiting and airworked points and signals. These were controlled from Westinghouse miniature lever frames, sometimes in the old signal boxes but often in new ones. Between areas controlled by signal boxes (usually where there were junctions) the signalling was completely automatic. In outer areas, sometimes existing mechanical frames were kept in use, with the signals converted, but not points, to power operation.

Dates of introduction of the new signalling

As I have the information to hand in my records I thought it might be of interest to set out the official dates the new signalling came into service.

23 & 28 June 1903 South of South Harrow to North Ealing (auto only), coincident with line opening. Nil
11 June 1905 Mill Hill Park & Hounslow line 126 pts & sigs
25 July 1905 Main line Mill Hill Park to Ealing Broadway in operation 156 pts & sigs
17 Sept 1906 Putney line to West Brompton 218 pts & sigs
26 Nov 1905 Earls Court E & W in operation 294  pts & sigs
7 Jan 1906 Cromwell Curve cabin in operation (incl Gloucester Rd) 369  pts & sigs
14 Jan 1906 South Kensington to Blackfriars in operation 454  pts & sigs
25 Feb 1906 Mansion House to Minories in operation 507  pts & sigs
16 March 1906 Automatic signals West Kensington to Hammersmith 515  pts & sigs
7 April 1906 Connections to Turnham Green 519  pts & sigs
16 June 1906 New signal box at Hammersmith, initially MDR tracks only 561 pts & sigs
15 July 1906 Minories & Aldgate East to St Mary's 582 pts & sigs
26 Aug 1906 Charing Cross Emergency Cabin opened 584 pts & sigs
28 Oct 1906 Hammersmith (GNPB tracks) and West Kensington West opened 634 pts & sigs
25 Nov 1906 New signalling on Whitechapel & Bow line 654 pts & sigs
10 Feb 1907 New power signal box at High St Kensington (mech frame)  
24 Feb 1907 New signal box at Whitechapel, also replaces St Mary's  
31 May 1908 West Kensington East cabin opened. Old box in LB yard and Midland Junction boxes closed.  
5 February 1911 Automatic Signalling (on new lines) Ravenscourt Park to Turnham Green  
     
     
At:
12 June 1908		 24 signal cabins on MDR and joint lines.
121 power-operated automatic stop signals & trainstops
174 power-operated semi-automatic signals & trainstops
244 semi-automatic shunt signals
222 power-worked points
390 track circuits
60,000 signal movements daily
50,000,000 motor movements made annually.		  

List of District Signal Boxes

To accompany the above table I have compiled a list of District Signal boxes. Although this has come from my book, I have rearranged the list into two blocks, one before June 1908 (corresponding with totals above), and one after. I will attempt to keep this up to date if new information emerges.

New Power Signal Boxes        
Location Date into service Code Levers No
Mill Hill Park 11 June 1905 WL 47 29
Putney Bridge 17 Sept 1905 WG 15 46
Parsons Green 17 Sept 1905 WF 39 47
Earls Court East 26 Nov 1905 EA 27 45
Earls Court West 26 Nov 1905 WA 27 31
Cromwell Curve 7 Jan 1906 EC 47 32
South Kensington 14 Jan 1906 EE 23 56
Mansion House 25 Feb 1906 EJ 35 59
Hammersmith 16 Jun 1906 WD 39 53
Minories 15 July 1906 EK 7 60
Aldgate East 15 July 1906 EL 15 61
West Kensington West 28 Oct 1906 WC 39 57
Whitechapel 25 Feb 1907 EN 51 85
West Kensington East 31 May 1908 WB 39 54
         
Sub Total 14 ep cabins   450 levers OK
         
Adapted Signal Boxes        
Location Note Code Levers  
Bow Road 1902 frame adapted EP 29  
Charing Cross New mechanical frame 26-8-06 EH 10 ??
St James's Park Old frame EG 11
High Street Kensington New Mech frame 10-2-1907 EB 22  
Chiswick Park Old frame WK 10 ???
South Acton New Mech frame WQ 15  
Ealing Common New Mech frame WM 16  
Ealing Broadway Old Frame WP 43  
Hanger Lane Junction New Mech frame 1903 WO 18  
South Harrow New Mech frame 1903 WV 30
Osterley Old Frame gone 1914. There 1905 WR 19 ??
Hounslow Town (terminus) Old frame WS 20  
         
Sub total June 1908 12 adapted cabins      
         
Boxes Installed after 1908        
Location Date into service Code Levers No
Turnham Green 3 December 1911 WK 23 114
Hounslow West 28 November 1926 WX 15 151
Ealing Common 10 March 1925 WM 23 Rec'd
Hammersmith 3 May 1931 WD 43 Rec'd
Northfields 4 September 1932 WR 71 Rec'd
Acton Town (Style N) 24 January 1932 WL 119 171

 

 

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