Signalling query

The only instance I'm familiar was Bradford Exchange, originally built jointly in 1850 by the Great Northern Railway (later part of LNER) and Lancashire and Yorkshire (later part of LMS). It was rebuilt in 1880 as a terminal station with 5 platforms for each railway, almost as wide as Kings Cross. The tracks on each side were not connected, but were controlled from one signal box. See:

In the 1950s, there was still a platform wall separating the two halves of the station, by then under BR's NE and Midland Regions. Incidentally, I can remember dropping off a trunk at the parcels ofice around 1963 for shipping to university, and there was a wooden leaflet rack on the counter emblazoned "Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway - Please Take One". The L&YR ceased to exist on January 1, 1922! Exchange station itself ceased to exist in 1973, when it was demolished and replaced by the current 4-platfom rail and bus Interchange. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Excellent, good site to browse through.

Many thanks

If I may add to the debate regarding "split" platforms, a similar situation existed at Manchester London Road (now Piccadilly) in the 1950's. Platforms A, B and C served the ex-LNER lines (principally the Woodhead route to Sheffield and Marylebone, plus some local routes) while the numbered platforms were the property of the former LMS. A wire fence ran down the middle of one of the platforms, "C" being on the left as one stood at the buffers and "1" on the right. At this time there were also two ticket offices at the station, one ex-LNER and the other ex-LMS - if you went to the wrong one the staff couldn't serve you as they only held tickets for "their" routes.

What the signalling arrangements were i cannot say - but by this time the ex-LNER lines had been electrified at 1500 v DC and (if memory serves me correctly) largely colour-light controlled. The ex-LMS routes were still signalled extensively by semaphores.

Hope this helps,

David C

Excellent, good site to browse through.

Many thanks

David

Many thanks, but looking at early maps (pre-1922) it seems that the lines to Manchester London Road are inextricably joined from about Ardwick Junction where the Great Central, LNWR and L&Y all join with multiple cross-overs. I suspect this is one of the "normal" with the changeover being outwith the station rather than platforms being owned and operated seperately inside the station.

But I did find another station I had never heard of before, Manchester Mayfield!

But on further looking I found "Electric Railways: 1880-1990" by Michael C Duffy which states "The pneumatic signalling installed by the Great Central Railway at London Road, Manchester .." implies that the signalling was seperate so maybe your idea was correct.

Colin,

Thanks for your two replies - and you put doubts in my mind! However, I have a copy of "Railway History in Pictures - North-West England" of 1968 (and priced at 35/-!) which has two pictures of Manchester London Road/Piccadilly in 1951 and 1966. The caption for the earlier photo, which is taken from the end of the station furthest from the buffer stops, reads "On the far right are the former GCR platforms, separated by railings from the rest of the station and lettered rather than numbered". Incidentally this picture was taken from the footbridge at the country end of the station, which I believe is a bit of a rarity at a terminus.

Manchester Mayfield doesn't feature in this publication but if my memory serves me correctly Mayfield was next door to London Road, on the line which now goes down to Manchester Oxford Road. The two were connected by a footbridge, and Mayfield tended to be used quite a lot for parcels traffic and excursions. In the great rebuilding of London Road/Piccadilly coincident with the 25 KV AC electrification in the 1960's, the name Mayfield was dropped and its two platforms were "absorbed" into the larger station and renumbered accordingly.

Hope this helps, and thanks for your comments regarding Ardwick Junction - with which I agree.

David C

But on further looking I found "Electric Railways: 1880-1990" by Michael C Duffy which states "The pneumatic signalling installed by the Great Central Railway at London Road, Manchester .." implies that the signalling was seperate so maybe your idea was correct.

The disused station that featured in the Helen Mirren "Prime Suspect" series was Mayfield. It was to the South and West of the MSJ&A platforms.

Christopher,

Thanks for that clarification about Mayfield Station.

David C

The disused station that featured in the Helen Mirren "Prime Suspect" series was Mayfield. It was to the South and West of the MSJ&A platforms.

Following on from my previous acknowledgement of Chris Lee's clarification of the location of Mayfield Station, if anybody else is interested - and we seem to have strayed from the original query regarding signalling - there is useful information available on Google, One site is Wikipedia, the other is Disused Stations, both accessible by searching under "Manchester Mayfield Station", with some useful photos of Mayfield. Looking at these sites has made me realise how childhood memories can get confused with age!

David C

Christopher,

Thanks for that clarification about Mayfield Station.

David C

The disused station that featured in the Helen Mirren "Prime Suspect" series was Mayfield. It was to the South and West of the MSJ&A platforms.

"confused with age" .... I can relate to that!!

Col> Following on from my previous acknowledgement of Chris Lee's