European Railroad Discussion > Banbury North

I went out to Banbury yesterday to shoot some pictures, it was an almost perfect winter's day; a frost, no wind and sunlight from dawn to dusk. Train travel is just made for mornings like this; sitting in a comfy seat on board a nice warm train - in my case a Chiltern class 168 - coffee in hand watching the winter landscape whizz by through large picture windows, what's not to like?

Banbury, which is some 70 miles north of London and reached in just over an hour with five stops, is a large town with a big station. Despite it being on a mainline with up to five passenger trains in each direction every hour, plus a freight in each direction most hours, it still sports two signal boxes, Banbury North and Banbury South and a slew of semaphores, although all the main running line signals are colour lights, but worked from the mechanical frame. This is an island of old style Absolute Block signalling with automated Track Circuit Block on either side. Banbury South also includes a recently installed panel controlling the revised arrangements at Aynho Junction, some seven miles to the south, where the Chiltern and Cherwell Valley routes split and which was rebuilt as part of Chiltern's Evergreen upgrade programme.

This is Banbury North box - it dates back to 1899, and is to a standard Great Western Railway design. The Keep Out notice on the door still makes reference to the GWR, although i suspect that may be a phony. It has a 95 lever frame at the back of the box which was installed about 60 years ago.

And this is the box in relation to the running lines, the train is a late running 4O27 Garston to Southampton which passed yesterday morning at 09:50.

More from Banbury & King's Sutton

http://nick86235.smugmug.com/Trains/2014/Winter-20142015-Part-1/i-PMjM7z7



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/15 14:15 by 86235.

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A nice set of photos, nothing like a cold clear morning for taking photos.

Malcolm
New Zealand.

Good photos, Nik. Banbury is a pleasant place, especially whilst the semaphore remain. New ones were installed at the south end a couple of years ago when the terminating Marylebone trains were introduced. The new multi-story car park gives a decent view. Chris UK

55002 Wrote:
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> The new multi-story car park gives a
> decent view. Chris UK


Thanks, I went to have a look at the view from the new car park, it is pretty good but i reckon it's a summer shot.

Nick,

The images on your site are excellent, as usual. I do have a question. On a dreary 1 January 1996 I took these first two photos of the year, after celebrating the New Year at the Texas Embassy Cantina near Trafalgar Square. My notes indicate that I was in Banbury. Is this the same signal box? I traveled there from Gerrards Cross on the Chiltern and returned by way of Oxford and London.

Gerry

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Thanks Gerry - no that's the preserved box at Princes Risborough. It is on the Chiltern mainline, just over halfway to Banbury.

http://www.risboroughbox.org.uk



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/14 11:04 by 86235.

Thanks, Nick. I'll revise my database accordingly. Good luck to the group rebuilding it. Gerry