European Railroad Discussion > A foreigner visits Shrewsbury, UK and Severn Bridge Junction

I suppose I could also say Great Britain but I am not willing to go that far. Perhaps Reasonably Good Britain. Or maybe just Shropshire. Definitely not Scotland, but I think I can see mountains in Wales from my friend's house. But seriously, Shrewsbury is a lovely English town in what I hope is the West Midlands and contains five railway junctions. The main junction is Severn Bridge Junction and site of what I believe is the largest remaining mechanically-interlocked signal box in the world. And talk about semaphore signals! Through a friend of a friend I was able to visit the signal box which is a listed building for its historical significance.

1. A view of the Shrewsbury Severn Bridge Junction signal box taken from the end of a passenger platform with some very unique signals and finials.

2. The track diagram for Severn Bridge Junction. The signal box is represented by the red rectangle at the center.

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3. You want levers? We've got levers. About half of them are no longer in use.

4. All along the top are various electrical gizmos, generally very old, that provide status indicators for signals and switches.

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5. One such vintage indicator.

6. And several more, one of which appears to be no longer used. My friend enjoyed the one at the lower, right whose three indications were "NORMAL," "REVERSE," and "WRONG." 

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And, yes, there were trains although it was relatively slow on a Sunday afternoon.

7. A Transport for Wales four-unit 158-class DMU set arrives from the east, I would guess Birmingham, and passes a cluster of semaphore signals.

8. And arrives at the Shrewsbury station. A portion of the castle-like main building is just visible to the upper, left.

9. A Cardiff-bound Transport for Wales DMU set departs for the Marches line.

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10. Another Transport for Wales 158-class DMU set departs towards the east.

11. Its upper quadrant semaphore clear signal is visible amid all the horizontal blades.

12. In a final grab shot from the signal box, a Transport for Wales two-unit 150-class DMU set departs, I would guess for the branch that goes west from Shrewsbury to the west coast of Wales.

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NMlurker Wrote:
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> 12. In a final grab shot from the signal box, a
> Transport for Wales two-unit 150-class DMU set
> departs, I would guess for the branch that goes
> west from Shrewsbury to the west coast of Wales.

More likely the Central Wales Line to Swansea. Only class 158s with the unique ERTMS signalling are allowed on the Canbrian to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. The pairs of 158s you shot are more than likely on Pwllheli/Aberystwyth to Birmingham International services. Love the old style train describers in Severn Bridge Junction. Shrewsbury is an amazing station because of its 4 signal boxes.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/25 05:15 by 86235.