A new Signal Box for Chinnor

A small signal cabin was brought to Chinnor in June 2007. We are now working to restore the fabric of the structure, and then install all the equipment to make it work.

It had been in a Maidenhead garden for the last 32 years.

The story since mid 2006 (when this railway association became involved) is told in the pictures below.

History.

Erected as "Mouldsworth Dwarf Cabin" near Chester in 1894, what is now the Chinnor Box was saved from destruction by enthusiast Ken Cruse and moved to a garden in Littlewick Green, Berkshire, in 1975 where it stood sentinel over his 5" miniature railway. Its saviour having sadly passed away, his family sought a fitting new home where the cabin would be used, cared for, and admired by the public. They offered it to Chinnor.

The historical information so far trawled shows that the cabin was erected at Mouldsworth in 1894 to work the main line connections (points and signals) at the "country" end of the yard. It functioned as what the GW would have called a "ground frame", and was released by the Mouldsworth Junction signal box at the other end of the yard/station layout. (The distance was too great for the points to have been worked mechanically directly from the Junction Box. Electrickery was yet to come to the railway.) The "Dwarf" Cabin seems to have become known simply as "Mouldsworth Yard Frame" over the passage of time. It closed in 1967. So far as we know it retained its 12 lever CLC (Cheshire Lines Committee) frame throughout. At some time (mid 1950s?) the two mechanical releases were replaced by electrical ones.

There is some mystery, however. Some of us at Chinnor were a little surprised by the design of the cabin. It seemed a little grand for what was "just a ground grame". In particular, it is unusually high, since a more typical design might have had the eaves immediately above the window frames. Why? It is difficult now to read the minds of those employed by CLC when they wrote the specification around 114 years ago! But now it has emerged during restoration work that the cabin was almost certainly originally built with a porch and landing, making it even more grand. Then at some stage the porch was removed (it didn't just fall off, as replacement barge board and other parts were subsequently fitted).

So one question must be: was this cabin actually designed as Mouldsworth Dwarf Frame, or was it an even earlier signal cabin which had been outgrown elsewhere and was re-allocated?

The Future.

The first task was to restore the structure. Numerous cladding repairs have been made, the rear roof has been re-slated (and partially re-boarded), the floor and some windows needed a rebuild etc..

The plan is that the new cabin will take over the functions of the existing ground frame hut. This will involve complete new rodding and wire runs, and engineering of the frame from the ground up. We have much of the basic mechanical kit, but it has been in storage for many years and a lot of de-seizing and use of wire brushes will be required. We presently have little in the way of electrical kit. The timescale for the project is almost entirely dependant on the availability of volunteers.

The Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway has proposals to extend, potentially at both ends. Resultant increasing patronage will raise operating capacity issues, leading to upgrades in the operating methods being needed. (The line is currently One Engine in Steam, with the layouts at both termini worked by ground frames released by the OES key.) One might well predict that the functionality of the new cabin will also require to be upgraded, and the installation is being engineered with that in mind. Crystal Ball gazing is required!

Help!

The relocation, building works and restoration were costed out when the box was offered to the CPRRA. Of course the offer was not predicted, and the Association budget could not afford to fund the whole project. We had to find another way, so an appeal was launched. It quickly reached a level where we could be confident of saving and moving the cabin, but the appeal is still open as we want to be able to fund its restoration and equipping for use complete with all the external equipment.

To make a donation to this project, please click here to go back to our Donations page.

Also, we are always short of working volunteers. If you would like to be a part of this project by joining the team please get in touch. You can use the feedback section of this website, or simply come and see us at Chinnor.

The photographs on this page begin in the Maindenhead garden and at the Chinnor site before work started and later ones are added as members offer contributions to our webmaster. At time of writing the cabin has almost been finished on the outside, apart from some flashing, guttering and soakaways. Work is progressing on the rodding runs on the railway itself, and on the lever frame and other kit to go inside the box.

Some pictures of the move were kindly supplied by Simon Cruse. To see more of Simon's photos please visit his Facebook Album by clicking HERE.

Box as it was in Maidenhead	Box being readied for transporting
Site for the box before work began
In place on the brickwork	Everything OK inside?
Two views of the box now in position at Chinnor Station

More photos of the new signal box in situ. Click to enlarge.

More Pictures.