Lowdham Railway Heritage

12/04/2026

In researching Armathwaite signal box, we have discovered that the first two track circuits installed in 1931 were (like most of the rest of the S&C) repeated using the square LMS repeaters, rather than the later ubiquitous circular Thompson banner repeaters.

(The second tranch of track circuits installed in 1938 did use the Thompson ones).

Does anyone have one that they would be prepared to photograph the internal workings, please? And accurate dimensions would be useful as well. I suspect that they are approximately 4" square and 6" deep.

I suppose hoping that there are two of them for sale is optimistic?

The first photo shows one that was sold in auction in 2019. The Thompson unit beside it gives a good indication of size.

The second photo shows the interior of Armathwaite signal box in the late 1960s.

16/03/2026

We had a family visit the box on grandfather Tom's birthday, together with sons and daughters-in-law and grandchildren. Tom sent some lovely, and rather interesting feedback.

In the box visits, we usually narate the story of the 1910 accident at Hawes Junction, and the impact that had on the observance of Rule 55.

Tom wrote:

Hello David,
Thank you very much for the visit we made yesterday afternoon to your amazing signalbox.

I have been in a signal box at Lydney on The Forest of Dean railway but your talk and the atmosphere in your box would take some beating. It's rather a shame that old signal boxes are disappearing.

You talked about the 1910 train disaster at Hawes on the S and C. Well my friend's grandfather had been on the Scotch Express. He had survived being in the toilet when the trains collided. He was thrown into a field. Other passengers in the coach didn't survive.

A guard told him to make haste to the signalbox to alert him of the accident and call for emergency services.

It's a long time since that terrible collision.
Thank you from us all David.

It was a memorable visit with the grandchildren in the box too.

Yours sincerely
Tom

13/03/2026

A friend came to visit the box today, and took a photo like this. He commented that it would look so much nicer without the modern lamp post right in front of it. So I uploaded it to gemini.goole.com with the instruction, "remove the white lamp post and white 'Lowdham' sign from in front of the yellow building."

It worked a treat.

03/03/2026

We are planning open days on the following dates.

Tuesday dates are evening opening, 8pm to 9pm, which is very atmospheric, and generally not fully subscribed.

Other dates normally have two sessions: 2pm to 3:30pm, and 4pm to 5:30pm, unless otherwise stated.

Tuesday 12th May 8pm
Sunday 24th May
Sunday 7th June
Tuesday 9th June 8pm
Sunday 28th June
Sunday 12th July
Tuesday 14th July 8pm
Sunday 26th July
Sunday 30th August
Sunday 11th October
Tuesday 13th October 7pm
We may cancel some of the dates if there is low take-up.

Heritage Open Days
Saturday and Sunday 12th/13th September
Saturday and Sunday 19th/120h September
We usually have an 11am to 12:30pm slot in addition to the two afternoon slots for these four days.

Please book your free visit on Eventbrite so we know how many people to expect for each session.

See a historic railway signal box and try your hand on the levers. Learn what a signal box is for, and what signalman did.

08/02/2026

How to convert an old Tilly lamp to LED.

Remove the lid, and remove all the gubbins inside it. Paint the inside of the lid with silver paint to reflect more light downward.

Unscrew the riser pipe and valve from the tank. Cut off about an inch from the top of the pipe so the LED is nicely below the liremove the riser from the valve, and drill out the valve with 4mm drill so wires can pass through. Remove the pickup pipe from the bottom of the valve.

Cut a hole in the base of the tank to give access to the batteries. Cut holes for the USB charging cables. Use a hot glue gun to stick the batteries down so the USB charging port lines up with the access holes. The pp3 rechargeable batteries are £20 for four.

Drill for the switch, which is a miniature DPDT centre off switch. Two 9V clips are wired the swich so the lamp can get 9V (dim) or 18V (bright). The bulbs gave a built-in regulator so any voltage 12V or a bit higher is fine,and will light up bright.

The bulb holder wires are extended by soldering on more wire and insulating with heat shrink tube. Bulb holder glued into top of riser pipe.

The bulbs and holders are about £1 each in packs of 5 on ebay.

Now at Armathwaite signal box
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14UcWCppfVT/

05/01/2026

Nice to know that our events for Heritage Open Days in September reached the 'favourites'.

New Year is a time for lists, resolutions and honours; so reflecting on last year and thinking about what highlights lie ahead, we’ve come up with an alternative Honours list. To get you thinking about what catches attention, here are some events that proved firm favourites for the team and media ...

04/01/2026

A lovely video has just appeared on YouTube showing the Settle & Carlisle in 1988. Some nice signal box shots, including Midland Rotary Block.

A part of the video series named 'The train now departing', this film focused on the battle to save the Settle & Carlisle Railway in the 1980s. The episode w...

25/12/2025

We will hold our winter open day on Sunday 4th January. So far I have created a slot for 2pm, but will create a 4pm slot if there is demand.

Booking as usual via Eventbrite.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lowdham-signal-box-weekend-open-days-2026-tickets-1979024920812

See a historic railway signal box and try your hand on the levers. Learn what a signal box is for, and what signalman did.

15/12/2025

We were recently given a tiny photograph from the family of Charles Linley, a former signalman in the Nottingham area.

The box is clearly a Midland Railway type 3a box, introduced from 1898 to 1906.

It is also presumably a box with manual level crossing gates, as you can see the fence in the foreground, which means that the operating floor was around 4 feet above rail level, with just 7 or 8 steps to allow the signalman easy access to the road.

Unusually, the steps come out towards the front of the box, straight onto the track.

The two men are wearing different uniforms. On the right, we have the sleeved waistcoat, traditional signalman's uniform. On the left, he is wearing a jacket, probably with a waistcoat beneath. Both are wearing ties (as you would expect), and the cap badges are quite distinctive.

Can anyone shed any light on location or date, please?

I have used AI to remove the belmish and cracks.

14/12/2025

Lowdham signal box this morning.

17/11/2025

Does anyone know of a supplier of the LMS style aluminium lever leads please? Lowdham Railway Heritage need a couple, and Armathwaite signal box need 16.

Thank you