1929 Type 4e signal box at Fiskerton. (1)

Midland boxes were prefabricated in a purpose built factory at Derby.
The prefabricated timber units, known as flakes, were 10ft or 15ft
wide. They could consequently be assembled very quickly – in a 1920
test a box was put together (minus the slate roof) in 85 minutes! There
were only minor changes in design throughout the 50 year period,
namely in sizes of window, window pane pattern and the type of
boarding used. These occurred in 1884, 1900 and 1906, which allows
Midland boxes to be neatly divided into four types

Type 1 (1870–1884): The original Midland signal box was 10ft wide
and rarely more than 20ft in length. The front and sides of the box
were glazed; the windows were 3ft by 6inches. There was vertical
6inch boarding at operating floor level and weather boarding below.
They always had a hipped roof and finials. The door was normally
placed at the end of the box facing oncoming rail traffic on the nearest
line, although not always. The staircase was normally parallel to the
track, rising in a single flight to the door. The windows were ‘Design A’,
consisting of 4 panes of glass distinctive chamfered upper panes. The
floor of the operating room was covered with brown linoleum which
was very modern in comparison to the plain floor boards of other
signal boxes.
Type 2 (1884–1901): The first change was the introduction of deeper
windows at the front of the box with six panes. From 1893 the vertical
boarding on the upper part of Midland boxes was changed to 3½
inches and in 1900 a new prefab panel was introduced, increasing the
standard width of Midland boxes to 12ft.
Type 3 (1900–1906): The windows were extended to the ends of the
box and ‘Design B’ windows were introduced at some boxes to give
better visibility at busier junctions. Type 3 is subdivided according the
window design used – Type 3a have ‘Design A’ windows and Type 3b
have ‘Design B’ windows.
Type 4 (1906–1930): The weather boarding of the locking room was
replaced with lapped boarding in 1906 and changes were made to
the walkway brackets and railings in 1907. Concrete bases were also
introduced around this time as older boxes had a tendency to rot,
with timbers being set into the ground. In 1910 the Tumbler frame
had been replaced by the Tappet, which was smaller, so the standard
width returned to 10ft. Type 4 is subdivided 4a – 4c according to the
window design used. The shortages of materials during the war meant
that plate glass and finials had to be given up, producing Type 4d.
Type 4e saw the resurrection of ‘Design C’ windows, but still with the
omission of finials.

Fiskerton Junction signal box is a Type 4e design dating from 1929
when the new junction joining the Southwell line made a signal box
at this location necessary. This was the last ‘type’ to be produced – this
example was erected a full six years after the Midland Railway had
ceased to exist. Their successors, the London, Midland and Scottish
Railway, LMS, continued to use Midland designs until 1930. The
LMS also modified the Tappet locking frame, producing the Railway
Executive Committee (REC) Frame which came into production
in 1925. It had been proposed as standard for all British railway
signalling, but in the end it was never used by any other companies.
The box is on the Down side of the track, opened in 1929, it was
built to control the junction for the ‘Rolleston west curve’. This chord
closed 1965 and the box now only operates the Causeway Lane level
crossing. The gates are operated by a wheel inside the box. On the
other side of the crossing, still on the Down side, is a small ground
frame or crossing hut known as Morton Crossing, which perhaps
predates the main box as the level crossing was there before the
junction. These huts were once widespread, but this is one of the last
few remaining. The signal box had a ‘closing’ lever which allowed the
ground frame hut to work the signals as required – most likely at night
when the main box was switched out. The crossing keeper would
have lived in the purpose built house which is opposite the main box
on the Up side of the track.

Exterior:
Two storey, rectangular timber signal box of two bays with a shallow
hipped, Welsh slate roof. The lower storey has lapped boarding and
two original ‘Design A’ windows at the front; the rest of the box is
blind at this level aside from a doorway to the locking room at the
north-eastern end. At first-floor level, the box is continuously glazed
on all sides except the rear with vertical timber boarding. There is
a window at either end of the back of the box as well; these and all
first floor windows, are uPVC replacements. The external single flight
timber staircase has been replaced with a steel version, giving access
to the operating room at the north eastern end. The name board is
likely to be original, as rounded corners

Interior:
The operating room has a modern suspended ceiling and laminated
floor, along with various other modern fittings and appliances. The
1929 REC locking frame is original as is, presumably, the wheel which
works the level crossing. Both of these are found at the front of
the box, along with the block shelf; the block instruments are later
upgrades, but the box-to-box telephone may be a relic of the early
days of the LMS. These phones were always located on the block shelf
as they used the same wire as the bell which was the main form of
communication. Telegraph instruments, train register desk and stove
would have originally been located at the back of the room. (Fiskerton Junction Signal Box
Historic Building Record Prepared for Network Rail November 2014, Alexander Bowring, Alan Baxter & Associates LLP)

<1> Alan Baxter, 2014, Fiskerton Junction Signal Box Historic Building Record (Unpublished document). SNT4785.