Small (signal) box at Belle Isle

[Tim Watson]

Does anyone know the function, and when it was installed, of the little structure to the right of the A4 tender, next to the ramp line.

Other photos show that it had windows.

Tim

[Mickey]

Tim, a bit hard to say what it's real purpose was for that small hut for sure?.

This post was redacted or removed by myself.

[Tim Watson]

Clearances in the ‘trough’ are certainly tight. BID box had been gone sometime before the streamliners, but maybe some sort of refuge is a possibility, with N-S windows to allow line visibilty without sticking your head out.

Unfortunately, I can’t locate an image of BID with that extra little box in view. I wonder if it came after the track re-modelling and re-signalling?

I’m not even sure if we have room for it, but it is certainly quite unusual.

Tim

[Mickey]

Tim, it maybe a Lampman's hut?. It appears to be quite narrow and possibly contains a wooden table and wooden shelves for housing the spare signal lamps?. Belle Isle had quite a few semaphore signals at one time with the three signal boxes located in Belle Isle anyway the lampman would go around replacing the 'old lamps' probably once a week and bring them back to the hut to be cleaned and the wicks trimmed and then the lamps refilled again with paraffin oil and then possibly left on the shelves until the following week before they were gathered up by the lampman and he went out into Belle Isle and changed all the signal lamps again.

[Tim Watson]

That makes a deal of sense. I found this image in my collection which shows a sort of cupboard on the south side of it, high up.


Tim

[Mickey]

I suppose it is possible that it may have been used to keep P.Way tools locked up in although I suspect the structure (looking at the pictures) may have been 'to small' to be used on a daily basis by a local P.Way gang that may have been located in Belle Isle?. Also I doubt if more than 3-men would have been able to occupy the structure comfortably at any onetime?.

It is possible that a permeant P.Way gang was stationed in Belle Isle at one time for constant track maintenance purposes due to the heavy amount of traffic passing through Belle Isle day and night.