Harringay (passenger) s/box

[Mickey]

Harringay (Passenger) box.

I visited Harringay (passenger) s/box twice on 2 consecutive days in February 1973 about 6 months before the box was closed.

Harringay s/box was situated on the down side of the main line out of Kings Cross between the Down slow No1 & Down slow No2 lines at the south end of the station and controlled five sets of running lines the Up slow line the Up fast line the Down fast line the Down slow No1 & Down slow No2 lines. The s/box was in essence just a 'block post' between Finsbury Park No5 s/box (Down lines) and Finsbury Park No6 s/box (Up lines) to the south and Hornsey No1 s/box (Down lines) and Hornsey No2 s/box (Up lines) to the north.

There was a little used connection that lead from the Down fast to the Down slow No1 line outside of the s/box. The box contained a 40 lever frame but something that was very distinctive about the inside of the box was that several sets of block bells (maybe as many as 'ten' but i'm not sure?) had been mounted high up in a neat row along the back wall of the box high above the block shelf and the block instruments and the track diagram with long metal chains attached to the hammers so that when the bell was rung by say Finsbury Park No5 s/box on the Down fast line the chain would obviously 'waggle' so the signalman would know which block bell had just been rung and by which s/box and on which line it was a simple but effective idea!.

A 'neat little trick' that the signalman demonstrated to me was a thing whereby if he pulled off along the Up the slow line from Hornsey No2 s/box towards Finsbury Park No6 s/box and he then put the 'catch handles' of the Up slow line inner distant signal and the Up slow home signal and the Up slow line 'platform starter' to the 'slightly closed' position on there individual lever handles when a train passed along the Up slow line and had passed all those signals he put back the Up slow line outter distant signal lever in the frame and on it's own account would first go back the Up slow line inner distant signal lever in the frame followed by the Up slow line home signal lever in the frame then followed by the Up slow line 'platform starter' lever in the frame one by one as if by magic it saved the signalmen having to replace the levers individually so it was a labour saving way of doing the work of replacing the individual signal levers separately.

One thing that was abit of an effort was when pulling off the Up fast line starting signal on the gantry which also carried Finsbury Park No6 s/box Up fast line inner distant signal beneath it that was quite a 'heavy pull' for a signal that wasn't that very far from the s/box.

Harringay s/box closed in August of 1973.

Text revised January 7th 2016

Mickey

[StevieG]

"Harringay West Station" ("Harringay Passenger' to all staff) had a 40-lever frame.
There were twelve bells (same amount as Fins.Park No.3 and New Barnet South), but only ten were used with the block instruments.
The other two were 'Interlocking Bells' to Ferme Park South Down and Harringay Up Goods boxes; one for the working of the Down Slow 2 to Down Goods crossover at the north end of the station, unbolted by 5 lever, and pulled by FPSD, the other for the Up Goods No.1 to Up Slow crossover (35(?)) not far beyond the box, bolted by HUG, and pulled and signalled by 'Passenger' box.

The Up Fast starter was a hard pull because the Fins.Park No.6 UF outer distant, under 'Passenger's Home (23) at the end of the platform, was mechanically worked (FP6 55 lever), and "backslotting" had to be present to prevent FP6's outer distant from clearing with Harringay 'Passenger's Home, if FP6 had already pulled off but 'Passenger's starter (22) was still at Danger. So the slotting on the UF Home's post had to have three weight bars instead of two, with the third one working in conjunction with 22 Starter.

Thus, FP6's UF outer distant could only clear when its own lever had been pulled, and both the Home above it and the Starter ahead, were also proved 'Off'.

[StevieG]

'Passenger' box was a real slog job, working the five passenger roads (and was the only box between King's Cross and New Southgate, working both directions of the main line).
The Up Fast distant was really heavy, being on the gantry north of Hornsey station, with the wire running the full extent of the long reverse curves between it and 'Passenger' box.
You had to pull at least three levers for each train, except for the Down Fast (2), and there were five levers for the Up Slow signals.
No wonder this was one of the boxes that officially did not need to do full 'booking' (complete Train Register Book entries of every bell signal sent and received), instead only being required to record unusual or exceptional items.

The most memorable thing to me was in the evening peak when there were 3-way connections booked between down trains at Finsbury Park (usually one from Moorgate, one from KX, one from Broad Street).
Then you got 'the b'ready' ('Is Line Clear?') bell signal, 3 beats-pause-1 beat, from Fins.Park 5, for a Class 2 passenger train, on all three lines at once. And once acknowledged and 'Line Clear' 'pegged' up on the Block instruments, the three 'Train Entering Section' (2 beats) usually came at the same time as well.

[Mickey]

Just for the record i visited the box on two separate occasions when Norman Greenwood was the signalman in February 1973.

Around the time of the late 1960s until the box closed in August 1973 there was only one regular signalman there a west indian fella who went by the second name of Sergeant.

I may be wrong but i thought i remember hearing that Harringay (passenger) was a porter-signalman's job back in the 1950s/60s?.

Mickey

[Mickey]

'Passenger' box was a real slog job, working the five passenger roads (and was the only box between King's Cross and New Southgate, working both directions of the main line).
The Up Fast distant was really heavy, being on the gantry north of Hornsey station, with the wire running the full extent of the long reverse curves between it and 'Passenger' box.

Yes i agree Stevie that Up fast line distant signal was a 'heavy pull' for any signalman i wouldn't normally make the case for 'motorising' a semaphore signal but that Up fast line distant signal situated back at Hornsey No.2 (box) with the signal wire running virtually along a giant S curve from the box it's self passed the Ferme Park yards and through Hornsey station all the way back to the signal gantry just beyond Hornsey No.2 (box) was a fair old pull indeed, i believe there were a few counter-weights in the signal wires during it's run back to the signal gantry and i presume a lot of adjustments had to be made to the signal wire by the signalman during warm/hot weather as well as during cold or very cold weather although it's fair to say that it 'always' showed a 'good off' anytime i saw it during the day or night or in hot or cold weather.

Mickey

[Mickey]

Harringay West station in February 1960 with Harringay (passenger) box being hidden behind the boiler of the A3 at the head of a Down express as she storms through the station on the Down fast line!!.

http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/ ... 16b949.jpg


The home & distant signals featured in the picture above was Harringay (passenger box) Up fast line home signal with Finsbury Park 6 Up fast line outer distant signal beneath it. This signal was renewed at some point after this picture was taken because both home & distant signals were replaced and mounted on a newer slightly smaller straight metal tubular signal post carrying slightly shorter signal arms rather than the full size signal arms that are shown in the picture.

The 'Harringay curve' was eventually 'slewed over' during March, April & May of 1974 in readiness for the GN re-signalling and electrification project of the inner & outer suburban routes out of Kings Cross in the mid-1970s so in the picture the old Up fast line became the new Up slow line and the old Down fast line became the new Up fast line with the old Down slow no.1 line becoming the new Down fast line and the old Down slow no.2 line becoming the new Down slow line as it all still is to this day.

Mickey

[thesignalman]

A 'neat little trick' that the signalman demonstrated to me was a thing whereby if he pulled off along the Up the slow line from Hornsey No2 s/box towards Finsbury Park No6 s/box and he then put the 'catch handles' of the Up slow line inner distant signal and the Up slow home signal and the Up slow line 'platform starter' to the 'slightly closed' position on there individual lever handles when a train passed along the Up slow line and had passed all those signals he put back the Up slow line outter distant signal lever in the frame and on it's own account would first go back the Up slow line inner distant signal lever in the frame followed by the Up slow line home signal lever in the frame then followed by the Up slow line 'platform starter' lever in the frame one by one as if by magic it saved the signalmen having to replace the levers individually so it was a labour saving way of doing the work of replacing the individual signal levers separately.

Somebody did that trick with some consecutive shunt discs at New Southgate - unfortunately they released the first one in error at the "proper" time which resulted in evey disc ahead going "on" in front of the driver, who proved difficult to convince it was "just a mistake, driver".

J

[Mickey]

Somebody did that trick with some consecutive shunt discs at New Southgate - unfortunately they released the first one in error at the "proper" time which resulted in evey disc ahead going "on" in front of the driver, who proved difficult to convince it was "just a mistake, driver".

Back in B.R. days things like that would happen occasionally but ultimately nothing much would come of it except maybe some swearing from the loco crew and laughter from the signalman trying to play it down lol ha ha ha...

Harringay (passenger box) with the exception of Kings Cross 1933 box and the current 1971 PSB was the only box in the London area (Kings Cross to Wood Green) that signalled trains in both directions on the main & slow lines all the rest signalled trains in 'one direction' only.

Several other s/boxes in the London area 'away from the main line' also signalled trains in both directions such as Finsbury Park 1 on the Up & Down Canonbury lines, Ashburton Grove on the Down Goods line & Up Carriage line (the Creep up) & Finsbury Park 7 on the Up & Down Edgware branch also Goods And Mineral Junction signalled trains in both directions over the Up & Down Goods lines in & out of 'the goods yard' plus also Bounds Green signalled trains on the Up & Down Enfield lines as well.

Mickey