Shunting question - a proto problem

[Trev21]

The attached (Train Controller) graphic is of the actual track plan at Ripon, c. 1930. For our purposes, this is roughly to scale.
And yes it is odd in places! Don't blame me, blame the NER!

The goods train from Masham would arrive left-to-right on the up (red) line, often with loaded cattle vans which we may assume would be at the front of the train?

On the one hand, the pressing need would - I assume - be to take the cattle vans to the cattle dock (TC Block 94), with a friendly cow waiting to greet them... But to do this the vans would have to be pushed/reversed into the siding, from (as we see it) TC Block 101. The fastest way (I think) to do this would be to uncouple the cattle vans from rest of train and loco, the station shunter to take rest of train into the yard, while the loco ran round the cattle wagons and took those to the cattle dock via TC block 101.

If it helps - the loco would have had no pressing duties until it took the next passenger train to Masham.

But... is that what would have happened...? And however it was done, was it OK for a loco to take cattle wagons across the main lines without a brake van attached - albeit in close proximity to the signal box?

[Hatfield Shed]

Shunting wagons on the running lines with no brake van was quite normal. Possibly my favourite local railway picture was taken at Welwyn North in the 1930s, with the shunting horse hauling a single wagon on the LNER (ex-GN) main line.

[manna]

G'Day Gents

Not knowing the area, but the way you describe it, it all seems to being done 'Within Station Limits' or under a signalman's control, so yes it was 'Legal'.

manna

[Trev21]

Thanks!

[Mickey]

Not knowing the area, but the way you describe it, it all seems to being done 'Within Station Limits' or under a signalman's control, so yes it was 'Legal'.

The term 'Station Limits' applies or was more commonly applied when we still had many individual signal boxes around the country in large numbers to any and every signal box that worked Absolute block and Permissive block signalled lines and applied at a signal box between the home signal and the section signal (or 'starting signal' as it was often referred to by signalmen) of that particular box regardless of there being a station at that location or not. As manna pointed out signalmen were allowed to do certain movements within or inside 'station limits' such as shunting and propelling movements.

The term 'station limits' may have possibly become a rare issue on todays railways with the closure of many individual signal boxes around the country in the last 50 plus years although at PSBs (Power Boxes) and at IECC signalling centres there maybe 'defined station limits' at certain locations for shunting movements probably at various large railway locations although I never worked in a PSB or a IECC signalling centre so I am only guessing that at certain locations 'defined station limits' are authorised to be able to take place.