Railway Herald

Tuesday 6th March 2012 and I went out for 6M08 on the returning Boston steel (13.14 Boston Docks - Washwood Heath) and ended up with this. 66848 running as 0M08 returned light engine from Boston for reasons unknown to me. The loco is seen passing Trent Power boxes TT249 signal. The signal is controlled by Trent but is slotted with Sneinton Crossing Shunt Frame visible in the back ground thus in order to display an aspect other than red it requires Trent to have cleared the signal and Sneiton to have lowered the barriers visible and cleared his signal. Only when both boxes have "pulled off" will the signal clear. This photo is taken from a relatively new overbridge thus rendering the Meadow Lane crossing visible virtually redundant, now used only by pedestrians and cyclists. DavidWF2009's shot of this location is taken from a former footbridge once located to the East of the crossing and shows the former up and down goods lines splitting at this point, the bridge on which I'm standing is still a twinkle in a planners eye ! www.flickr.com/photos/davidwf2009/sets/72157626279144040/.. Sneinton Crossing Shunt Frame was previously known as Sneinton Junction but was renamed after it lost it's signal box status in 1969 when Trent PSB opened and took control of the area. The box as a crossing box from 1969 originally controlled Meadow Lane crossing visible out of the box window and also Trent Lane and Colwick Road Crossings using CCTV. Colwick Road is still controlled in this manner with Trent Lane having been reduced to a Red/Green pedestrian crossing and Meadow Lane despite it's reduced status still retains full barriers. The Midland Railway box, erected in 1915 replacing an earlier structure, will not receive a telegram from the Queen as the structure is living on borrowed time and will be abollished in July 2013, control will pass to Derby EMCC.
John Illingworth