A vintage signal box on the Dean Forest Railway is in the spotlight, as it waits patiently for it’s time to shine, at a glittering award ceremony in December.
The Parkend Signal Box and the associated signalling works have been shortlisted for a National Railway Heritage Award, following an extensive restoration by volunteers.
The box was commissioned in March, after over eight years work by volunteers – just in time for the first trains of the 2022 running season. It was erected in 2000 using 3/5th of Maesmawr Signal Box which had been made redundant in 1995.
In 2014 the DFR board decided to re-signal Parkend and work commenced to equip the station area and box and de-commission the ground frame from which points had been operated for many years.
Electronic wheel detectors and axle counters have been introduced to Parkend as the GWR sleepers had next-to-zero insulation for conventional track circuits, also eliminating the need for electrical insulation in points and at rail joints.
The works were tested and signed off by Network Rail employees, and the countdown is now on for the National Railway Heritage Award ceremony on December 6th.
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