Swindon Panel has now, at long long last, signalled its last ever ‘real’ train. The last train was 1B94, the 2245 – Padd Swansea, shown below approaching Hullavington on Open Train Times.

After this train had cleared Alderton the usual ritual, to which Swindon Panel is now well accustomed, took place for the final time; The possession for the resignalling work was granted to the signal engineer by the signaller, and then the signalling supply disconnected to the panel’s last remaining interlocking (Hullavington (commissioned 23 March 1968)).

In addition, this time, as it was the final stage of the work, the fuses in Swindon Relay Room that feed the panel controls and indications were pulled, and at 0110 on 20 February 2016, for the first time since the 1860s, the town of Swindon was deprived of the dignity of controlling its own trains. The last Swindon Signal Box has closed.

One of the managers of the signalling scheme joked that now that Swindon Panel Society had (nearly) finished their building, Network Rail could finally close the panel….!

ASBESTOS! We hope there isn’t any!

But we are obliged to find out.

So, readers, you are normally excellent at coming up with leads…. do you know of a friendly local company that might be willing to do a small asbestos survey for us of the panel, the control room and the flat roof of the relay room at a good price?

Or even a company that doesn’t do it themselves but would like to sponsor the asbestos survey being carried out by a company that does (~£400)?

If so, please get in touch with us!

We’re very happy to acknowledge sponsorship such as this via our website, new articles, Facebook, etc.

If it helps, the Society is a registered charity, no 1159646.

Thank you!

Well, sort of!

The Great Western Society has recently procured some new main-line registered OBA wagons for trips between the Centre and the West Yard (where deliveries are made). These new wagons (110664 and 110711) are what, we hope, will be able to be used to transport Swindon Panel into the Centre. This will be preferable to using a well-wagon and needing to bolster the middle with sleepers etc.

R. Heron

The wagons require some maintenance before they will be ready for traffic. This is taking place at DRC on Saturdays from now on. The work is mainly scraping, brushing, painting, oiling, that sort of thing. Some of the wood planking will be replaced. No special skills are required, training and direction will be given.

If you might be happy to get involved with this task and help the GWS bring the wagons up to standard, which will also help Swindon Panel on its journey into the Centre, please contact Roger Orchard at DRC (via us if you wish).

Thanks!

Danny S.

Saturday 23 January saw the next stage (2b) of Swindon Panel’s decommissioning, and transfer of signalling control to the Thames Valley Signalling Centre.

TVSC previously controlled as far as Rushey Platt (since November). The TVSC’s control has now been extended to include all the Main lines as far as the fringe with Bristol at Corsham, including the junctions at Wootton Bassett and Thingley, and station at Chippenham. The first part of the Badminton line is also now controlled from TVSC as far as the new fringe with Swindon PSB at Brinkworth.

For the recording of detail for history: Wootton Bassett East, Wootton Bassett West, Chippenham and Thingley interlockings were all taken out of use at 0112 23/01/16.

Swindon Panel only has a relatively small amount of railway left to control: just Brinkworth to Alderton, including the loops at Hullavington. This will be the situation until the final stage (2c) of the decommissioning, when Swindon Panel will end its service with the ‘big’ railway on 20 February.

Photos of the panel in its new state…. coming soon!

Thank you very much to the SPS members who helped Santa in his visits to Didcot in December.

Our contribution was acknowledged in the DRC staff newsletter:

Martin Baker, of the GWS S&T, explains the background to the lattice post that we showed you a couple of weeks ago:

On Sunday 22nd November the S&T Department, with the valued assistance of Maurice and the crane, erected a new signal at Didcot – the first for quite a number of years.

The structure in question is the unusual (for the GWR) lattice post signal originally installed at Wheatley at the turn of the last century and acquired by the Society in 2012. Since that time it has been restored at the back of Winscombe hut under the direction of Chris Chalet.

When fully fitted up, the signal is destined to become an interactive exhibit as part of the new signal building, and is the first item to be installed in that area. We hope its arrival will spur others on!

We would also wish to thank Pete Gransden for giving up a couple of square feet of his garden to this post, we can only hope that he doesn’t try to trail runner beans up it… The ladder, lamp and arm will be fitted early in the new year.

Meanwhile a second interactive signal for internal display in the new building is now under restoration, with fittings being wire brushed and painted in early December.

Thanks for answering our questions Martin!

Photos by Chris Chalet.

Thank you very much indeed to Cheryl Davis, the Society’s Membership Secretary.

If you are a member of SPS you will have received a letter from Cheryl at some point, thanking you for joining or reminding you to renew!

Cheryl is hanging up her Membership Secretary’s hat now and handing over to a new person… who will be revealed later. Cheryl will still be following the progress of the panel with interest (not least because her husband is the treasurer!)

Thank you Cheryl – We hope you enjoy you Swindon Panel chocolate!