Halterworth crossing
1950's
Standard class 5
4-6-0 steam loco heads towards Eastleigh with
a
freight from Salisbury.
It has just passed Halterworth Crossing and
is
parallel with Crampmoor
Bungalows - photographed passing an empty
building plot near
No. 9.
Battle of Britain
class loco no 34086 - 219 Squadron passes the
bottom
of No 5 Crampmoor
Bungalows just past Halterworth crossing with
a Salisbury - Eastleigh
freight - before the trees grew up & hid
the railway.
We have Hampshire
DEMU passing Halterworth Crossing with a Romsey
-
Eastleigh service.
Caravans in the foreground were at the back
of Wells Garage
in Halterworth Lane
.
Crompton type 3
( class 33) waits at the down home signal at
Halterworth
Crossing heading
light engine to Salisbury
Standard class 4 No 75075 heads past Halterworth
with a Salisbury -
Eastleigh freight . dated around 1964
BR standard class
5 No 73087 'Lynette" passes Halterworth
Crossing
with a Portsmouth
- Cardiff cross country service, diverted via
Eastleigh.
The mirror on the
l/h side was to see cars coming down the hill
of Halterworth
lane & the hut
on the r/h side was the lamp room where the
signal
lamps were serviced
.
Halterworth crossing
1960's ?
During a rainstorm
4REP unit No 3004 leads a diverted
Waterloo - Bournemouth
/ Weymouth train past Halterworth signal box
during diversions
from the mainline.
An engineers train
from Eastleigh passes Halterworth box headed
by a
Crompton type 3
diesel - the crossing house to the right was
occupied by
Bill Steele a porter
at Romsey station.
Hampshire Demu 1124 passes Halterworth Crossing
en route to Eastleigh
a few months before passenger service was withdrawn.
The signal WBV2
works in conjunction with WBW1 at Romsey signal
box.
Hampshire 3 car
DEMU passes Halterworth's down home signal WBV2
with a service from
Eastleigh . Crampmoor Bungalows are situated
behind
the train to the
left .
Western hauled stone
train in the snow - Merehead to Fareham road
stone
train heads towards
Eastleigh past Halterworth box - 1971. --&
yes I had
permission to be
there on the track
Halterworth Crossing
taken from Romsey side looking east when it
was still 2 tracks.
Early 1970's
Looking west out
of Halterworth signal box finds a Crompton type
3 heading
towards Eastleigh.
In the background is the train register desk
where
all train times &
movements are recorded.
Diversion weekend
again at Halterworth, we have a Weymouth-Waterloo
fast service (91)
held at the up home signal as it awaits clearance
onward to Eastleigh,
as a Waterloo-Bournemouth service (92) approaches
Romsey outer home
signal in the distance
Brush type 4 heads a returning excursion from
the South Coast to
South Wales on the down road past Halterworth
signal box. This was the
second to last train to use the down road ,
as it was closed later that
Saturday night for singling
Brush type 4 - D1666 'Odin' passes Halterworth
Crossing with a return
excursion to the Western region & becomes
the last train to run over
the down line from Eastleigh to Romsey - later
that evening it was
closed & singling was started
Halterworth up home
signal - photo taken after the line was singled
-
this was quite a
high signal as the lamp man had to climb the
ladder to the top
to change the paraffin lamp - every week. In
early days there
was also a duplicate at the down home -
same height, till
replaced by the electric signal .
Halterworth Signal
Box:- The block shelf & lever frame at Halterworth
Crossing - taken
1971. The two instruments are Preece s 1 wire
-
the L/H to Eastleigh &
the R/H to Romsey , yellow levers are distants &
red
home signals - the
others are gate levers & locks
Diversions again,
this time at Halterworth box, a Waterloo - Bournemouth
semi fast (92) passes
the box en-route from Eastleigh - Romsey &
then
back via Redbridge
to Southampton. Seen from inside the box with
the
gate wheel to the
left, frame on the right. This wheel manually
controlled
the wooden gates &
took some effort to move. .
Taken in 1971 -
shows the block shelf at Halterworth signal
box, simple up & down
line with no points.
The black box in the centre allows the box to
be shut out
of service. The
bell push on the left still says Chandlers Ford,
but in fact went to Eastleigh.
Halterworth Signal
Box. Another shot of the box in action , we
have the
signals pulled off
for a down train from Eastleigh , gate stops,
gate lock ,
down home &
down distant , if you look at the round signal
indicators ,
one black , one
white they show the signals in the 'off 'or
clear position .
The 92203 passing
Halterworth in April 1975
Diverted Weymouth
Quay - Waterloo, Channel Islands Boat train
passes
Halterworth on a
sunny Sunday morning. It was diverted via Romsey
& Eastleigh
due to engineering works on the main line. Early
70 s
Here is the signaling
diagram from Halterworth signal box showing
the
layout of the tracks &
signals. This is when it was double track ,
so taken in 1970 or so
Halterworth Crossing
1973 There were diversions for a week or two
as they
dug up the crossing
as well as putting in a new bridge over the
stream.
The crossing box
became just a gate post, only opening the gates
when
the warning buzzer
went off as the train approached - then
it went to fully
automatic &
the box was demolished.
Halterworth Crossing:-
Photo taken mid way through the conversion to
half barriers -1973
, Western class loco heads to Eastleigh with
a Merehead
to Fareham stone
train.
The final day - the signal box at Halterworth
is closed - the nameplate has been
removed & the technicians are disconnecting
the circuits. Signalman
Ken Freemantle has just signed off duty &
heading home. The nameplate
was purchased from British Rail & now resides
in West Moors in good hands.
The brochure that
was handed out locally when the barriers were
put in at
Halterworth inside
it gave readers an idea of what they are &
how they worked
Halterworth signal
diagram after the line was singled - it was
just to give train
positions , as here,
we have a train in the section from Eastleigh
- the
diagram is lit up
PA/PB/PC/PD - The old instruments were taken
out - it was
basically a gate
post . - 1973 before it went automatic &
the box closed .
