THE SIGNAL BOX OVERSEAS

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MECHANICAL LEVER FRAMES

Belgian State Railways
(SNCB)

by John Hinson
With John Saxby (of the British
firm Saxby & Farmer)
establishing
himself in Paris, it
isn't surprising that many of
the mechanical frames in
Belgium were of Saxby's rocker
type. In these, the rockers
(seen between the
lever
quadrants) were driven by the
operation of the catch handle
of the lever,
and transmitted
the action to the horizontally
placed locking rods behind the
frame, which can be seen
clearly in this view.

One interesting feature of the

frame in this view is the
provision of
shields over the
rockers to prevent their being
stood on. In the UK, signalmen
used to appreciate being able
to operate the catch handle by
stepping on the
rocker but
their was an inherent risk in
that if this was done
accidentally a
points lever
could spring out of the frame
and derail a train.

Frames of this type were

installed in signal boxes in
Photograph from the collection of Dr J W
F Scrimgeour
Belgium up to
around 1900.

The signal box itself (which has not been identified) seems likely to
have also been built by Saxby, as it
features the curved tops to the windows
and a row of small windows above in similar style to the
Saxby &
Farmer box design of 1876.

Not all mechanical signalling in

Belgium employed British-style
lever
frames; the double-wire
system was also popular and this
example shows a large
double-
wire lever frame. This type was
manufactured by Siemens &
Hlaske,
and was adopted for
new most work from 1900.
These frames were used in both
mechanical and electro-
mechanical form and are
identical to the standar frame
used in Holland.
Towards the right-hand end of
the frame, a bank of Siemens
block
instruments can also be
seen.

Photograph from the collection of Dr J W

F Scrimgeour

This interesting view shows a

rare hybrid arrangement of
Saxby and
double-wire frames.
Many of the levers of the
original Saxby frame have been
removed, and a small bank of
double-wire levers has been
substituted centrally
in the
length of the frame. It was also
possible to convert conventional
levers
to double-wire operation,
and those remaining in use may
have been so
converted.

The interlocking is between the

two frames is not the typical
Semens
& Halske type but by
rods and cranks immediately
behind the levers linking
to the
Saxby locking.

The boxes to the left are

electric route locks, which were
released by
the train engaging a
treadle after passing the
relevant pointwork. Theywere
an
alternative to the provision
of Facing Point Locks, and were
operated by
lifting up the large
grip on the vertical member
while pushing in the top
plunger.

 Photograph from the collection of

Dr J W F Scrimgeour

Additional notes by Michiel Rademakers

< Previous page Comments about this article should be addressed to John Hinson