Railway Relic

Today I went out for a day with my friend Matt looking at railway relics on the former Horsham to Guildford railway line. This is now part of the long distance footpath known as the Downslink that links the North Downs Way and the South Downs Way.

This line was opened by the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR) on 2nd October 1865 and was closed on 14th June 1965 as a result of Dr Beeching. A single line throughout, it ran from Christ's Hospital station on the Mid Sussex or Arn Valley line to join the London & South Western Railaway's Portsmouth Direct Line just south of Guildford at Peasmarsh Junction.

This is an actual origianl signal post that remains hidden in the trees near Cranleigh. It would have been Cranleigh's Down Distant Semaphore Signal and would have had a yellow board with a black stripe ending in a vee shaped notch. This particular signal is an example of a Lower Quadrant arm. This means that when the lever was pulled off in Cranleigh's Signal Box, to allow a train to pass, the arm would lower as opposed to go up in an Upper Quadrant Signal. The two oval shaped discs are called spectacles and would have contained coloured glass. In this case I think red and yellow (or possibly green) as I am not absolutely certain. Behind the spectacles would have been an oil lamp that the signalmaen would have to change on a daily basis. Part of the housing for this still exists and other fittings are still in situ. Part of the wooden arm is also still in situ and the casting between the arm and the spectacles still has the maker's name on it. This is marked Saxby & Farmer who were signal engineers to the LBSCR and were closely associated with this company. The firm also built many signal boxes on the LBSCR and some were built for other railway companies. The post is made of concrete and likely a product of the Southern Railway's Exmouth Junction Concrete Works. The SR took over in 1923 at the Grouping and the arm is probably Edwardian and the post 1920's. This is a real relic of the steam age and very exciting for us to find.