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St Albans South Signal Box - Open days in 2011

Discussion in 'Heritage Railways & Centres in the UK' started by John Webb, Oct 23, 2010.

  1. John Webb

    John Webb Member

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    St Albans South signal box, built by the Midland Railway in 1892 and discarded by BR in 1980, was restored by a charitable Preservation Trust and opened to the public in 2009. The box, now listed, is the largest Midland box in preservation and uniquely stands where it actually worked, adjacent to the Midland main line by St Albans City Station.

    Downstairs there is an exhibition of signalling and other railway items, upstairs the restored frame and replacement instruments show how the box worked shortly before closure.

    The grounds around the box have been made into an attractive garden area with some working signals and other items on show.

    Entry is FREE, and every visitor gets an Edmundson card ticket as a souvenir – we always welcome donations, of course!

    Light refreshments (tea/coffee/squash/biscuits) are available when we are open.

    There is wheelchair access to the ground floor, including the toilet, but we regret the nature of the building precludes wheelchair access to the first floor.

    We are in Ridgmont Road, St Albans – AL1 3AJ, at the bottom of the NR carpark – full location details on our website www.sigbox.co.uk

    We are open as follows in 2011:
    Jan 15th/16th: 10am to 4pm in parallel with the annual Chiltern Model Railway Association show at St Albans Arena.

    Open 2pm-5pm on:
    February 13th,
    March 13th,
    April 10th and 24th (Easter Sunday),
    May 8th and 22nd
    June 12th and 26th
    July 10th and 24th
    August 14th and 28th (Sunday of Bank Holiday weekend)

    September 10th and 11th - Heritage Open Days - extended opening 10am-4pm

    Open 2pm-5pm:
    September 25th
    October 9th
    November 13th
    December 11th

    Any changes to the above will be put on our website up to three months before the alteration takes place.

    To save you writing all this down, we have available now a 2011 Calender in full colour - twelve pictures of the box exterior and interior - the exterior ones also usually include part of the garden or are of the items on display there. Size is A4 and under each photo for each month there is an 'engagements' style grid for the month on which are printed our opening dates. A copy costs £7.50 + p&p - contact info@sigbox.co.uk to order one.

    New attractions expected for 2011:
    Full computer simulator in operation by Easter to allow 'trains' to run on all tracks
    Four-aspect signal sequence display in the garden
    MR Ground frame and hut working ground disc signals

    John Webb
    (Publicity Officer, St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust)
     
    John Webb, Oct 23, 2010
    #1
  2. John Webb

    John Webb Member

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    Additional Opening Days at St Albans South Signal Box:

    29th/30th January 10am - 4pm in connection with the 'St Albans Residents First' weekend - although we shall welcome anyone, whether they are from St Albans or elsewhere!
     
    John Webb, Jan 11, 2011
    #2
  3. John Webb

    John Webb Member

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    Just a reminder that we're open 29th/30th Jan, 10am-4pm.

    Our 2011 calenders are now available at the reduced price of £5 (plus p+p) - see post #1 above for contact details.

    Visit this award-winning box in 2011 - Invensys Rail Award winner, 2010 National Railway Heritage awards!
     
    John Webb, Jan 20, 2011
    #3
  4. John Webb

    John Webb Member

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    Next Open Afternoon: Sunday 13th February 2-5pm.

    And our calenders are now £2.50! Contact info@sigbox.co.uk to order (P&P extra)

    John Webb
    Publicity Officer
     
    John Webb, Feb 5, 2011
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  5. John Webb

    John Webb Member

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    January got off to a flying start with over 700 visitors during the four open days.

    February's open day was marked by welcoming our 5000th recorded visitor since September 2008.

    Our website has undergone a major revision and can be found at http://www.sigbox.co.uk as before.

    Next open day: Sunday, March 13th, 2-5pm.
     
    John Webb, Feb 22, 2011
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  6. John Webb

    John Webb Member

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    A reminder that our next open afternoons are April 10th and 24th (Easter Sunday).

    We shall have our new colour light signal display operating; the introduction of our new simulator has been delayed, but we can still show you a train running on the Up Slow line.

    John Webb
    Publicity Officer, St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust
     
    John Webb, Apr 4, 2011
    #6
  7. John Webb

    John Webb Member

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    Reminder that we are open 2-5pm Sunday June 26th, July 10th and 24th.

    The garden looks wonderful after the recent rain, we expect to have our light refreshments outside so you can sit on the lawn and watch the passing trains or the new colour light signal display and all our other attractions will be running as usual.

    John Webb
    Publicity Officer, St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust
     
    John Webb, Jun 23, 2011
    #7
  8. John Webb

    John Webb Member

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    Reminder that we are open 2-5pm on Sundays 25th September and 9th October - see www.sigbox.co.uk for details.

    John Webb
    Publicity Officer, St Albans Signal Box Preservation Trust
     
    John Webb, Sep 23, 2011
    #8
  9. John Webb

    John Webb Member

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    Remaining open afternoons in 2011: 12th November and 11th December 2-5pm both days.

    Dates and times for 2012 will be announced shortly.
     
    John Webb, Oct 25, 2011
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