Canterbury Area

Canterbury East signal box is now closed but remains as a listed building. OS Map.

Wye Area Control Centre is located close to Canterbury West signal box and controls the line between Ashford and Canterbury West. OS Map.

Wye Station level crossing is operated by a gate keeper. OS Map.

Canterbury West signal box spans the tracks on a substantial girder bridge. OS Map.

The geographic location of the stations and signal boxes can be seen on a current OS Map by following the links above. The map will place the selected location at the centre of the map panel, roll the mouse over the icon(s) to reveal what they represent. Increase the scale using the scale selector on the left to separate closely positioned icons.

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The material may be freely used except for sale or advertising purposes.

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Video Credits

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Key Chronology

1830	Canterbury & Whitstable Railway opened.
1846	South Eastern Railway opens line from Ashford to Ramsgate including stations at Wye and Canterbury and a chord connection to the Canterbury & Whitstable Railway.
1853	Canterbury & Whitstable Railway absorbed by South Eastern Railway.
1860	London, Chatham & Dover Railway opens extension from Faversham to Canterbury.
1861	London, Chatham & Dover Railway opens extension onward from Canterbury to Dover. Absolute block working in force.
by 1863	Block working in use by SER.
1874	Canterbury No.1 and No.2 signal boxes opened by SER.
by 1887	Canterbury signal box opened by LCDR.
1889	South Eastern Railway extends Elham Valley branch from Bishopsbourne to Harbledown Junction including a station at Canterbury South.
1899	LCDR & SER form a joint committee to work the two companies as a single entity but both companies remain legally separate. LCDR station renamed Canterbury East. SER station renamed Canterbury West.
c1911	Canterbury East signal box replaced.
1918	Connecting loop between LCDR and SER lines opened.
1920	Connecting loop between LCDR and SER lines closed.
1928	Canterbury West Signal Box opened replacing Canterbury West No.1 and No.2 signal boxes.
1940	Elham Valley branch closed other than Cheriton to Lyminge section.
1941	Connecting loop between LCDR and SER lines reopened.
1953	Connecting loop between LCDR and SER lines closed.
1959	Canterbury East line electrified.
1961	Canterbury West line electrified.
2003	Ashford to Canterbury West changed to track circuit block working. Wye Area Control Centre opened. Chartham and Wye signal boxes closed, replaced by ground frames released by the control centre to control the level crossings.
2004	Canterbury West to Sturry changed to track circuit block working.
2011	Canterbury East signal box closed.

 

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An explanation of signal box classifications will be found in "The Signal Box" and in the Society's Signal Box Register series of books.

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Can you help?

The project would love to hear from you, especially if you worked or still work in a signal box, and you are willing to provide reminiscences and / or pictures. Please contact the webmaster in the first instance.

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