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Signal Fact 31

In 1863 Charles Spagnoletti, Telegraph Superintendent of the Great Western Railway, devised a block instrument in which a disc swung to show the legend Train on Line or Line Clear in a little window.

Instruments of this type were still used by British Railways well through that organisation's life span!

Metropolitan District Railway

This page should be regarded as “Work in Progress”. The webmaster will welcome additional information for this page.

In the list below the information is set out in tabular form, spread over four columns. The column entries are -

RailRef	The Line Code used in RailRef system.
Line Detail	The principal locations included within the Line Code. They are arranged in 'down' direction order. Locations shown are primarily stations and junctions to allow easy cross check against published atlases. Signal box names appear in italics where these are 'intermediate' to stations or have been shown to facilitate links from other pages on this web site. The inclusion of a station or junction name does not imply that there was always a signal box of that same name!
SBR	The section reference used in the relevant Signal Box Register published by the Society.
ELR	The corresponding Engineer's Line Reference(s). This will be blank for railways that never came within British Railways terms of reference. It will also be blank where British Railways had no surviving responsibility for infrastructure at the time the ELR system came into use.

RailRef	Line Detail	SBR	ELR
MD001 MR031 WB001	Whitechapel - Campbell Road See Whitechapel & Bow Joint Railway WB001 for detail.
MD002 MT010	Vallance Road Junction - Mansion House Junction Vallance Road Junction WB001 St Mary's Junction MD003 St Mary's Aldgate East Aldgate East Junction MT012 Minories Junction MD011 Tower Hill The Monument (3) Cannon Street Mansion House Junction MD010 Article: RAilway Magazine January 1966 (Tower Hill).
MD003 MT011 Opened 1884 Closed	Whitechapel Junction - St Mary's Junction Whitechapel Junction EL001 St Mary's Junction MD002
MD010	Mansion House Junction - Studland Road Junction Mansion House Junction MD002 Mansion House Blackfriars The Temple Charing Cross Westminster Bridge St James's Park Victoria Sloane Square South Kensington Junction MT005 South Kensington Gloucester Road (4) Cromwell Curve East Junction Cromwell Road Junction MD012 MD013 Earls Court Warwick Road Junction MD014 West Kensington East Junction MD010 West Kensington (2) Midland Junction MR065 Baron's Court Hammersmith Studland Road Junction SW035 (1) Brompton (Gloucester Road) until 1864 (2) North End (Fulham) until 1877 (3) Eastcheap until 1884 (4) Gloucester Road (Brompton) until 1907 A diagram in The Engineer for 4 October 1895 marks the down direction running from South Kensington to Sloane Square.
MD011 MT003	Aldgate Branch Aldgate boundary with MetR MT001 Minories Junction MD002
MD012	Kensington Branch High Street Kensington (Bay) Cromwell Curve North Junction Cromwell Road Junction MD010
MD013	Cromwell Road Dive Under datum Cromwell Curve North Junction MD012 Cromwell Road Junction MD010 Kensington Branch, westbound, following remodelling of the area
MD014	Putney Branch datum Mansion House Warwick Road Junction MD010 West Brompton Walham Green Parsons Green Putney Bridge & Fulham (1) 7m15c MDR-LSWR boundary SW031 (1) Putney Bridge & Hurlingham until 1902
MD015	Earls Court Flying Junction Into use 1914, replacing original up Putney line at Earls Court Junction. See MD Signal Notice W105 of 1913.
MD016	Pre 1914 alignment of down line, Earls Court Junction to West Kensington East Junction Moved to allow Putney flying junction. See MD Signal Notice W105 of 1913.
MD017	Addison Road Branch West Kensington East Junction MD010 Kensington Addison Road (1) (1) Kensington Olympia from 1946
MD020	Turnham Green - Ealing Broadway Turnham Green Junction SW036 Fisher's Lane Junction MD022 Chiswick Park (1) Acton Town South Junction MD023 Acton Town (2) Acton Town North Junction MD024 Ealing Common Hanger Lane Junction MD030 Ealing Broadway (1) Acton Green until 1887 (2) Mill Hill Park until 1910
MD021	Turnham Green Junction South Side Tracks See RCH Junction book, 1913 map. South side tracks only, north side tracks included in SW036.
MD022	Fisher's Lane Junction - Acton Lane East Junction Fisher's Lane Junction MD020 Acton Lane East Junction SW036 SW037
MD023	South Acton Branch South Acton North Junction NW100 South Acton Acton Town South Junction MD020
MD024	Acton - Hounslow Barracks Acton Town North Junction MD020 South Ealing Northfields (2nd) Northfields (1st) Boston Manor (1) Osterley & Spring Grove (1st) Osterley (2nd) Lampton Junction MD027 Kingsley Road Junction MD028 Hounslow Town (2nd) (2) Heston - Hounslow (3) Hounslow Junction LE023 Hounslow Barracks (4) (1) Boston Road until 1911 (2) Hounslow East from 1925 (3) Hounslow Central from 1925 (4) Hounslow West from 1925
MD025	Latimer Road & Acton Railway Construction work started but lines never completed.
MD027	Hounslow Town Branch Lampton Junction MD024 Hounslow Town Junction MD028 Hounslow Town (1st) 1883-1886 and 1903-1909
MD028	Hounslow Curve Hounslow Town Junction MD027 Kingsley Road Junction MD024
MD030	Rayners Lane Branch Hanger Lane Junction MD020 North Ealing Park Royal North Ealing Alperton (1) Sudbury Town Sudbury Hill South Harrow (1st) South Harrow (2nd) Rayners Lane Junction MT034 (1) Perivale & Alperton until 1910

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