The Signalling Record Society

New Signalling Book

Westinghouse: The Style L Power Frame by John Francis. Published November 2025 by this Society

Published by the Signalling Record Society November 2025. 112 Pages, including 48 diagrams and 111 photographs with 29 in colour.

Price £17, post free to addresses in the UK. Special Price to SRS Members only £14.

Miniature lever power frames were an important step in the transition from mechanical signalling to full power signalling. The step was a long and sustained one, and for more than 50 years the miniature lever power frame provided the means of controlling power signalling until relay interlockings with control panels gained supremacy in the 1950s.

The Westinghouse Style L frame represented a milestone in power frame development by virtue of its substitution of electric locks for the interlocking between levers rather than mechanical means which had previously been employed. Frames of this type were built in large numbers over a long period of time and so the Style L is of great historical significance.

This book records the development and use of this important type of lever frame from its inception in 1928 right through to the present day. The book describes the apparatus in considerable detail, and is illustrated by many drawings and photographs.

The location of each of the more than one hundred manufactured and installed frames is listed, along with relocations of frames or parts thereof and those now preserved. Although generally associated with major power signalling schemes of the Southern, other notable nineteen thirties installations included Crewe, St Enoch, Cardiff and Darlington, representing the rest of the ‘Big Four’. Worldwide use is also covered in other countries outside of the UK.

Supplementary information relating to a number of individual frames is included, as are sections on power frame locking theory and practice, and some brief notes on setting up, testing and maintenance.

John Francis published the first edition of his book covering The Style L Power Frame way back in 1989. It was very well received and today copies rarely come up for sale and are much sought after. As a result, there has pressure for the production of a new and updated edition of this classic book. To meet these demands, the Society has worked closely with John in the preparation of a new and updated edition and particularly to facilitate the inclusion of a vast number of photographs.

The new edition runs to 112 pages and the detailed text is supported by a wealth of excellent tables, some 48 diagrams and 111 photographs of which 29 are in colour.

How to Obtain Your Copy

Price £17, post free to UK addresses. There is a Special Price to SRS Members only, of £14 post free to UK addresses. (You must provide your membership number when ordering to benefit from the member discount).

Order online from the Society Website https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/bookstall/

OR email your order to websales@s-r-s.org.uk and pay by bank transfer to Sort Code 30-94-70 Account Number 01339088. Please include the Reference ‘L Frames’ and your name or membership number, so we know who it is that has paid!

OR send a cheque made payable to ‘Signalling Record Society’ and order by post to 40 Ellis Peters Drive, Aqueduct, Telford, TF3 1AW. Even if you order by post, where possible, please pay by bank transfer if you can as the SRS has to pay bank charges on cheques. For non-UK addressees please enquire for postage details by email to booksales@s-r-s.org.uk