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This splendid scene, captured by Tom Boustead in the early 1960s, sets Grantham's South Box in a railway  landscape that had scarcely altered for decades.  However within ten years, by the spring of 1972, the box, its signals and telegraph poles were gone, and the complex track layout had been rationalised.  The future held yet more changes in store.

After a pause to attend to other chapters in Grantham's railway story, we are returning to our illustrated history of signalling and signal boxes at Grantham with the launch of our latest new pages: Grantham South Signal Box and Grantham South Signal Box - an introduction.

The story is based on information and photographs kindly contributed over a period of time by many people.  It's about an area of the railway at Grantham that was 'off limits' to all except those who either worked on the railway or had secured official permission.  Therefore photographs, other than some taken from the Great North Road bridge, are difficult to find.  So if you have, or if you know of, pictures taken in the area between the Up and Down side goods yards and Saltersford please let us know via our Contact Us page.  One particular appeal - we haven't yet seen photographs of the Down Loop at Saltersford, installed near the water works in 1943 and taken out of use in 1968.

With those shouted words signalman James Herring tried to stop the departing Up Mail on a moonlit summer's night in 1898.  The signalling handlamp pictured below could be the very one he  waved from his window at Grantham Yard Box in a vain attempt to prevent a collision.

Great Northern Railway signalling handlamp No. 12362, dated 'GNR.4.87', used at Grantham Yard signal box.

For the full story and more detailed photographs of the lamp see our page Grantham Yard signal box – people and incidents.

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The sign pictured above was brought along to our meeting on 17th April.  Can anyone tell us where on the station this sign would once have been located?

We have several plans of the station, but none of them show a location for the offices of the Traffic Department for the Grantham District.

The sign is made from a framed wooden board and metal letters.  It appears to have been fixed into place just inside each corner.  Approximate dimensions are 40 x 16 inches (1000 x 400mm).  So it's too big for a normal-sized door and would therefore most likely have been attached to a wall.