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51-684: The Bordon Light Railway was a short-lived light railway line in Hampshire that connected the Army Camp at Bordon , as well as the villages of Bordon and Kingsley , with the national rail network at Bentley on the main Farnham-Alton line , a distance of 4.5 miles (7.2 km). Following the end of the Boer War , a number of military camps were established to accommodate the returning soldiers. Amongst these featured "Bordon Camp" which

102-540: A break-of-gauge with other states. The cost savings were due to light rails, low axleloads and low speeds as much as due to the gauge. Tasmania , Western Australia and South Australia followed suit with the narrow gauge to reduce costs, though South Australia ended up with an inefficient two-gauge system which negated some of the supposed cost savings of the narrow gauge. New South Wales resisted calls to introduce narrow gauge, but did adopt pioneer lines with 30 kg/m (60.5 lb/yd) rails to reduce costs without

153-473: A point-and-click or touchscreen interface. Finally, the use of Automatic Route Setting removed the need for any human input at all as common train movements could be fully automated according to a schedule or other scripted logic. Signal boxes also served as important communications hubs, connecting the disparate parts of a rail line and linking them together to allow the safe passage of trains. The first signaling systems were made possible by technology like

204-471: A standard gauge connection from Bentley to a point just west of Bordon village. The application received the backing of the War Department which saw the railway as a means of easing troop movements and bringing supplies to both camps. It was also hoped that the local communities along the line would also be able to make use of the new connection. An agreement for the line's operation was reached with

255-567: A common naming convention. In Central Europe, for example, signalling control points were all issued regionally unique location codes based roughly on the point's location and function, while the American state of Texas sequentially numbered all interlockings for regulatory purposes. As signaling control centers are consolidated it can become necessary to differentiate between older style boxes and newer train control centers, where signalmen may have different duties and responsibilities. Moreover,

306-512: A diagram of the track and signaling layout is mounted above the lever frame, showing the relevant lever numbers adjacent to the signals and points. Hand-powered interlockings were referred to as 'Armstrongs' and hand throws in the United States. Power frames have miniature levers and control the signals and points electrically. In some cases, the interlocking was still done mechanically, but in others, electric lever locks were used. In

357-825: A diversion around this area. Councillor Drury's proposal received support from the chairman of the Whitehill Bordon Opportunity, Councillor Cowper who is also the leader of East Hampshire District Council . In June 2009, the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) issued a report ( Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network ), which proposes the reinstatement of the line between Bentley and Bordon, as one of 20 schemes that are recommended for further consultation. 14 of these are reinstatements of lines closed in

408-532: A few cases, signals and points were operated pneumatically upon operation of the appropriate lever or slide. In a signal box with a control panel, the levers are replaced by buttons or switches, usually appropriately positioned directly onto the track diagram. These buttons or switches are interfaced with an electrical or electronic interlocking. In the UK, control panels are of the following types: Similar principles of operation as described above are applicable throughout

459-545: A financial liability, the decision was made to close the line to passenger services with effect from 16 September 1957, with the line remaining open to freight to meet army requirements. It might have closed completely had the Longmoor Military Railway been able to serve the Bordon Camp's requirements, but in the event the frequency of services at Liss made the exchange of heavy traffic difficult. This

510-499: A nearby road or geographic feature, local landmarks, and industry that may provide the railway with traffic or railway features like yards, sidings, or junctions. On systems where Morse code was in use it was common to assign control locations short identification codes to aid in efficient communication, although wherever signalling control locations are more numerous than mileposts, sequence numbers and codes are more likely to be employed. Entire rail systems or political areas may adopt

561-618: A signal box. The signal box provided a dry, climate-controlled space for the complex interlocking mechanics and also the signalman. The raised design of most signal boxes (which gave rise to the term "tower" in North America) also provided the signalman with a good view of the railway under his control. The first use of a signal box was by the London & Croydon Railway in 1843 to control the junction to Bricklayers Arms in London. With

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612-531: A temporary primitive railway line with a 18 in ( 457 mm ) gauge was laid to Bordon to facilitate the move. The increased military presence at Bordon coupled with its proximity to the national rail network at Bentley led to an application being made on 6 October 1902 for a light railway order under the Light Railways Act 1896 , the Bentley and Bordon Light Railway Order 1902 , authorising

663-651: A vague description; the purpose of the act is for building railways easily with less stringent standards and at low cost. The light railway concept in Japan is therefore similar to the UK and other countries. Many light railways were built for passengers or as military , industrial or forest railways in Japan, and in Japan's colonies in Taiwan , Korea , Manchuria , Sakhalin and Micronesia . Some light railways were destroyed during World War II , especially in Okinawa . By

714-500: A variety of names including signal box (International and British), interlocking tower (North America) and signal cabin (some railways e.g., GCR ). Currently these decentralised systems are being consolidated into wide scale signalling centres or dispatch offices . Whatever the form, signalling control provides an interface between the human signal operator and the lineside signalling equipment . The technical apparatus used to control switches (points), signals and block systems

765-457: Is a cheap railway and a second class of railway." These terms are not pejorative, they simply recognise that the standards of main-line heavy railways are not needed in all situations. Their great advantage under UK law was that they avoided the need for an expensive act of parliament before each new line; they only required a much simpler Light Railway Order within the terms of the Act. The term

816-454: Is also used more generally of any lightly built railway with limited traffic, often controlled locally and running unusual or older rolling stock . A light railway is properly distinct from a tramway which operates under differing rules and may share a road. The term "light railway" is generally used in a positive manner. Perhaps the most well-known caricature of a light railway is the film The Titfield Thunderbolt , made in 1953 as many of

867-408: Is called interlocking . Originally, all signaling was done by mechanical means . Points and signals were operated locally from individual levers or handles, requiring the signalman to walk between the various pieces of equipment to set them in the required position for each train that passed. Before long, it was realized that control should be concentrated into one building, which came to be known as

918-426: Is critical to ensuring that messages are properly received by their intended recipients. As such, signaling control points are provided with names or identifiers that minimize the likelihood of confusion during communications. Popular naming techniques include using nearby geographic references, line milepost numbers, sequence numbers, and identification codes. Geographic names can refer to a municipality or neighborhood,

969-410: Is plainly labeled on the side of the signal box structure as an extra visual reminder to the train operators where they are. Moreover, wayside signals may also be equipped with identification plates that directly or indirectly indicate who controls that signal and that stretch of the line. For more information, see also Interlocking . The earliest signal boxes housed mechanical lever frames. The frame

1020-500: Is quite a secondary factor." Break of gauge now became an important factor, and there was much concern over whether this would become an additional cost for the transshipment of goods, or whether this was over-emphasised compared to the amount of warehousing and handling needed anyway. The Irish railway system in particular became a good example of a broad gauge main line system with many independent narrow gauge , 3 ft ( 914 mm ), light railway feeder branch lines . In

1071-674: The London and South Western Railway (L&SWR), the operator of the Alton line, with whom the War Department had already collaborated in the construction of the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway in 1901. Under the terms of the agreement, the LSWR would manage, work and maintain the railway, providing the engines, rolling stock and plant. The necessary land was acquired by the LSWR with the War Department's assistance, and construction

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1122-570: The United Kingdom "light railway" refers in its strictest sense to a railway built or operated under the 1896 Light Railways Act . That Act, though, gives only a vague description; a better one is found from John Charles MacKay in the same year: "A light railway is one constructed with lighter rails and structures, running at a slower speed, with poorer accommodation for passengers and less facility for freight. It can be worked with less stringent standards of signalling and safety practice. It

1173-701: The United States , "light railway" generally refers to an urban or interurban rail system, which historically would correspond to a streetcar network. The distinct term light rail was introduced in the 1970s to describe a form of urban rail public transportation that has a lower capacity and lower speed than a heavy rail or metro system, but which generally operates in exclusive rights-of-way , in contrast with streetcar systems which operate in shared road traffic with automobiles. Urban sprawl combined with higher fuel prices has caused an increase in popularity of these light rail systems in recent decades. In

1224-433: The 1930s they were being driven out of business by the motor car. Although World War II resulted in a brief increase in the importance of these railways, very few lasted beyond the early 1950s. Those that survive today are generally heritage railways . Queensland adopted a narrow gauge of 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) in order to make construction of lines lighter and thus cheaper, though this initiated

1275-558: The 1970s, most light railways in Japan had been driven out of business by the motor car. Some of the remaining lines survive in passenger service, and others have been restored as heritage railways . Taiwanese push car railways used handcars on 762mm gauge rails to transport sugarcanes of the Taiwan Sugar Corporation to the mainline railways of the Taiwan Railway Administration or

1326-606: The Beeching cuts. 51°7′23.35″N 0°52′7.06″W  /  51.1231528°N 0.8686278°W  / 51.1231528; -0.8686278 Light railway The precise meaning of the term "light railway" varies by geography and context. In countries where a single standard gauge is dominant, the term light railway does not imply a narrow gauge railway. Most narrow gauge railways operate as light railways, but not all light railways need be narrow gauge. After Spooner 's development of steam haulage for narrow gauge railways,

1377-548: The Bordon station is now buried under an industrial trading estate. A bus service now provides a link from Bentley to Bordon, and onwards to Liss – effectively replicating the line and the Longmoor Railway. It has been mooted that as this bus service is now so well utilised, that it should be replaced by a railway link. In August 2007 Liberal Democrat Councillor Philip Drury, member for Whitehill (Hogmoor), proposed

1428-613: The LSWR's terminus at Bordon. This itself was linked to the main Waterloo-Portsmouth line at Liss in 1942. It was possible to travel to Liss from Bordon via Oakhanger Halt on the Longmoor Railway. The fortunes of the Bordon Light Railway were inextricably linked with those of the Army Camp that it served, so that when army traffic began to decline after the Second World War and the line became

1479-607: The direction of Alton for 17 chains before reaching the junction for Bordon at which stood the Bentley signal box . The line to Bordon branched off to the south here, climbing up towards Kingsley of 1 in 156. After 1 mile 10 chains it reached Blacknest Road level crossing , an ungated crossing which was protected by cattle grids . The line then gradually dropped towards Kingsley Halt (2 miles 57 chains from Bentley), proceeding again over Blacknest Road level crossing, another ungated crossing with cattle grids. Continuing towards Bordon,

1530-489: The excavations to the dams that were constructed. Light railways have been used in several wars, especially before the advent of the combustion engine and motor car. These have often connect depots some distance behind the front line with the front lines themselves. Some armies have Divisions of Engineers trained to operate trains. Sometimes they operate a branch line of their own so that they can practise track and bridge building (and demolition) without disturbing trains on

1581-462: The light railways and other small branch lines were being closed. Despite the great public affection for these railways, very few were financially successful. Colonel H.F. Stephens was pivotal in the light railway world, and tried many techniques to make light railways pay, introducing some of the earliest railcars and also experimenting with a rail lorry built out of an old Model T Ford . Nevertheless, most light railways never made much money, and by

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1632-527: The like. There is little through traffic with mainline railways so that break-of-gauge is not a problem. The Iron Knob Railway was legally a "tramway", but operated 2,000-ton iron ore trams which were heavier than most railways. Also in Japan , originally, "light railway" refers to a railway built or operated under the Light Railways Act enforced in 1909. The act in Japan also though gives only

1683-441: The line passed over several bridges (including one over Kingsley-East Worldham Road) before climbing again on 1 in 358 and then descending on 1 in 145, proceeding on a level over White Hill Road level crossing (known locally as "Marsh's Crossing") and reaching Bordon (4 miles 58 chains from Bentley). Following the line's closure in 1966, the track was lifted later the same year. None of the stations now survive except Bentley, while

1734-407: The main line. Signal box On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable . Signalling control was originally exercised via a decentralised network of control points that were known by

1785-406: The name of the signaling center itself may not be employed operationally in preference to the name of individual signaling workstations. This is especially true when signaling centers control large amounts of territory spanning many diverse lines and geographical regions. In most cases where the control locations are still in the field adjacent to railway tracks, the name or code of the control point

1836-418: The need for breaks-of-gauge. There were a significant number of small and isolated mining and timber railway built to a variety of gauges and improvised standards. There are still a large number of sugar cane tramways built to a common 610 mm ( 2 ft ) gauge, and sharing research and development into advanced features such as concrete sleepers, tamping machines, remotely controlled brake vans, and

1887-436: The practical development of electric power, the complexity of a signal box was no longer limited by the distance a mechanical lever could work a set of points or a semaphore signal via a direct physical connection (or the space required by such connections). Power-operated switch points and signaling devices greatly expanded the territory that a single control point could operate from several hundred yards to several miles. As

1938-442: The prevailing view was that the gauge should be tailored according to the traffic: "The nearer the machine is apportioned to the work it has to do the cheaper will that work be done." From the 1890s, it was recognised that cost savings could also be made in the construction and operation of a standard gauge railway: "light axle-loads and low speeds, not gauge, are the first condition of cheap construction and economical working. Gauge

1989-570: The processing plants of the Taiwan Sugar Cooperation for further production to turn the sugarcane to fine sugar. Many industrial railways were built to light railway standards. These may be of light and small construction, although the wagons carrying molten-steel in a steelworks can be several hundred tonnes in weight. The Panama Canal construction used a heavy network of 5 ft ( 1,524 mm ) temporary railways in its construction to move vast quantities of soil from

2040-616: The re-opening of the line to relieve the pressure on the busy A325 road, particularly as the local population is likely to increase with the construction of 5,500 homes when the Army pulls out of Bordon. A re-opened line would also relieve pressure on the Waterloo-Portsmouth line and enable local students to attend colleges in Alton and Guildford . Due to the redevelopment of the Bordon station site, any plans would have to incorporate

2091-436: The technology of electric relay logic was developed, it no longer became necessary for signalmen to operate control devices with any sort of mechanical logic at all. With the jump to all electronic logic, physical presence was no longer needed and the individual control points could be consolidated to increase system efficiency. Another advancement made possible by the replacement of mechanical control by all-electric systems

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2142-423: The telegraph and block instrument that allowed adjacent signal boxes to communicate the status of a section of track. Later, the telephone put centralized dispatchers in contact with distant signal boxes, and radio even allowed direct communication with the trains themselves. The ultimate ability for data to be transmitted over long distances has proven the demise of most local control signal boxes. Signalmen next to

2193-505: The track are no longer needed to serve as the eyes and ears of the signaling system. Track circuits transmit train locations to distant control centers and data links allow direct manipulation of the points and signals. While some railway systems have more signal boxes than others, most future signaling projects will result in increasing amounts of centralized control relegating the lineside signal box to niche or heritage applications. In any node -based control system, proper identification

2244-510: The village of Kingsley (3 miles to the south of Bentley) where it decided to site a station in the hope that the area would attract residential development. With fairly basic facilities, the station was only a halt and opened after the rest of the line on 7 March 1906. In 1905 the War Department began the construction of the Longmoor Military Railway , a standard gauge line which would connect Longmoor Military Camp with

2295-567: The world. Modern signal boxes tend to be provided with VDU based, or similar, control systems. These systems are less expensive to build and easier to alter than a traditional panel. In the UK, large modern signal boxes are typical of the Integrated Electronic Control Centre type, or, more recently, of the Rail Operating Centre variety. Variations of these control systems are used throughout

2346-400: The world. While rare, some traditional signal boxes can still be found. Some still control mechanical points and signals, although in many cases, the lever frame has been removed or is out of use, and a control panel or VDU has been installed. Most modern countries have little, if any, mechanical signalling remaining on the rail system. Both in the UK and Ireland, however, mechanical signalling

2397-425: Was built on agricultural land near the village of Bordon 4 1 ⁄ 2 miles to the south of Bentley station, and "Longmoor Camp" 4½ miles further south near the village of Whitehill. Two battalions were assigned to Longmoor where they were housed in corrugated huts constructed on soft ground. This led to complaints from the soldiers and in 1903 it was decided to move them and the huts to Bordon Camp. To save costs,

2448-567: Was completed within 18 months at a cost of £30,000. The work was overseen by Alfred W. Szlumper of the L&;SWR. In total, 155 men using three locomotives, four tip wagons and three horses were involved. The line was officially opened on 11 December 1905 from a bay platform at Bentley station. Eight trains were run from Bentley to Bordon on weekdays, with seven return services (except for Saturday when there were eight). Two trains ran each way on Sundays. The LSWR managed to acquire sufficient land near

2499-406: Was still the case nine years later when it was decided nevertheless to close the Bordon line completely from 4 April 1966. The Longmoor Military Railway itself closed three years later on 31 October 1969. Departing Bentley from the Bordon bay platform (created by extending the down platform then separated from the main line platform by iron railings), services would proceed on the main down line in

2550-400: Was that the signalman's user interface could be enhanced to further improve productivity. The smaller size of electric toggles and push buttons put more functionality within reach of an individual signalman. Route-setting technology automated the setting of individual points and routes through busy junctions. Computerized video displays removed the physical interface altogether, replacing it with

2601-548: Was usually mounted on a beam beneath the operating floor. Interlocking was attached to the levers, which ensured that signals showed the correct indication concerning the points and were operated in the right order. Wires or rods, connected at one end to the signals and points and the other to levers in the signal box, ran alongside the railway. In many countries, levers are painted according to their function, e.g. red for stop signals and black for points, and are usually numbered, from left to right, for identification. In most cases,

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