A doodlebug, a blast-injured signaller and one of the longest frames on the South Eastern railway – Maidstone West signal box has had an extraordinary history.
二级上市框12月4日120岁，但仍然完全运作。事实上，它是Evans O'Donnell＆Co的原始信号盒设计的最后一个例子之一。
Look inside Maidstone West signal box…
Its survival follows substantial WWII bomb damage, in August 1944. A German V-1 flying bomb – known as a doodlebug – landed nearby in the goods yard, killing two railway workers and injuring the signaller inside the box.
Nick Wellington是网络铁路的副局部运营经理表示：“超过三分之一的盒子被摧毁。亚搏彩票软件官网它可能更糟糕，但炸弹埋藏在软土地上，大部分爆炸都被向上偏转。
“Thomas Butcher was the signaller on duty in the box at the time. Although injured in the blast, he had the presence of mind to record the time of attack as 11:03 before being taken to hospital.”
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Restoration
The box was sympathetically restored and still features Evans O'Donnell's characteristic windows and its original lever frame – at 34 metres once the longest on the South Eastern railway outside London.
Nick added: “The box was quickly repaired, virtually to its original appearance, except that the slate roof was replaced with a simpler material. Marks made by flying shrapnel can still be seen on some of the levers.”
在三层楼，它比典型高于典型的楼，以使信号仪更好的视图。
尼克说：“它有一个俯瞰着梅斯斯通西站的优秀的有利点，很宽敞，乐于工作。
“[本周年纪念]我将记住在这里工作的一代信令。该盒子将举办各种丰富的回忆，有些好，有些不好和一些悲伤的回忆。“
打开时，盒子几乎需要其115个杠杆进行操作。它的整个框架仍然存在，但使用杠杆较少。
Nick said: “The box originally controlled a significant part of the goods yard, and much of the signaller's work was to enable shunting to take place, as well as controlling access to the goods line down to the wharf at Tovil via a short branch line.
“这已经进化了，就像多年多年的盒子一样，接管了三个其他的工作。当电气服务在麦克伦特末端取代蒸汽时，它在20世纪30年代变化 - 在20世纪80年代的彩色光信号，并且安装了功率点。“
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