Williton Advance starter

Noticed this last week whilst spending some time on the railway, and had it confirmed looking at the box diagram here

At the Blue Anchor end of the line the advance starter (labelled 20) is apparently the wrong side of the sole home signal.... Is 21 actually the section signal and 20 only used for controlling run round movements (as a limit of shunt?) to return trains that terminated from the Blue Anchor direction?

Confused, on the surface it doesn't look safe but I assume it must be!

 

Reply from the Railway: "At Williton, Signal No 20, being in advance of everything else is in fact the Section Signal. Don’t forget that the GWR/BR (WR) had a funny way of doing things with regard to shunting and we have inherited it. Just to clarify, in the down direction, No 23 is the sole home signal; No 22 is the starting signal; No 21 is the advance starting signal; No 20 is the outer advanced starting signal (Section Signal)."

Reply from one of our volunteer signalling experts: "Williton is a fairly standard GWR installation where there is a 'section' signal (20) on the single line. However, trains waiting to enter the section will stop at signal 21, to wait for line clear, even if it is not a crossing move."

I understand work is in hand to change things at Williton. The Railway say: "We are in fact going to move No 20 out further and put an Up Outer home signal in some time soon (they are being built now) to try and speed up the process of shunting at WN and be able to accept trains from BA at the same time."

Steve




This produces the situation where the train has not entered the single line in the down direction but is effectively in the single line in the up direction, I,e, it can be considered the same as a train standing at the home signal no.3. This move can be carried out with a train in section travelling to Blue Anchor but not with a train in section travelling from Blue Anchor.

 

Thanks for the reply!

I spent far too much money last week at the railway in between working up the road at the Regal!