What is a junction?

[geoffk]

To me, a junction is the point of divergence of two or more routes and this has certainly been the traditional meaning of the word. However, in recent years, the term has been used to include

• Crossovers between fast and slow lines on a four-track section paired by use, i.e. FFSS, and
• On single track lines, the points at each end of a double track section (not just a station passing loop).

An example of (a) is Ledburn Junction on the WCML. Tynehead Junction is one of several examples of (b) on the Borders Railway.

When did this extended use of the term come about?

 

[Gloster]

It was also used in the past at locations where the tracks of two railways met end on. Sprouston Junction, where the North British and North Eastern Railways met, was on plain line between Kelso and Sprouston stations.

 

[Annetts key]

I doubt you will get a definitive definition. The simplest is that a junction is where there are points that enable traffic to join or diverge from the current running line.

Hence where there was a signal box and said signal box controlled one set of points to allow access to a good line, that box may have "junction" as part of it's name...

And nowadays, where there are crossovers just to allow trains to move from one line to another, these locations are also called junctions.

Having said that, emergency crossovers and ground frame operated points may not be called junctions. Although some may be called junctions.

 

[John Webb]

The Midland Railway was keen (notorious?) to call almost any connection between any two lines a junction! On the London Extension from Bedford to St Pancras there are several examples. Indeed, it is surprising St Albans South box wasn't given the suffix of 'Junction' with its pair of crossovers between the fast and slow lines.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

I would also be interested to explore the converse- are there any locations that are beyond any doubt of being actual junctions, yet do not have ‘Junction’ in their name? Perhaps excluding stations as this will be a common instance.

 

[Falcon1200]

Would designating a signalbox as controlling a junction, of whatever type, perhaps be instrumental in determining the grading of the Signallers there?

 

[CarltonA]

It's interesting to observe signs placed trackside at places such as Dolphin or Ruscombe Junctions. These are crossover points rather than bifurcations. I'm not sure for whom the signs are provided, rail staff or the general public.

 

[John Webb]

It's interesting to observe signs placed trackside at places such as Dolphin or Ruscombe Junctions. These are crossover points rather than bifurcations. I'm not sure for whom the signs are provided, rail staff or the general public.

There are a number of reasons for labelling such places. It ensures both drivers and trackworkers know precisely where they are and serves as a reference point for the emergency services should there be any sort of incident.

(In past decades, of course, such places would have been under the control of a local named signalbox. With remote working from power boxes or the more recent and more remote signalling centres or ROCs, the labelling is continued for the reasons above.)

 

[swt_passenger]

Ellis’s encyclopedia of railway terms mentions both geographic junctions and running junctions. The latter typically being the crossovers used to change tracks in 4 track areas, it’s explained they can be used for train service regulation purposes. But as far as maintainers, signallers and planners are concerned either sort of junction presumably gets treated similarly, so there’s no need to specifically label them with unnecessary extra descriptions.

 

[Gloster]

Would designating a signalbox as controlling a junction, of whatever type, perhaps be instrumental in determining the grading of the Signallers there?

I don’t know about today, but in BR days the main factor was the amount of traffic and the number of movements that signalling each train caused. The amount of equipment was also a factor as was regulating, which would occur at junctions. There were also all sorts of small oddities, such as reporting to Control, ringing station bells, etc., which could add a bit to the points calculation. But traffic was the main one: so the long-held belief that if you were having your grade rechecked ‘they’ would cancel as many trains as they could on the day to keep the grade down.

 

[MikePJ]

It was also used in the past at locations where the tracks of two railways met end on. Sprouston Junction, where the North British and North Eastern Railways met, was on plain line between Kelso and Sprouston stations.

This practice comes from the canals - there were often "junctions" where two rival companies' canals met end-on. In those cases there was usually a stop lock to prevent water being transferred en-masse to the other company's canal. A lot of railway civil engineering terms come from canals, including the term "main line"!

 

[AndrewE]

Thinking about Winsford Junction on the WCML, I imagine that the station would have had its own signal box, so the end of the quadruple track a mile or two south needed to be easily distinguished - but there was no point looking for a different tiny parish name to use...

 

[30907]

It was also used in the past at locations where the tracks of two railways met end on. Sprouston Junction, where the North British and North Eastern Railways met, was on plain line between Kelso and Sprouston stations.

Wasn't Askern Jn (GN/LY) on the Shaftholme Jn-Knottingley route, another?

Not evidence of prototype practice, but the KWVR has Damems Jn for its crossing loop, no doubt to avoid confusion with Damems Crossing a stone's throw away.
I am wondering if any "historic" crossing loops were labelled as X Junction - Goonbarrow Jn came to mind but that was originally a junction so maybe not .... unless you know different

 

[Western Sunset]

The Midland Railway was keen (notorious?) to call almost any connection between any two lines a junction! On the London Extension from Bedford to St Pancras there are several examples. Indeed, it is surprising St Albans South box wasn't given the suffix of 'Junction' with its pair of crossovers between the fast and slow lines.

Indeed. Countless "junctions" at the beginning/end of goods loops all over the MR system, eg Brentingby Jn, Oakham Jn, Wymondham Coods Jn, Great Rocks Jn...

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Then there's St Helens Junction, which hasn't been a junction by any of the above definitions for decades.
It has become the name of the area of St Helens when it was actually the junction for the town, though that district is properly called Sutton.
A bit like the Llandudno Junction settlement, although that still is a railway junction.

 

[edwin_m]

Then there's St Helens Junction, which hasn't been a junction by any of the above definitions for decades.
It has become the name of the area of St Helens when it was actually the junction for the town, though that district is properly called Sutton.
A bit like the Llandudno Junction settlement, although that still is a railway junction.

That is an example of naming a junction after where the new branch was intended to go, not after the place where the junction was. It may have originated from giving the junction station a name that indicated where people could change for there, but this certainly wasn't universal. So for example we have Mansfield Junction just west of Nottingham, never a station, which has taken regular trains as far away as Glasgow in the past and is still where the Leeds service diverges. But the other two sides of the triangle are named after Lenton, where it is actually located.

 

[John Webb]

Not evidence of prototype practice, but the KWVR has Damems Jn for its crossing loop, no doubt to avoid confusion with Damems Crossing a stone's throw away....

"Damems Junction" is a true echo of the prototype Midland Railway practice of the MR calling many things 'Junction' - see my post #4 above. Although of course this loop never existed in the days the MR operated the line!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

There's also "junctions" where a diverging route used to exist but no longer does. Clayton West Junction was formerly the junction for the branch to Clayton West but is now the southern end of a passing loop.
Elsewhere in the Huddersfield area there's Springwood Junction where the Sheffield line meets the Manchester line, but nowadays there's barely any interaction between the two routes. Then moving North/East there's Bradley junction (where the curve towards Brighouse diverges); Heaton Lodge junction (major junction with the L&Y Calder Valley route); Mirfield East junction (basically just a pair of crossovers); and Thornhill LNW junction (divergence of routes towards Leeds and Wakefield).

In conclusion, the word "junction" can be used for almost anything, and trying to nail down a concise definition is probably a fool's errand!

 

[edwin_m]

Aller Junction was where the Paignton branch separated from the main line to Plymouth, trains from Torbay crossing the Down Main to give a pairing by direction into Newton Abbot. On re-signalling, layout simplification removed all the pointwork here, and I believe it became known as Aller Divergence.