Barnham signal box conversion step closer

Bognor Regis Model Railway Club is set to ask Arun District Council in the next few weeks to approve its proposals to site the railway property in Aldingbourne.

The club's 25 members want to install the 98-year-old wooden building as their new meeting place in the grounds of Aldingbourne Community Sports Centre in Olivers Meadow.

John Wakeman, the club's exhibition manager, said: "If planning permission is given, it's a case of getting the money to move the signalbox.

"We have written to various individuals and organisations asking for help. So, we will have to see what happens there. But I am hopeful we will be able to pay for the move."

It is estimated to cost more than 32,000 to lift the box intact from its position at the western end of platform two at Barnham railway station and transport it along the B2233 to Aldingbourne.

The delicate operation will involve a large crane to carry the signalbox across the railway lines to a low-loader lorry in the station's car park.

The two-mile route between there and the sports and social club will involve lifting the wires from 98 telephone poles to ensure a smooth passage.

The weekend of March 21 and 22, when the railway will be closed for maintenance, has been earmarked as the most likely date for the move.

Details about the campaign to save the former signalbox '“ which has attracted some 2,500 names '“ were on show at the club's annual exhibition. It was in late November that the former signalbox was last used.

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