Answer  1

Thank you to Alan Grieve, now living in Minehead, Somerset, England, for sending the comments below.  Alan used to live in Inveresk, near Musselburgh, and helped in some of the signal boxed in the area before moving to England.

Alan wrote:

It's not Joppa

"Look at the picture of the N15 locomotive at Joppa (below).   Joppa signal box appears behind the loco.  You can see that Joppa was a small signal box with only four windows in the front.

©

It only controlled the double- track main line and the entrance to the east end of Portobello Yard.

The photograph at the top of this page is of a much larger box."

It may be Portobello East

"Is that is tree foliage visible through the end window.  If so, the signal box could be Portobello East.

Portobello East was on a gantry alongside the footbridge where the Waverley route met the East Coast route.  It spanned the tracks, unlike most boxes.

Of course, the end windows looked out at right angles to the railway. The southern end windows faced the park alongside.

I don’t know the layout inside the box, whether the signalman faced Edinburgh or London when he was at the frame, or where the entrance was."

Probably not  Portobello West

"Portobello West signal box was on the down side between the station and the entrance to Craigentinny Carriage Sidings.  It was a substantial box and had a 58 lever frame, the signalman facing the track when operating it.  The door was at the station end but there is no door visible in the photo so I think that rules out the West box."

Possibly Craigentinny

"The photo may possibly have been of Craigentinny Signal Box.  It was also quite a long box."

Alan also gave some background to his answer.  He wrote:

Helping in Signal Boxes

"I had a friend who was a signalman, at Newhailes Junction when I first met him, and then at Portobello West.   I spent a lot of time in the early 1960’s working both boxes with him in the evenings when he was on back shift, or at Portobello West when he was on the night shift.

Joppa, of course, was the next box to Newhailes so our bell communication in the Edinburgh direction was with it.  Monktonhall Junction was next on the main line to the east and there was Musselburgh at the end of the branch

Despite all this I never did manage to get into Joppa box or Portobello East box."

Move to England

"I was brought up in Inveresk [Inveresk lies about 2 miles ESE of Joppa].

I now live in Minehead, Somerset.  It's funny how things work out.  Although I never worked for the railway I am now a volunteer signalman on the West Somerset Railway."

Alan Grieve, Minehead, Somerset:  January 11, 2008

Answer  2

Thank you to Ian Young who wrote:

Portobello East

"This is without a doubt Portobello East, probably back in the 1930s/40s, as when I started there in 1959 the floor had linoleum on it which was bumpered to a mirror like shine.

-  The frame faced towards Portobello West.

-   It had a 94 lever Stevens frame

-   Spaces 1.2.93.94.

-   Spare Levers 9.15.20.25.36.60.80.83.85.87.88.89.90.91.92.

-  Portobello East controlled Up Fast, Up Slow, Down Fast and Down Slow lines to and from Portobello West.

-  On the other side it worked to Joppa on the East Coast Main line and to Niddrie North on the Waverley route.

-   It also controlled the east entrance/exit to Portobello Yard.

-  The heaviest pull was a set of switch diamonds Nos 21 and 43.

Ian Young, Fisherrow, East Lothian, Scotland:  September 23, 2008"