Uk semaphore and modern aspect signal photos.

[The Bigbee Line]

Somwhere I have a similar picture from the 80s complete with the famous 8 sail windmill in the background.

 

 

 To compliment the pictures posted by Class 66 of Lowestoft here are a couple more from that town

 

Ground signals

 

Lowestoft GS.jpg

 

A bit further out, Lowestoft No 6 and possibly Oulton's distant (can't be sure but I'm sure one of you out there knows)

 

Lowestoft 6.jpg

 

Andy

Andy, Here are some pictures taken last Friday when I had the chance:

 

These are some of the other Oulton Broad signals looking towards Norwich:

 

 

 

 

More follow at Somerleyton Bridge:

 

 

 

 

[AberdeenBill]

Hi Ernie,

 

Thanks for posting these: a great variety of post materials and they're not disfigured by modern safety cages etc.  What does the red flag signify at the swing bridge?

 

Bill

[Coach bogie]

I was semi living in Aberdeen until 3 years ago and one of my favourite locations was Newtonhill. I have posted some of these before. Note the facing dead end siding and the lattice post shunt signal to reverse back onto the mainline. Yellow shunt disks here as well.

 

 

Mike Wiltshire

 

 

[SM42]

Hi Ernie,

 

Thanks for posting these: a great variety of post materials and they're not disfigured by modern safety cages etc.  What does the red flag signify at the swing bridge?

 

Bill

 

 

 The red flag is for marine traffic.

 

 

It used to be one of those trick rules questions: When can a train pass a red flag displayed at a signal box without stopping?

 

When it's green was not the correct answer.

 

Here's another shot of Somerleyton 12 signal:

 

 

 

Andy

[uax6]

Nice concrete post on that signal (I wonder how many are left now? And of course they will last until way after every other box in Anglia has dissappeared into the Roc at Romford), but have a real look at the post...

 

Did you spot the 'W' spindle for a pair of insulators. Presumably these carried wired for arm detection....

 

Andy G

[Richard E]

At Peterborough we have a nice contrast between the new minimalistic installations for LED heads and an over engineered solution:

 

 

[russ p]

Peterborough is awful, on three adjacent roads you have three different types of colour light. How this was accepted is beyond me. And north of Peterborough its a case of pot luck as to what type of signal will be next. Not great for judging distance at night.

I was semi living in Aberdeen until 3 years ago and one of my favourite locations was Newtonhill. I have posted some of these before. Note the facing dead end siding and the lattice post shunt signal to reverse back onto the mainline. Yellow shunt disks here as well.

 

P7294390.JPG

P7294392.JPG

2004_0517_002443AA.JPG

2004_0517_002525AA.JPG

 

Mike Wiltshire

I've never seen a subsidiary arm on a post on it's own, they aren't in the rule book! Looks good though

[melmerby]

 

 

 

 

If that applies to the platform line why isn't it just a post on the end of said platform?

 

Keith

[russ p]

If that applies to the platform line why isn't it just a post on the end of said platform?

 

Keith

Because they try to avoid right hand signals these days. The other odd thing here is the no5 feather put you on the up slow to access the joint line without having to crossover at Warrington. But even though its physically possible there is no route indicator off platform 4

[SM42]

Because they try to avoid right hand signals these days. The other odd thing here is the no5 feather put you on the up slow to access the joint line without having to crossover at Warrington. But even though its physically possible there is no route indicator off platform 4

 

Perhaps if it was cantilvered the other way, from right to left as we look at it, with the post at the bottom of the platform ramp , the amount of steel work required could, one presumes, be a lot less.

 

Andy

[class"66"]

Barnetby Railway station semaphores...

[The Stationmaster]

Peterborough is awful, on three adjacent roads you have three different types of colour light. How this was accepted is beyond me. And north of Peterborough its a case of pot luck as to what type of signal will be next. Not great for judging distance at night.

I've never seen a subsidiary arm on a post on it's own, they aren't in the rule book! Looks good though

It's not a sub - it's a miniature arm to read into the siding, (once upon a time) very common on former LNER and LMS lines.

 

As regards your other comment I seriously wonder how some of the stuff we are seeing emerge in the past year or two manages to get through SPAD risk assessment or past a Sighting Committee (assuming they still have them)?

[SM42]

Thought I might add a few colour light pictures as semaphores are (quite rightly in my opinion) domninating a bit.

 

In at least one of these pictures the signal wasn't even noticed when the photo was taken

 

Plumpton

 

 

Pulborough (as if it wasn't obvious)

 

 

Robertsbridge

 

 

 

 

 

Andy

[AberdeenBill]

Thanks for these Andy.   It's interesting that the signal protecting the level crossing at Plumpton is a semi-automatic.

 

Bill

[big jim]

Thanks for these Andy. It's interesting that the signal protecting the level crossing at Plumpton is a semi-automatic.

 

Bill

The signal protecting redfern abcl crossing on the derby to stoke line is an automatic one, if you have to pass it at danger there is a plunger on the signal post that you have to push to drop the barriers before you proceed

[TheSignalEngineer]

I don't know the signalling at Plumpton, but if the box was a gate box released from a power box then semi-automatic would be correct if there was no reason for it being a controlled signal other than the crossing. It did cause confusion at times so I remember replating some as controlled signals.

[beast66606]

Because they try to avoid right hand signals these days. The other odd thing here is the no5 feather put you on the up slow to access the joint line without having to crossover at Warrington. But even though its physically possible there is no route indicator off platform 4

 

That's a long way between signals - Peterborough to Warrington ...

[Tim V]

Here is Peterborough 445.

And Woburn Sands

[Banger Blue]

Some of the signals at the country end of Reading Stn, they were taken on a very miserable foggy morning so please excuse the quality. I only took the pictures because it was quite impressive the way the LED cut through the fog like a laser beam:

 

T1708 - Exit Signal from Reading Train Care Depot.

 

 

Gantry and Signals for Platforms 15, 14 & 13.

 

 

T1723 - Starter signal for P15 in the down direction:

 

[class"66"]

Very nice photos!!

[beast66606]

ML573, controlling Bidston East Junction, main aspect reads to Bidston, feather reads towards New Brighton

 

[beast66606]

Some Chester signals

 

 

 

(with my lad hanging out of the window)

 

 

 

 

 

[big jim]

the 3 signals on the gantry in your chester pic, the one on the left of your photo (down main) now has a splitting banner repeater as it is obscured by new housing that has been built on the site of the old wagon works

 

you may also notice that all 4 signals only have a single route indicator all of which are the No1 position, you would think that the different line signals would have different positions, or multi positions but in reality a main aspect at ANY of those signals takes you onto the down main towards roodie jn, the No1 takes you into the down loop from all signals as the jn beyond that signal is where station limits bi directional working ends

 

it also makes me smile that the signal at green lane (CR483) has the same number as the road that runs parallel with the line to wrexham A483, wonder if that was planned when they singled the line and resignalled it in the late 80s

[phil-b259]

I don't know the signalling at Plumpton, but if the box was a gate box released from a power box then semi-automatic would be correct if there was no reason for it being a controlled signal other than the crossing. It did cause confusion at times so I remember replating some as controlled signals.

 

Right, to understand Plumpton you have to know the history so to speak.

 

In the mid 80s when BR was resignalling the Brighton mainline and associated branches, the intention was that the Keymer to Cooksbridge section (where it interfaced with the mid 70s era Lewes panel) would be done as a straight auto section with all level crossings, including Plumpton becoming AHBs. All the signalling plans and inital installation work started with this plan still very much in mind - untill some of the residents of Plumpton village noticed the work and started asking a few questions. When they got wind they were to lose their gates and get an AHB crossing they went ballistic, lobbying the railway, local councillors, county councillors, their local conservative association, Whitehall, Department for Transport, etc with the end result that the roads authorities had a proper look at BRs plans and said "No way are you going to be allowed to put in an AHB with the road alignment how it is". Undeterred BR said "OK seeing as we don't need it we will demolish the signal box so we can realign the road". Unfortunately the villagers then prevented this by successfully getting the signal box grade II listed and as a result BRs plan was left well and truly in tatters.

 

Now back in the 80s, CCTV transmission was done by coax cable and to be frank getting the pictures back from Keymer to Three Bridges was hard enough. For the Caterham branch a new "gate box" (in reality a converted small windowless room in the station building with CCTV crosing controls) had been built at Whyteleafe station to control the two crossings on that line but that was not a logical solution for Plumpton where it was only a single crossing to monitor. BR also hoped that in time they might be able to find a solution that would allow the implementation of the AHB solution so they were very loath to spend lots of money - particularly as they could "bodge" the scheme already underwy so as to keep the existing gates and box (The up line signal protecting Plumpton crossing is a legacy of this - its number, T800 (only needed because the gates stayed) is completely out of sync with the rest that are numbered in the T6xx series).

 

And its why the gates remain to this day however what the villagers and those campaigning to keep them fail to realise is they are a massive maintenance headache for the DU with no spare parts to be had - all the linkages being worn, gate stops bent, corroded and frequently sticking up/ down, etc it really needs to go.

 

Interestingly Littlehaven was another "We will put in an AHB" / "Oh no you wont" episode and again, much like Plumpton lots of bits were installed ready for the AHB installation to go ahead at the beginning before the authorities forced BR to abandon its attempts at implementing a AHB solution. Of course it finally got full barriers although due to various legal cock ups by NR in drafting the "Level Crossing Order" (a document ALL barrier crossings need to have signed by the secretary of state MANDATING exact timings, warning devices, road markings, etc for that particular crossing) the transfer to Three Bridges never happened (Its still officially a CCTV crossing - with the monitors and controls installed in the same building as the old gate wheel used to be) and now it looks like local control will be retained until the Horsham panel migrates into the new ROC at some stage in the future.

 

Meanwhile Plumpton was supposed to be fitted with one of those full barrier OD installations (which keep giving grief at Billingshurst) next year nut the date keeps being put back due to lack of signalling design resources / other projects running late. (The physical box structure itself will stay by the way)

 

Finally as regards the "Semi" automatic signal, well remember I said the original plan was for the entire Keymer - Cooksbridge bit of line to be an 'auto' section. Well despite this it seams that there was an engineers crossover / siding at Plumpton which was to be retained in the new setup (worked locally by an electric ground frame) and a suitable key switch was installed at Three Bridges to electrically release it. Obviously such a release could only be given if the signals protecting the ground frame were back at red and hence the provision of "Semi" automatic signals at Plumpton. Nowadays of course the need for engineering crossovers has fallen thanks to the increasing use of road railers and I believe the crossover has been removed - but the key switch for it still remains on the panel at Three Bridges and its legacy is still felt on the signals (the "Semi" was / is not there solely for the sake of the crossing - Littlehaven had standard controlled signal plates on the signals protecting the gates and its the same with the Whyteleafe installations)

[SM42]

I've had a bit of time over the festive period to look out a few more signal pictures from my travels over the last year or two.

 

Three of CCW3 at Bexhill (looks like whoever soldered this one together didn't take a lot of care attaching the top cap to the post)

 

 

 

 

The wonderfully named Bopeep Jn

 

 

Bognor

 

 

And to finish for now, three from Great Yarmouth

 

 

 

 

Andy