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Resignalling Cornwall


ess1uk
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1 hour ago, Mike_Walker said:

My friends at GWR tell me "slowly" and likely not completed at the end of the year.

Well tis Cornwall so twill be done dreckly. 

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Hi,

 

It is progressing, some of the signals have been installed and laid down waiting for commissioning, as have a lot of the Frauscher Axle Counters, Vortok AWS Magnets, TPWS Loops and Seimens Object Controllers.

 

I haven’t got a confirmed commissioning date.


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Simon

Edited by St. Simon
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Lots of re-signalling projects are running late - either through a lack of installers / testers ora lack of track access to carry out the installation works.

 

There are also big supply chain issues - remember that modern signalling systems have dispensed with relays in favour of computer based solutions - all of which are dependent on the supply of microchips in sufficient numbers from Asia and as with the car industry supply issues are a real headache for the likes of Alstom and Siemens….

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33 minutes ago, phil-b259 said:

Lots of re-signalling projects are running late - either through a lack of installers / testers ora lack of track access to carry out the installation works.

Yep, and it’s only getting worse 

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The mainline through Cornwall is shut at the moment for the next couple of weeks to allow for the resignalling program to take place. I have seen photos today from Truro of the signals at the western end of the station being chopped down. Below is my photo of these from a couple of weeks ago. 

 

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Par signal box a few hours ago. Note the countdown in the window, and base for the new signal. If you look carefully you can see the up signals in the distance through the framework (yes I did that on purpose!)

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Sobering to think this building controlled Broad Gauge trains for the first 13 years of its life!

I must call in and take some finial photos (see what I did there?!) - if the rain stops over the next 6 days.....er, 5 days!

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I always thought that T24 signal at Truro was a prime example of over-engineering.  It was installed at the time of the Falmouth branch upgrade to allow Down trains to depart from the Up platform.  In the good old days it would have been a simple post but not today.  Note the substantial square post and platform, with railings, from which the signal sprouts on a traditional 4" post.  I was told this was required by modern standards so that the arm and spectacle lenses could be cleaned safely.  

 

In my book it is only surpassed by the replacement of CJ13 at Shrewsbury where a simple but rotting LNWR timber post was replaced by an enormous bracket structure which looks like it could support the weight of a battleship and even the signal post is actually two 4" posts fishplated together!

 

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And Par 3 days later, Friday 8th March, around 4.00-4.30pm.

 

This new signal had been horizontal since early summer, biding its time, and the up bracket signal has finally lost its arms - both changes occurring within the preceding 72 hours:

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The replacement for the junction signal close to Par Signal Box - the feather signal seen lying on the platform was attached to the horizontal post and raised into position within an hour or so of me taking this photo!

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View from the road bridge showing three new signals at this end and two beyond the footbridge already 'live':

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And from the other side showing the new starter for the down loop. I got into a conversation with the NR photographer on the bridge who informed me that the replacement for this down home bracket is out of sight around the corner and includes access to the seldom-used down loop.....

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......he explained that although the new signalling plan allows for some new moves it has removed some too.

I asked him if he knew what the future holds for the remaining semaphores at St Blazey, Liskeard and St Erth - it's all down to funding within Control Periods (CPs) and availability of space within the Exeter Signalling Centre, so it sounds like they'll be around for some time yet.....

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RIP Par Signal Box and its semaphores. The station will never look or sound the same again.

When the 'Castle' HSTs bow out too, and with one Class 66 working the clays for 2-3 weeks at a time with one type of wagon my interest in the current railway scene will reach an all-time low. 

(PS regarding surviving Cornish semaphores I forgot to mention Goonbarrow on the Newquay branch where Imerys Rocks Driers are located - the future of these signals will most likely be tied to those at St Blazey.)

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