Month: August 2024

Hoping for a case of third time lucky, it is time to pay a return visit to the glorious Peak District and spend a couple of hours witnessing freight activity and mechanical signalling at Peak Forest South, on the surviving freight-only section of the former Midland Railway main line from Manchester via Bakewell to Matlock and Derby.

My two previous visits had been on a Saturday in June 2017, when nothing was moving, and in April 2022 when I was defeated by the weather, so taking the 1½-mile walk from Dove Holes Station on a reasonably fine summer’s day (27 August 2024) I was hopeful of seeing and photographing some freight action.

Continue reading “A peek at Peak Forest”

Finding mechanical signalling in Cornwall has become rather harder since the trio of signal box closures earlier this year (February 2024), with the armless signal posts at Par being a stark reminder of what has sadly been lost.

But less than a mile away there is still the chance to see summer Saturday services passing the semaphores of St Blazey Signal Box while, back on the main line, Liskeard remains one of two outposts of mechanical signalling on Plymouth-Penzance route.

Continue reading “Sunshine and semaphores in the Royal Duchy”

There are a remarkable five signal boxes dating from the 1870s that control main line train services on the Marches route between Shrewsbury and Newport, with the honour of being oldest of all shared between Marsh Brook to the north of Craven Arms and the box immediately to its north, Dorrington, both of which date from 1872.

Dorrington is a small village on the A49, six miles south of Shrewsbury and roughly mid-way between Shrewsbury and Church Stretton, with the railway and signal box to the east of the village and the former station here having closed as long ago as June 1958.

Continue reading “Day trip to Dorrington”

There are a few places on our national network where the combination of varied passing traffic and spectacular scenery, along with mechanical signalling interest, are the perfect excuse to pay a return visit, particularly on a fine summer’s day.

One such place for me is Edale on the busy Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Sheffield, where in rather better weather (30 July 2024) than on my previous visit (July 2023) there was the chance to photograph a variety of freight and passenger traffic passing the handful of semaphores controlled by Edale Signal Box.

Continue reading “Ever enchanting Edale”