Sun and semaphores at Droitwich Spa

172335/008 pass Droitwich Spa Signal Box with 2V52 from Dorridge (12.03) to Worcester FS

Planning on taking a day train trip from Cheltenham Spa to Bridgnorth to reacquaint myself with the fully re-opened Severn Valley Railway, I was persuaded to put off my SVR journey by a day when I spoke to a couple of enthusiasts in the Cafe Loco at Worcester Shrub Hill to ask why Rail Operations Group Class 37 37800 Cassiopeia was parked up in the centre siding.

I learned that it was there to provide Thunderbird breakdown cover for Porterbrook’s converted Class 319 Hydroflex unit 799201, which was scheduled to be making a test run from Long Marston to Shrub Hill and back later in the day (12 August 2025), but also heard of another interesting special working that day departing from the rail storage facility at Long Marston.

37800 stands in the centre siding at Shrub Hill as 800034 departs with 2E55 from Bristol Temple Meads (09.38) to Worcester Foregate Street

So saving my planned visit to Bridgnorth until the next day (13 August) I took a short trip from Shrub Hill to Droitwich Spa, a wonderfully photogenic spot, with a particularly fine view looking north from a road bridge at the station towards the signal box standing in the fork created by the diverging routes to Birmingham via Kidderminster (left) and Bromsgrove (right).

196005/001 pass signal DS70 with 1V26 from Birmingham New Street (12.50) to Hereford

My decision to head here was rewarded by the impressive sight of locos 68029/032 top-and-tailing a ten-coach formation comprising two of the five-car former TPE loco-powered Mk5a sets that had been stored at Long Marston and were on the way for overhaul at Eastleigh prior to their new lives with Chiltern Railways, which plans to introduce them on its Marylebone-Birmingham services early in 2026.

The signaller looks on as 196104 passes with 1M66 from Hereford (12.40) to Birmingham NS

Droitwich is a busy station with a total of six calls each weekday off-peak hour by West Midlands Railway Class 172 and 196 units, which comprise a pair of Worcester-Dorridge services at xx21/24, a pair of Birmingham New Street-Hereford workings at xx25/xx33 then a pair of Worcester-Stratford-upon-Avon services at xx53/56.

68029 heads the two 5-car ex TPE Mk5a sets from Long Marston to Eastleigh (5Q86)

The Hereford services working via Barnet Green and Bromsgrove run direct to Worcester Foregate Street, but the xx21 from Dorridge run directly to Shrub Hill, then reverses and heads for Foregate Street, while the xx56 to Stratford-upon-Avon runs directly towards Birmingham from Shrub Hill, having begun its service at Foregate Street.

68032 at the rear of the two five-car ex-TPE Mk5a sets bound for Eastleigh

Besides this regular diet of WMR workings, the only regular freight workings are those between the Round Oak Steel Terminal at Brierley Hill, near Stourbridge, and Margam in South Wales. During my time in Droitwich one of these lengthy trains passed through (6V07) powered by DB 66199.

172008/335 take the route via Kidderminster with 2D71 from Worcester Foregate Street (13.40) to Stratford-upon Avon

Returning to Shrub Hill after my three hours at Droitwich I was just in time to see ROG Thunderbird 37800 as it powered past Shrub Hill Signal box and platform one on its return light engine to Wembley Loco Sidings after the Hydroflex test run from and to Long Marston had operated without incident.

196102/009 come off the Bromsgrove route with an ECS working from Tyseley to Long Marston

Droitwich Spa Signal Box is a Great Western Railway 7d design dating from 1907 which has a 79-lever frame and controls a total of 14 semaphore signals, 10 of which are in regular use. Six can be seen looking north from the road over-bridge, with celebrity centre pivot signal DS8 and the north end of down platform 2 and up advanced starter DS70 just south of the station.

DB 66199 passes the signal box with 6V07 from Round Oak (14.17) to Margam

This is the northernmost outpost of a fascinating area of lower quadrant semaphore signalling centred on the three boxes at Worcester – Shrub Hill, Tunnel Junction and Henwick – that comprises a total of nine GWR signal boxes extending from Moreton-in-Marsh to the east and Ledbury to the west.

66199 approaches Droitwich Spa station with 6V07 from Round Oak to Margam

For the record, I did make it to Bridgnorth on 13 August, with a rather delayed journey from Kidderminster behind Class 52 D1062 Western Courier, and then enjoyed an excellent pint of locally-produced Hobson’s Brewery Champion Mild in the Railwayman’s Arms pub on Bridgnorth station (3.2% / £3.95).