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All change in the Royal Duchy

In less than a year’s time the railway scene at Par will look very different from what it is today, with re-signalling set to have swept away its fine array of lower quadrant semaphores and the absurdly short-lived existence of GWR’s Castle Class 2+4 HST sets ending prematurely by December 2023.

Taking advantage of another fine winter’s day (Friday, 9 December 2022), it seemed like a good moment to pay a return visit to this attractive Cornish junction and capture more views of its doomed signals and the the 40+ year old HSTs that will all have disappeared in 12 months’ time.

Seaford branch Class 313 swansong

Time is almost up for the remaining 18 Class 313 units, currently our oldest mainline EMUs in passenger service, with a reduction in their use on Southern’s Coastway services on the cards in the 11 December 2022 timetable change and the whole fleet due to be withdrawn by May 2023.

Having not visited the area for almost three years, a forecast of some welcome winter sunshine on 1 December 2022 seemed like the perfect excuse to take a trip on the fascinating nine-mile long Seaford branch, to experience and capture some Class 313 action before it finally disappears.

Another look at Arbroath

Among the numerous outposts of mechanical signalling along the East Coast Main Line north of Edinburgh, the finest signal box/cabin must surely be the unique 1911-vintage North British Railway box at Arbroath, a listed building which stands some distance north of the railway station and controls a total of seven semaphores, as well as a number of shunting disc signals.

Paying a first return to the town (8 November 2022) since my last visit in June 2021, I was keen to check out a couple of photo-spots to the south of the station and particularly an over-bridge that is close to down outer home signal AH48 and from where there is a panoramic view of the coast looking south and the location, until its closure two years ago, of Scotland’s oldest miniature railway.

Farewell Ferryside

Less than a year remains before Ferryside Signal Box and its handful of lower quadrant semaphore signals are consigned to history, as a major West Wales resignalling project known as Port Talbot West Re-signalling Phase 2 (PTW2) nears completion.

But all is not lost for the wonderful Grade II-listed Great Western Railway box at picturesque Ferryside, and a preservation group is gaining financial and political support, as I discovered when meeting the man leading efforts to secure its future while paying a return visit on 3 November 2022.

A trip on the scenic Hudson Line

Spending a few days in New York during a period of glorious autumn sunshine meant the perfect excuse to escape the Big Apple for a few hours and take a trip on 20 October 2022 up the remarkably scenic 73½-mile long Metro-North Hudson Line.

It features in a book I was given called Amazing Train Journeys (Lonely Planet, October 2018) and after the two-hour trip from NYC to the final Metro-North stop at Poughkeepsie (pronounced Poo-kipsy) it is easy to see the Hudson Line earned its place in a book featuring 60 of the world’s most scenic rail routes.

Boston’s historic Green Line

Paying a first ever visit to the delightful US city of Boston meant a chance to sample its newest and its oldest section of underground tramway, as well as the sole remaining section of true street running in the city on one of the branches of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Green Line.

While three of the four western branches of the Green Line feature street level running on reserved tracks in the centre of the road, the only real street running section, where trams run amongst other road traffic, appears to be the final mile of Route E, ending at its turning circle terminus at Heath Street.

Shock closure of Czech JHMD narrow gauge system

U37.002 approaches Blažejov on 15 July 2022 with the 10.39 Jindřichův Hradec-Nová Bystřice

Debts of around £6 million (CSK 160m) have led to shock closure from Sunday (2 October 2022) of the privately-operated 79km (50-mile) narrow gauge system based on the town of Jindřichův Hradec in the south of Czechia, despite its huge popularity as a tourist attraction.

Less than three months after I had spent a glorious few days in the area known as Czech Canada for its lakes and forests, services are being halted on the two 760mm (2’ 6”) gauge lines that lead 33km (21 miles) from Jindřichův Hradec to Nová Bystřice, close to the Austrian border, and 46kms (29-miles) on a northern route to a town called Obrataň.

Favourite photo-spots: Eastleigh

Almost four years after my visit to the works here to see work well underway on SWR’s ill-fated £25m plan to refurbish Class 442 units (“Plastic Pigs are go” – November 2018) for use on the Portsmouth Direct Line, it is time to spend a few hours witnessing the busy railway scene at Eastleigh.

While not able to visit the works this time (27 September 2022) there is plenty of action to see and photograph from the station platforms, as well as from Campbell Road over-bridge, leading to the works south of the station.

Another look at Lostwithiel

A trio of Cornwall’s finest remaining outposts of mechanical signalling have just another year of life left, before a major re-signalling scheme in the Royal Duchy will see the loss of the semaphores that currently signal the main line at Truro, Par and Lostwithiel.

Paying a return visit (22 September 2022) almost exactly a year after last visiting the area, I was keen to capture the scene one more time at charming Lostwithiel, before the sight of its impressive array of semaphores disappears following the re-signalling in autumn 2023.

Southernmost S&C semaphores

Among the numerous (nine) surviving outposts of mechanical signalling along the glorious Settle and Carlisle line, the most interesting and photogenic are those controlled by the route’s two most southerly signal boxes.

Spending a couple of midweek days in the area meant a chance to photograph trains passing the eight semaphores at Settle Junction, as well as those are nearby Hellifield, which boasts almost double that number.