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Magical Montrose

43031/183 approach Montrose on 30 October 2023 with 1A39 from Glasgow Queen St. to Aberdeen

Among the ten remaining outposts of mechanical signalling along the scenic East Coast Main Line (ECML) between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, most picturesque of all must surely be Montrose, where a short length of single line sweeps into the town, crossing Montrose Basin on the South Esk Viaduct.

Just north of Montrose station stands Montrose North Signal Box (North British Railway, 1881) which was closed for several years before being re-opened in 2010 as part of a local re-signalling scheme that saw closure of boxes at Montrose South and Usan, southern end of the single-track section.

Favourite photo-spots: Melton Mowbray

43321/303+43357/301 approach Melton Mowbray with 0Z60 from Exeter Riverside to Old Dalby

Many years after it was supposed to have been replaced, there remains a significant amount of mechanical signalling interest along the busy cross-country route linking Leicester and Peterborough, with six of the seven signal boxes along a 20-mile stretch of the line retaining some semaphores.

Largest and most impressive of this half dozen is Melton Station Signal Box, a tall and attractive LMS Type 11c box, which dates from 1942 and stands west of Melton Mowbray station on the north side of the line. A total of six semaphores are among 21 working levers on its 45-lever frame, including a rarity in motor-worked up distant MN19.

Castle HST sets and semaphores at Liskeard

Three years after my last visit (blog: November 2020) it is time to make a day return to charming Liskeard on 3 October 2023, and attempt to photograph the dwindling ranks of GWR’s Castle HST sets and semaphore signals, as well as trekking out to a fine vantage point some way east of the station.

This is an over-bridge on a narrow lane called St. Keyne Road (264 miles 10.75 chains) that offers a fine panoramic view looking west of trains as they pass the first of Liskeard’s six semaphore signals, its down outer home (LD35), which stands just before the line curves west over the short Bolitho Viaduct.

XC HST farewell on the Swanage Railway

At 23.35 on Monday, 18 September 2023 an era of main line HST-worked services finally drew to a close when retro-liveried 43007/43008 brought 1E73 from Plymouth into platform 12 at Leeds, just a minute behind schedule, and the curtain came down on HST working by Cross-Country (XC).

But for one final hurrah, a week later (on 26 September 2023) the celebrity set was out one more time, to work a sold-out charter (1Z43) from Leeds (06.35) to Swanage, with a short lunch-time working to Bournemouth and back before returning from Swanage to Leeds (1Z44) at 16.18.

Parliamentary train to Brigg

Five years after my previous visit (blog January 2018) it is time to take a day return trip to North Lincolnshire and spend a couple of hours in a town which for 29½ years only enjoyed a rail service on Saturdays, but since May 2023 has instead had a single train on weekdays only.

While the three trains each day on Saturdays between Sheffield and Cleethorpes did at least allow Brigg residents a day in the Steel City, the current one-train service on Mondays to Fridays is pretty useless to the folk in Brigg, unless they happen to want to make a quick shopping trip to Grimsby or Cleethorpes.

HST Swansong in Somerset

43008 heads 1V50 through Bridgwater – its final scheduled service

Only days before most of the GWR “Castle” sets are stood down, and just a fortnight before the final scheduled XC HST workings, seemed like a good moment to pay my respects by trying to see and photograph most of the two working HST fleets in action.

Picking a day of fine sunny weather (5 September 2023) my plan was to spend time at Taunton, Bridgwater and three other stations on the route to Bristol Temple Meads when, with luck, I would be able to see six of the seven diagrammed GWR sets in action, and both the XC sets.

Semaphores and loco action at Shrewsbury

67012 approaches signal SUB57 with 1V42 from Manchester Piccadilly (12.30) to Cardiff Central

SHREWSBURY remains a must visit location for anyone interested in our signalling heritage, so returning to Shropshire’s county town for the first time in over a year, my challenge this time was to attempt to photograph both semaphores and a variety of loco-hauled workings that were scheduled to pass on 31 August 2023.

Selecting locations on either side of the town, my hope was to be able to photograph Class 66-working of the regular Dee Marsh-Margam freight, Class 67-worked TfW services between Cardiff and Manchester, a Class 37-powered scrap move of ex-Merseyrail units to Sims at Newport, and a steam-hauled special from Woking.

Re-tracing the Withered Arm

Taking a two-hour bus ride for just £2.00 is the sort of travel bargain I am always keen to sample, so with the Government’s bus fare cap in England extended until 31 October 2023, this seemed like an ideal moment to take a summer trip to the South-West to sample both bus and rail services in Devon and Cornwall.

Following a route that re-traced much of the Southern Railway’s “Withered Arm” – the routes from Okehampton to Bude and to Wadebridge via Launceston – I was intrigued to see how busy would be the modern day bus replacements for these rail routes, which succumbed to the Beeching axe on 3 Ocbober 1966.

South Wales Pullman Dining

Dining on the line has long been a favourite way to enjoy rail travel around the UK for me and it is clear I am not alone when premium dining seats on special trains that cost upwards of £300 are always the first seats to sell out.

Add to that the huge popularity of dining services on preserved railways and it is clear there there remains a strong desire by passengers to travel by train in style and enjoy some fine dining at the same time.

Gorgeous Garsdale

LMS Black 5 45231 *Sherwood Forester* storms through Garsdale with 1Z39 from Crewe to Carlisle

Among many attractive locations along the wonderful 72-mile Settle to Carlisle (S&C) line, one place that I had long wished to spend time at is remote Garsdale, the next stop after England’s highest station, Dent, when heading north towards Carlisle and a one-time junction for a branch line to Hawes, Redmire and Northallerton.

Having discovered on a visit to Settle Junction last year that Wednesdays are good for freight activity on the S&C, I planned to check the photographic loctions on the afternoon of Tuesday, 1 August 2023, then return the following day, when an added bonus would be a steam special from Crewe to Carlisle, hauled by 45231 Sherwood Forester.