Farewell and best wishes from a train driver who has driven many times across The Hope Valley.....

I know we must celebrate progress and a move to a centralised, modern world. But whenever I see a local signal box close as a result of an amalgamation into a bigger Route Operating Centre, I feel nothing but sad. Another iconic piece of railway heritage consigned to the history books forever. The art of railway signalling and indeed signalling trains will soon be long forgotten

@jameshill3165

3 ай бұрын

But when things go pear shaped witth a large centralised signalling system, the resulting loss of revenue, replacement buses, passenger refunds etc must far outweigh the costs of having a person in a box. There was such an event last year on the Ely - Norwich line (somebody nicked some cable) and it totally screwed everything in the Ely area for hours. There was a replacement bus at our local station (Downham Market) that had come all the way from Thurrock. I'd hate to see how much that cost alone.....

Very sad to see the end of an era, thank you to everyone over the years for your dedicated service. This is sad for me , I'm 58 now but when I was little I spent alot of weekends looking at the trains from the bridge & I use to wave to the signalman below. Happy times. 😊😢❤

Railways have to evolve, they are not museums. When I started my career on the footplate as a driver's assistant in 1978, there were many hundreds of working signal boxes in the areas I worked over... 40 years later when I retired as a driver in 2018, there were almost none left. We should not get teary eyed over the loss of old railway signalling, as it diligently served it's purpose until usurped by newer technology... and besides, anyone who has ever driven trains, or had to climb rickety ladders to maintain the (paraffin) oil signal lamps will tell you that those quaint looking semaphore signals definitely belong in the past (or in preserved railways)... Old signalboxes are now considered to be listed buildings, so I predict that Totley & Grindleford signalboxes will still be standing many years from now...

@cedarcam

4 ай бұрын

I say the same as you. Our railways once world leaders and something to be proud of have fallen way behind the rest of Europe. It is sad to see the old boxes go but we have to progress.

@borderlands6606

4 ай бұрын

True enough, but we shouldn't forget the drivers and firemen of the C19th, for whom signalmen were the only evidence of civilisation they might seen on a long night shift.

@cedarcam

4 ай бұрын

@@borderlands6606 The same for the signalmen as well. Some boxes like one I knew had no view in a lonely cutting, there was no running water or toilet even though it was only yards from the local water works.

Great video. Good to see the legend Steve on shift to close it up!

Fascinating to see the levers and computers together. Farewell ye signalmen and the romance of the box.

Many happy days in the early 1960’s spent at Dore and Totley Station waiting for the Thames Clyde express headed by a Jubilee to pass through - always exciting.

The signal man was a point of contact in the area of an emergency , with a local crew to block and repair . Where are they now , instead of a couple of miles , now it's god now's where . Ah well , they call it progress .

Absolutely fantastic video 😊 Thanks for recording this end of an era in railway signalling 😢 Well done Steve 👍🏻

I hope they save at least some of the equipment would love to get some for the museums here

Sad, yet another one bites the dust, yet New Mills South Junction box has just been done up! All the best from one retired railwayman to another.

@updistant

3 ай бұрын

Oh no! Sprucing a Box up and in particular newly painting the exterior, is usually a sure fire hint of impending closure!

Perhaps I've read too many stories, but I'd imagine signal boxes to be quite evocative, even eerie places depending on the location. Looking out into an inky black night with only your own thoughts and the occasional bell for company.

Never been inside one of these so this was an education for me, albeit a sad one.

@Snapdragon4472

4 ай бұрын

Thankfully some of the redundant signalboxes have been preserved and have been restored so that the public can visit them, learn how a signalbox works and, in a non-safety critical environment, be able to work the box themselves. Hope you can visit one sometime and enjoy simulating the signalman's job.

Great video. Sad to see another box close. That sounded like a 6-5-5 from Grindleford instead of the usual 7-5-5?

i hope the stuff can be reused on the other railways for restoration. grear video but sad .nice work guys and network rail

Good luck in whatever you do Steve all the best from the retired side

Hopefully the box can be preserved for open days.

@irseminorrailwayssection9491

4 ай бұрын

Unfortunately it is due to be demolished soon, it’s a shame it couldn’t have gone say to the Dore Minaiture railway nearby

@TheosTrainsWalesOfficial

4 ай бұрын

@@irseminorrailwayssection9491 Ah, shite.

Shame didnt catch the crew of 1L21 whistling up. Reliably informed both Driver and Guard did 😊

@irseminorrailwayssection9491

4 ай бұрын

They did a gentle toot being late on 😜

@willf20227

4 ай бұрын

@@irseminorrailwayssection9491 ilkley moor bah tat sounded good :)

. . . end of days . . .

Another one gone. I don't think it ever fringed to Trent PSB though.

It never fringed to Trent PSB, Trent never worked north of Horns Bridge south of Chesterfield. And Trent's area of control never migrated to York, Trent migrated to East Midlands CC. I think there's a bit of play acting going on here - once a signal box has closed to you you don't call him back again to close to him - he's already shut!

@irseminorrailwayssection9491

4 ай бұрын

We’ve had this discussion a few times already 🥴. For some reason (it has been suggested the eastern put the next major junction on the drawing rather than the next box) but the diagram when we took over in the eightees did show Trent, then changed again to EMCC and York. The closure was during a T3 and Grindleford closed out to totley but then also we had totley close to Earle’s, so there’s a lot of oddment about it , plus verbally to York on the phone too. Hope that helps.

Some great videos. The music grates a bit though....

@johnblair8146

3 ай бұрын

I'dlike to know where they got that music. It is pleasant, unlike hard rock.

......................................................😢

what a shame