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Trivia - all semaphore routes.

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R G NOW.

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I'd bet there are no longer any 100% semaphore signalled routes.
Doesn't Worcester count?. As it still has all of its old signals up as far as nearly Birmingham. Even at Kidderminster there is a signal box and a post signal. When I last looked.
 
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The Planner

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Doesn't Worcester count?. As it still has all of its old signals up as far as nearly Birmingham. Even at Kidderminster there is a signal box and a post signal. When I last looked.
Resignalled now. No semaphores left at Kiddy.
 

Y Ddraig Coch

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Llandudno Jct to Blaenau Ffestiniog, in the down direction.

There are lights at Llandudno junction in all directions. So it would have to pass some lights to set off or return. So cant really count.
 
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Mogz

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Is Bidston-Wrexham still semaphore south of Hawarden?

The North Wales Coast line certainly was a few years ago. Is it still?
 

Y Ddraig Coch

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Is Bidston-Wrexham still semaphore south of Hawarden?

The North Wales Coast line certainly was a few years ago. Is it still?

None left on the coast main line as far as i can picture in my head. Possibly on Anglesey towards Holyhead. But defintley none left between Bangor and Chester
 
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Thanks for all the replies, indulging my pointless curiosity. I get the distinct impression that (even if colour light distants are ignored) there are no full services run entirely under semaphore.

Regarding colour light distants, why is it that distants were changed to lights but others left as semaphore? Wouldn't a consistent equipment fit have made maintenance easier?
 

Llanigraham

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Regarding colour light distants, why is it that distants were changed to lights but others left as semaphore? Wouldn't a consistent equipment fit have made maintenance easier?

I would suggest that the biggest problem was the length of the cable runs to those Distants, the amount of maintenance required on those runs, and the weight of the "pull" required by the signaller. Easier and cheaper to convert to colour lights.
 

Islineclear3_1

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Regarding colour light distants, why is it that distants were changed to lights but others left as semaphore? Wouldn't a consistent equipment fit have made maintenance easier?

From my local box, years ago, the pull on the distant was very heavy and the signalman needed to be strong and use a certain technique as it was about 1600 yards from the signal box. During the 1970s and 1980s, BR replaced many distants with either electrical gubbins or whole replacement with colour lights to make lighter work for the signalman.
 

30907

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From my local box, years ago, the pull on the distant was very heavy and the signalman needed to be strong and use a certain technique as it was about 1600 yards from the signal box. During the 1970s and 1980s, BR replaced many distants with either electrical gubbins or whole replacement with colour lights to make lighter work for the signalman.
This often went with resiting the distant further out to allow increased braking distance for faster trains. Policy would be not to replace a stop signal unless you replaced the whole lot on the relevant track, to avoid confusion.
 

TheEdge

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This often went with resiting the distant further out to allow increased braking distance for faster trains. Policy would be not to replace a stop signal unless you replaced the whole lot on the relevant track, to avoid confusion.

Up until their final demise last month both Somerleyton and Reedham Bridge had a mix of colour light distants, stop semaphores, 2 aspect stop colour lights and even a pair of three aspect colour lights in an AB section.
 

infobleep

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And installing colour light distants did away with the use of fog signalmen.
I'm sure there was a day within the last 10 years that trains couldn't run on the Arun Valley Line due to fog. However I may be misremembering events.
 

lineclear

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Regarding colour light distants, why is it that distants were changed to lights but others left as semaphore? Wouldn't a consistent equipment fit have made maintenance easier?
One reason not mentioned is that it changes the clearing point from 400 m to 183 m beyond the home signal.
 

headshot119

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Someone will correct me, but IIRC only Barrow to St Bees is 100% - so the one remaining Barrow-Sellafield short working counts.

No where near 100%, plenty of colour light distant, Sellafield and Drigg both have colour light stop signals.
 

edwin_m

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Remember even in the 1960s a lot of routes had colour light distant signals
Even earlier. The LMS was replacing semaphore distants with colour lights before WW2. Reasons as mentioned were to eliminate a heavy pull and associated maintenance issues, to move the distant further out for faster trains, but also because the distant is in many ways the most critical signal in absolute block areas. Except in emergency the driver can count on the stop signals being off if the distant was, but if they miss a caution aspect they don't have much hope of being able to stop at any of the stop signals.
 

Mushroomman

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Bridlington for now at least,including a number of ground shunt signals. Also manual worked gates and home signals at Weaverthorpe on the Scarborough/ York line. Plus the quaintly named"Kirkham Abbey",again on the Scarborough line,this one still has semaphore distants (motor operated so a good old pull not needed.
 

swt_passenger

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Bridlington for now at least,including a number of ground shunt signals. Also manual worked gates and home signals at Weaverthorpe on the Scarborough/ York line. Plus the quaintly named"Kirkham Abbey",again on the Scarborough line,this one still has semaphore distants (motor operated so a good old pull not needed.
It still isn’t an area where train services are under control of semaphores “end to end” though, as per the original questioner...
 

R G NOW.

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Doesn't Worcester count?. As it still has all of its old signals up as far as nearly Birmingham. Even at Kidderminster there is a signal box and a post signal. When I last looked.
Update on this. Had now noticed some signals, two at Norton junction and two others have been replaced with colour led ones. NJ9 is of the Dorman type with a position 4 junction indicator for the Cheltenham line. There was two on a small gantry with the distant worked from Gloucester. Signal G126 was from the line at Abbotswood junction. I can see on opentrain times this has been renumbered.
 
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