Final Countdown - a photo on Flickriver

Final Countdown

            A dark day for Cornwall, both literally with the poor weather and figuratively with the loss of an instrumental part of its history. Today, Sunday 3 March, marks the closure of the 144 year old Par Signal Box, as well as the slightly newer Lostwithiel box. The boxes close as part of a program by NR to ‘upgrade’ Cornwall’s signalling to VMS signals and transfer control to a new WestCAD VDU workstation at Exeter PSB/ROC. It is incredible to think how many generations of signallers have worked this box, from 1880 to the present day; how many lives have been shaped by the signalling of Cornwall’s railways. Par Signal Box is to become a training site for S&T; Truro Box is likely to be demolished; and Lostwithiel’s fate is unknown, though it is listed so cannot be demolished. PR52 is seen standing here ominously on its last day of operation, the last train it signalled was 5P09 from Par Chapel Siding through Platform 3. Par and Lostwithiel boxes will ring out their last block bells at around 23:00 this evening after the passage of train 2P33, bringing an end to nearly two centuries of semaphore signalling in Mid Cornwall. This century has very much been a turning point for Cornwall’s railways: in the early 2000s it was somewhat of a Mecca for all things railway. Enterprise freight trains existed with all sorts, TPO trains were running up and down, the clay industry was thriving, the last Motorail service in the country still ran, and semaphores were everywhere. Now with all of the above bar clay gone as of this evening, and with the clay industry, at least by rail, likely to dry up (no pun intended) in the near future, 2024 heralds the end of an era for the once flourishing railways of Cornwall. One plus side, as mentioned by a Lostwithiel signaller, is that only one member of signalling staff is being made redundant, and they wanted to be anyway, thus jobs are not being lost. The general mood among those who work in signalling in Cornwall currently is somewhat melancholy though as the end of a truly remarkable era of British railways comes to an end.
   

Taken on: March 3, 2024

Tags:

last

day

signal

box

operation

lostwithiel

truro

cornwall

upgrade

cornish

mainline

railway

signalling

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Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II, f/7.1, 1/800 sec, 34mm, ISO 200 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Lens:	Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 [II]
Aperture:	f/7.1
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/800)
Focal Length:	34mm
ISO:	200
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
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