The 'times-they-are-a-changing', Dore & Totley, Totley East & Bamford areas, part 3 - 5116+129+140/141+SigDiag+146

* Dore & Totley Station, Totley East & Bamford Station
The final 4-part mosaic shows, in the upper two pictures, the scene near the Junction of the H.V.L with the Dore West Curve which takes moves from the Hope Valley, east to the Midland Main Line. There is much activity going on this area which in effect is another remodelling operation to get the now double-track lines, grafted alongside the turn out onto the West Curve in the background on the right in the 1st shot, then to mate the line formation with the pre=existing one. At upper left, the view looks along to the Station site with the now double track section going around the corner and under Twentywell Lane Bridge. The disconnection of the Dore West Curve with the the main line north can be seen and over on the right, the new segment of track which is going to provide access to the Curve from a Junction further south. Moves coming from the sooth around the curve will meet the west-bound line, at centre, and will head off along these west to the quarries. Moves from the west, the Hope Cement works and Peak Forest, will head north and then cross over the west-bound line and take the new turn-out, shown in the upper right picture. This has now separated the two movements by a few hundred meters, the south to west occuring at the Junction seen at upper left and the west to south moves occuring at the junction just north of Totley Box, then onto the turn out onto the Dore West curve as seen in the upper right shot. Phew! In the upper left shot, a Quattro Road/Rail unit is heading west towards the camera to provide assistance with some work just under West View LAne, where these pictures were taken from; the long footpath running alongside the tracks on the right has been cut off to provide another compound for the works equipment. There are a couple of others as well, a large one at the top of the hill near Twentywell Road and, the whole of the 'PArk & Ride' car park has been taken over as well, all full of 'plant' of various sorts, cabins and other heavy duty gear...
At upper right the QUattro unit has picked up a large quantity of earth from just under the bridge, as far as I could tell and the reversed back to place it in a hole at the side of the tracks.. the lifting gear looking of rather odd design? These units are clearly most useful, able to travel on rail or road, someone 'got their sums right' there!
Moving along now to the west and the site of Totley Tunnel East Signalbox, about 1km from the eastern portal of Totley Tunnel. The last 2 trains to pass along the Hope Valley were first, a Northern Service, with 195017 & 195024, 2S91, heading west from Sheffield to Manchester Piccadilly and passing Totley East Box at 23:39 on Friday evening. Then, coming the other way, an east-bound T.P.E. service, 1B98, from Liverpool Lime Street to Sheffield with 185122, it passing Totley East Box at 00:03, on Saturday morning. After this final service had passed through, Totley Box and the one in Grindleford were both closed; and that very much looks like that's the end of these two, ageing, part-semaphore control, in the case of Grindleford, boxes. So, not much happening here when I arrived and apart from the box itself and, in the distance, one of the new colour light signals, showing a red aspect, there was little else to photograph only the poignant sight of the Totley box name and the view west towards Win Hill area of the Peak District. This is a 2-part composite so I could get both the box and the distant signs, signal and slopes of the hills, in focus at the same time..
At centre right, added just at the last minute to this mosaic, shows the message displayed on the local signals just at the other side of Bradway Tunnel, the words illuminated late on Friday 15th March, heralding the work which was about to begin and that the two boxes at the east end of the H.V.L. would be gone by 25th March, the message reads-

'FARE-WELL-TOTL-EY--AND--0047
0042- GRIN-DLFD'

A fitting tribute to the demise of yet two signalboxes which once controlled a fine array of more semaphore signals in this area. After the work completes, there will be two left to the west, Earles Sidings Box('ES') and a little further west still, just east of Cowburn Tunnel, the signalbox at Edale('EE').
IN the final picture at lower right, a move west once more with a brief stop at Bamford Station to see what was going on there, and it turned out, not much. There was no work on-going, the Loop Line running from here to just west of the road bridge in the distance, appears complete and there's a fine array of new colour light signals. Here, replacing Earles Sidings, 'ES04' signal, is 'DE5104' and looking along the tracks in the distance are two new signals, one for the loop exit, presumably 'DE51xx' and one for the main line, 'DE51yy'; the two actual numbers being unreadable.. Going the other way, to the west, out of the station, Grindleford's 'GD12' signal, just this side of the road bridge on the other side of the tracks, has been replaced by 'DE5103'. Once the work is over, one assumes that all these new signals will appear on the track diagram, enabling more detailed information being available about moves along the H.V.L. With the chance that in some instances, there will be a freight sidelined in the Loop whilst a fast passenger train train goes passed it on the main line.. .pictures to be had there, but at what price... Ah well, nothing as constant as change, as they say...

UPDATE to this:-
The track diagram now displays-
________ 1893 _______
____ 2024 _________
on S0052, the east-bound signal and TE0011, the
west bound signal onto the Hope Valley line..
The dates for the opening and closing of Totley East Box...
JUST 2.5 MORE DAYS TO GO...
----

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STOP PRESS.... And finally, a video has just been posted on-line of the the last 6 minutes of the working at
Totley Box with the last train before the shutdown being the one mentioned above-
youtu.be/by6ARGs1Dm0
an east-bound T.P.E. service, 1B98, from Liverpool Lime Street to Sheffield with 185122, it passing
Totley East Box at 00:03, on the Saturday morning...
And, that they say, is that!
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Taken on: March 17, 2024

Tags:

Dore & Totley Station

Totley East Signal Box

Hope Valley Line

G.B.R.f.

Great Britain Rail freight

Class 66

66753

EMD Roberts Road

66749

Christopher Hopcroft MBE - 60 Years Railway Service

6G41

Belmont Down Yard to Dore West Junction

66719

Metro-Land

66776

Joanne

6G42

66780

The Cemex Express

66716

Locomotive & Carriage Institution 1911-2011

6G40

Belmont Down Yard to Dore Station Junction

North Midland

Totley Tunnel East Signalbox

Totley Tunnel

Signal S0048

Signal S0050

Signal S0052

Signal S0053

Signal S0055

Signal S0056

Signal S0057

Signal S0058

Signal TE003

Signal TE011

Signal ES04

Signal DE5103

Signal DE5104

Signal DE51xx

Signal DE51yy

Wascosa FEA-W Track Panel Carriers

JNA box Wagons

HQA Autoballaster Wagons

Quattro Road/Rail

ReadyPower Units

Dore Station Junction

Dore West Junction

Dore South Junction

River Sheaf

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Sets appears in: • Totley East Box • Dore & Totley more » • Hope Valley • Bamford « less

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