Cornwall signalling upgrade - ongoing discussion, merged topics

[whole diary]

[Kernow Otter]

Can confirm that our box is listed.  Talk of turning part of the sidings area into car parking as well.

Wonder if the listing applies to the mechanics of the box as well.

[SandTEngineer]

Can confirm that our box is listed.  Talk of turning part of the sidings area into car parking as well.

Wonder if the listing applies to the mechanics of the box as well.

Think it does https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1413727

Reasons for Designation
Lostwithiel Signal Box, erected in 1893, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Intactness: despite the loss of the original fenestration, it remains one of the best-preserved examples of what was once a standard signal box on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) network during the late C19; * Date: it is considered to be the earliest known GWR-designed type 5 surviving; * Fittings: for the retention of operating equipment including a lever frame and some train control instruments.

[Umberleigh]

If you click on the picture it expands to reveal....  Roskear Junction near Camborne.

I’m struggling to see a junction at Roskear Junction...?

[grahame]

If you click on the picture it expands to reveal....  Roskear Junction near Camborne.

I’m struggling to see a junction at Roskear Junction...?

http://www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk/roskear.html

The Roskear branch, part of the Hayle Railway opened 23 Dec 1837. The line closed beyond the A30 crossing in 1963 and was lifted in that year. ... This remaining stub of the branch was closed on 6 Sept 1987.

[Dispatch Box]

OK. Ah, of course, Cornwall still has local signal boxes at most stations (thankfully).
Guess Notwork Fail envisage controlling all of Cornwall and Devon from ? and when please.

Thank you

May be a new ROC^▸ (Rail Operating Centre - a centralised location for railway signalling and train control operations for a specific route or region) at Exeter.

[Andy]

Can confirm that our box is listed.  Talk of turning part of the sidings area into car parking as well.

Wonder if the listing applies to the mechanics of the box as well.

I hope that the bay siding and the two adjacent ones, which form a run-round loop, will be spared; trains to Fowey would need them.

[Umberleigh]

Can confirm that our box is listed.  Talk of turning part of the sidings area into car parking as well.

Wonder if the listing applies to the mechanics of the box as well.

I hope that the bay siding and the two adjacent ones, which form a run-round loop, will be spared; trains to Fowey would need them.

Have to say I find the Fowey line - what I’ve seen of it - really quite unique and dare I say romantic; there are very few remaining non-heritage branch lines which follow a river/estuary along wooded hillsides to the open sea (even Looe is rather brief in this respect).

Sadly, it would make an excellent cycle path and I suspect this will be its fate should the clay traffic ever cease, as sadly 1) the lack of a station in Fowey, and 2) I just don’t feel there is the money and volunteer numbers in 2018 to take on a new heritage line in Cornwall. Would love to be proven wrong though...

[Pb_devon]

Looe...Fowey??? 

[Umberleigh]

Looe...Fowey??? 

Fowey

[Andy]

Can confirm that our box is listed.  Talk of turning part of the sidings area into car parking as well.

Wonder if the listing applies to the mechanics of the box as well.

I hope that the bay siding and the two adjacent ones, which form a run-round loop, will be spared; trains to Fowey would need them.

Have to say I find the Fowey line - what I’ve seen of it - really quite unique and dare I say romantic; there are very few remaining non-heritage branch lines which follow a river/estuary along wooded hillsides to the open sea (even Looe is rather brief in this respect).

Sadly, it would make an excellent cycle path and I suspect this will be its fate should the clay traffic ever cease, as sadly 1) the lack of a station in Fowey, and 2) I just don’t feel there is the money and volunteer numbers in 2018 to take on a new heritage line in Cornwall. Would love to be proven wrong though...

Yes, I tend to agree. Fowey would have been an ideal heritage line, whereas the B&W line from Bodmin Road/Parkway-Boscarne, and onto Padstow, really ought to have been retained as a branch on the network. For the time being, at least, freight operations preclude both the return of pasenger services and conversion into a cycle track. 
   

[Kernow Otter]

Certainly, the aspiration here in Lostwithiel is the retention of sufficient railway land to allow for the reinstatement of the sidings area for future railway use, and this is included in our emerging neighbourhood plan. For heritage use the missing third, or branch, bridge over the River Fowey would have to be reinstated.

While a networked branch with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) services is an aspiration, the cessation of freight services on the branch, might allow for a combined narrow gauge and cycle route to Fowey, but no one would wish the demise of the clay industry to the extent that exports from Fowey are no longer viable.  Too much of the mid Cornwall economy depends on the Clay industry.

[DaveHarries]

Latest reports suggest that nothing to move to Exeter in CP7^▸ (Control Period 7 - The five year period between 2024 and 2029) however plans to modernise Lostwithiel.

Semaphores and mechanical points to be replaced by colour lights and motor points with axle counters.

All to be controlled from an add on to the existing panel but moved to a location nearby.

Talk of a portakabin type affair in the existing down sidings which will be rationalised.

Nothing confirmed but looking more and more likely.

The modernisation of Lostwithiel would be a shame: nice box which gives a bit of character to what is otherwise (IMO^▸ ('in my opinion')) a rather dull place to wait for a train. I suppose you can always head to a pub nearby if you have the time though. What period would CP7 be?

Dave

[SandTEngineer]

Latest reports suggest that nothing to move to Exeter in CP7^▸ (Control Period 7 - The five year period between 2024 and 2029) however plans to modernise Lostwithiel.

Semaphores and mechanical points to be replaced by colour lights and motor points with axle counters.

All to be controlled from an add on to the existing panel but moved to a location nearby.

Talk of a portakabin type affair in the existing down sidings which will be rationalised.

Nothing confirmed but looking more and more likely.

The modernisation of Lostwithiel would be a shame: nice box which gives a bit of character to what is otherwise (IMO^▸ ('in my opinion')) a rather dull place to wait for a train. I suppose you can always head to a pub nearby if you have the time though. What period would CP7 be?

Dave

Control Period 7 (CP7): 2024–2029 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_Rail_Control_Periods

[Cornish bobby]

Update regarding this is that nothing has been decided. There is £50+ million to spend but still no official news as to what it will be spent on other than "signalling". All sorts of rumours doing the rounds but nothing definate! 

[GBM]

From GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Journey check https://www.journeycheck.com/greatwesternrailway/

This is a sample from there as of a few minutes ago; however, there has been a signalling issue from the first Pz train onwards.
Signalling problems are usually sorted fairly quickly, but this one seems to be ongoing.
Are there no local S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) technicians locally, or do they have to travel from - where? -

10:00 Penzance to London Paddington due 15:21
10:00 Penzance to London Paddington due 15:21 has been delayed at Liskeard and is now 23 minutes late.
This is due to a fault with the signalling system.
Last Updated:30/04/2019 11:58