European Railroad Discussion > Barnetby Overkill?

At the risk of over-exposing the remaining semaphores in Barnetby, I ventured up there from London on Wed 11/11/15, based largely on the really great postings on TO by 86235 and 55002 that piqued my interest.  It's really a time machine for any North American railfan - I haven't seen any interlockings operating like this for several decades in the US, especially with the volume of trains that you get in Barnetby.  I tried to select photos that do not mirror those previously posted - so here you go!

BTW - I want to thank all the railfans who helped me out here.   First, 86235 and 55002 who showed me what there was to go see.  Second - Dave "the Black Hat" for helping me get out to the public footpaths crossing the Network Rail lines west of Wrawby.  And Dave also introduced me to RTT - Real Time Trains - which has now become an indispensable part of my railfaning here in the UK.  I only wish there were something accessible like that in the US.  But then, we'd probably get arrested for using it. 

1.  A couple of Class 20s on a Railhead Treatment Train (RTT) - I think that is the correct acronym and translation.  These trains clear leaves, etc off the tracks.
2.  Freights meet at Barnetby East Signal Box.
3.  East Midlands DMU passing Barnetby East Signal Box, heading for Newark North Gate.
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/15 17:07 by dwatry.

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4.  Eastbound freight approaching Barnetby.
5.  Westbound freight, passing Wrawby Signal Box.  Photo taken from public footpath crossing of the Gainsborough line.
6.  Westbound DMU approacing Barnetby East Signal Box.  Sunshine!
 

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7.  EB freight approaching Barnetby.
8.  EB DMU approaching Barnetby.
9.  WB freight approaching passing Barnetby East Signal Box.
 

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10.  WB freight passing Barnetby East Signal Box.
11.  EB freight coming out of the yard.  Note lattice-work signal post.
12.  EB freight at dusk.
 

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13. Going-away shot of a WB DMU. 
 

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Fantastic!  Nick, hope to see you this year and see a few trains and semaphores there..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/15 09:16 by NH2006.

Thanks for the looks!

Very nice Duncan.

Great selection of photos - glad you enjoyed the day. Chris uk

Great shots! It really is a time capsule which is why I had to visit that place twice.

And you're right about RTT. probably the greatest railfanning tool to ever be made public. It saved so much time and helped me to catch the good trains. Glad to see you had fun in "sunny" England.

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Arguably the best location in the UK to watch freight trains. Too bad that these semaphores will soon be consigned to history..

It looks so lovely, I would say, like perfect scale model diorama.
Thank you for sharing!
 

I think it's truly amazing that all of those manual interlocking plants have lasted this long.
Anyplace else and they would have replaced with CTC and Cab Signals long ago.

PHall Wrote:
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> I think it's truly amazing that all of those
> manual interlocking plants have lasted this long.
> Anyplace else and they would have replaced with
> CTC and Cab Signals long ago.

Interesting point. Obviously true for most North American locations, but in Europe?
I can think of quite a few places in France and Germany where similar signalling equipment is used, my guess is that the combination of complexity of network, frequency and diversity of trains, but overall low financial returns on rail traffic have meant that some places have been low priority for signal renewals.

I might be wrong, any thoughts?

spflow Wrote:
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> I can think of quite a few places in France and
> Germany where similar signalling equipment is
> used,

You don't have to go that far, Shrewsbury with its four mechanical boxes - Severn Bridge, Crewe Bank, Sutton Bridge and Abbey Foregate - is even more of a time capsule.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?17,3734115



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/15 09:19 by 86235.

I was a barnetby about the same time will post some pics later I got the water cannons with 20303 and 302 as well

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