This Signal Has Been Lit For 30 Years On A Disused Railway Line

York was resignalled in 1989 and a new colour light signal was provided halfway along the Harrogate platform at Poppleton station. Only after installing it did they realise that use it they would have to lengthen the platform at vast expense so it stood there unused for nearly 30 years till it was removed.

I imagine some railway accountant is loosing their mind because they keep getting an overage on their power bill for this forgotten signal 😂

Bet theres a local old boy that has been up and changed that bulb once or twice just out of sympathy XD

Hi, here in the USA, there are combinations of signals and or tracks left operational or at least looking like in many parts of the country. I have an old branch line near me that is still considered in service even though it’s impossible to operate a train on it due to large sections of missing track. Also there are many crossing signals and gates missing or broken. Time will only tell if a train will ever operate on it again.

The signal from entry from the Weymouth tramway is still lit despite having about 4 inches of track behind it

a dutch singnal has been red over like 6 years too!

Such a melancholy sight...abandoned railways... rusty rails... saddening.. ;(

cool ..like it

Thanks for this; I never tire of hearing about this legendary place,the nerve centre of the Cheshire Lines Network. As I've mentioned elsewhere, a cab ride from here to Partington was filed on a railtour in 1991 and was published on a VHS tape: 'The Manchester Circular' as one of Tony Cooke's 'North West Cab Rides' which may still be found.

I used to be a shunting engineer at Schaarbeek in Belgium. Underneath the Goods siding there used to be an industrial line wiggling its way into Vilvoorde, it must have been out of order ever since the 80's I suppose. Thick vegetation started growing into the tracks. forming what was basically a small forest with trees already 30 cm thick and the tracks running true them. somewhere, in the middle of that forest stood a simplified entry signal, still glowing its red light. It was a surreal sight when you drove your car by at night. somewhere in 2017, the signalling at Schaarbeek was digitalised and in one weekend, all lights where changed to leds. That is when they must have cut the cable. To this day i regret not taking a picture of that signal and its futile purpose.

I grew up in a house just off to the left of the disused freight line.....I remember many 36/46's sitting there idling before heading off towards the bridge at Moss Lane. In fact, my next door neighbour's (now sadly deceased) dad used to work the signals etc many decades ago for Skelton Junction. I'd never seen the structure until today when I saw an old photo of it.....would've been able to see it out the rear bedroom window had it remained. Many a fond memory of the Black Bridge and walking over the Bridgewater on the way to Broadheath before access was rudely taken away!!

I have seen exactly the same scenario on Glazebrook East Junction–Skelton Junction line near Timperley. As far as I remember the last trains on this line were in about 1983 which were oil trains going to Shell (Carrington) always headed by a Brush 47 locomotive. The bridge over the Bridgewater canal was closed off within about a year of this and the track lifted (sometimes unofficially) over the next few years. I remember seeing a red signal on the eastwards track just to the west of this canal bridge (OS Grid reference SJ 77176 89490) and it was still lit up at least until 2015 and possibly later. Unfortunately I am unable to revisit this site but I suspect that it may well still be lit!

i feel sad for the signal, just there doing its own thing, forgotten to time

Great video but you had me shook with the drone footage at the end because you were flying it over Network Rail

Nice drone work! Why is there a cage in front of that signal? Wonder if the signal has a bulb or LED. A bulb will eventually burn out. But that can take long. In the USA there is a bulb in a fire departement burning for over 100 years now. There is a webcam on it. I must admit that I do not know if it is still burning at this time. Indeed funny. Now here in the Netherlands at a railway line close to me, there are some disused special signals that are crossed off, as they say. (white crosses on them to indicatie they are no longer working). But they are there already over 20 years. It is probable too costly to remove them. So they leave them were they are. Until it gets dangerous, when the tubes are beginning to show wear of rust.

Another 'LONG-LIT' signal - spotted in thick and thorny, almost impassable undergrowth - stood past the east end of Newton-le-Willows station, which I was surveying just a little over 20 years ago.
This controlled the exit from the old, long-abandoned Motorail sidings (a car-loading ramp was located at the eastern extremity of the Manchester-bound platform).
The same reason (the potential costs of a "rationalisation re-design" of the local signalling installation there made it cheaper to just maintain the status quo).
However, within a dozen years of my visit, the site had been cleared and practically no traces remain visible).

I think it`s an LED lamp, not an SL 35. How does one proove they are lit, not enough
current for an ECR ?????

ill bet if you went up there with a track circuit clip you could give the signaller a bit of an unwanted surprise 🤣 but obviously dont 😅

Short bits of track could be used as an emergency track to allow a faster, more important train to overtake a slower train

The couple of reds near west coast Madeley Station on the line to Silverdale and Market Drayton must of gone now? Or has it?

Another example I've seen of a permanently red railway signal was in Weymouth, Dorset. The line that ran through to the Quayside, along public streets, to a station called Weymouth Quay. In a DVD released in 2012, Video 125 briefly talked about the branch that was sometimes nicknamed "the Weymouth Tramway,"

"Just discernable amongst the undergrowth is a disused railway. A long closed level crossing and permanently red coloured light signal are the remains of the Weymouth Tramway, in fact the old Weymouth Quay branch, which last saw a train in May 1999. Trains used to connect with ferries to France and the Channel Islands, the Boat Trains beIng hauled by Class 33 diesels at a mere walking pace. It's quite likely the branch will never see a train again."

Sadly, the last part proved to be prophetic because in 2020/21, work was carried out to remove the tracks that ran through the streets of Weymouth to the Quayside

Why can't we have more light bulbs this reliable?

It must be a good bulb to have lasted that long, unless they have to maintain the light incase it gets reopened?

I remember into the 1990s - on the line past Rowntrees that had not been used for many years - the signals were all still lit on red.

My old section manager, a guy called Alan took possession of that portion of line many many years ago. It’s still under possession under he’s name even though he retired about 4/5 years ago. I was there about 3/4 hours ago doing some maintenance work and the signal is still lit and will remain lit for obvious interlocking purposes. The points that lead from the main line which are under the road bridge have been scotched and clipped out of use so nothing will use that line again until something is done with it. Quick question to the author of the video. How did you get permission from network rail to access the access at newstead terrace and also gain permission to use a drone above a working railway line?

Great video, Lewis...👍

I'm in the US, and I find this story somewhat spooky and interesting. I love stories and actual video footage of abandoned places and things. Would it be ever possible for you to get some video of this lit signal lamp at night? Either from the ground or directly head on with a drone? It is so spookily hypnotizing even during the daylight, but a nighttime ambience would be so much more. I truly would appreciate it if this task can be done. I will subscribe and check out your other videos, as well! Blessings from Texas!

I wonder why they don't just disconnect the old signal light. Can't they just unplug it or cut the wires to it. Why is it lit?

There's one like near Shirebrook and was on one of the Colliery branch's that joins and protects the mainline, the signal is still showing a red and is totally surrounded in trees.

I would rip up the disused line and turn it into a park or something.

Similar setup at Selsdon on the old junction from the Oxted - Woodside Line. Passenger line closed 1983, freight continued until 1991ish. Ground signal with double red lights strongly illuminated. More complex to remove than leave in situ apparently. Very obvious from the passing trains.

the glowing signal kinda serves as a reminder of the past. it being red could be interpreted like "it's over"

A mate has been a signaller in the area and apparently when NR rolled out new LED signal heads DJ8 duly got one.

Surprised the bulb hasn't blown by now.

The lightbulb wouldn’t last 30 years. So, why does the railroad maintain this signal?

Nice drone footage at the end. Thanks!

This looks like exactly the type of place that my friends and I would play around as kids. You cover some fascinating topics and I enjoy your stock footage!

Sounds to me like a load of hogwash coming out of the rail owner's mouth. They don't want to spend any money removing their clutter and crap that they have left scattered along the English countryside. They should be forced to remove it unless they are going to take action and use the line. This is just an excuse for them not to do a damn thing but keeps our profits in their pockets. If they are forced to remove all of this the old rail bed can be used by the public for biking and hiking through nature. To me this is disgraceful what they are doing or should I say not doing. 🤔🇺🇲

You said "the tracks were lifted," so I thought you meant in the British sense, but that's not what you meant, except scant seconds later you did highlight track that has been lifted "in the British sense."
Vaguely related: Reminds me of the Michael Flanders' observation about the carriage sign Gentlemen Lift The Seat
He suggested it was an invitation to upper class larceny.

Well, that 1 light bulb is a lot cheaper than driving a solitary loco down the tracks every week or two, which is what I've seen is necessary to keep a line "active" (though that was for a branch line running down the middle of a street.)

So if that is a 10 Watt filament lamp, it will have wasted over 2.63 Megawatt hours of electricity, so far,

the waymouth tramway (whats left of it) also retains two signals that are still lit

"I know a place where we can go, where we are not known"

i want someone to go there in fog or night (maybe both) and take a picture of the disused line fading while the light is still on

I envy the people who managed to access the track itself. After watching this, I had to see the signal for myself, as I recently moved to Whalley Range. Nothing up close, but I got a shot of it from behind the fences. Very interesting find. If you're a local, have you seen the abandoned gantry at Hadfield for the old Woodhead Line? It's a bit dangerous to access without going beyond the platform, and despite being almost completely hidden by vegetation, it's still there after over 41 years since it last saw a train go past. See for yourself.

My house is pretty close to this line and about 15 years ago I witnessed a train going as far as the arches just before the bridge over the Bridgewater Canal… the only time in 23 years of living here, so very infrequently

Here in the USA and I imagine it's similar there in the UK. As long as there is a physical connection to the main line like here. In this case a track switch. There must be working signals to protect the line. Per FRA regulations. My guess is that the line is now being used as a siding for the Maintenance of Way equipment of the Section Gang in that Subdivision. It looks like the Signal Maintainer put in a LED lamp. Because of the way it was flickering with the camera shutter speed.

Brilliant.

It always amazes me the things that are around us that are hidden until someone like you points them out. Thank you for this interesting video.