Semaphoria

Indeed.

York-Harrogate and Cumbrian Coast lines; Swinderby; Tŷ Croes…

A view looking broadly northwards from one of the platforms at Barrhill station. A semaphore signal - identified as BR14 - on a particularly tall pole next to the tracks as they curve off towards Gitvan. The semaphore facing away from the camera on the lattice post is BR2.

Semaphores at Barrhill. 25 March 2022. #railway #photography

Southern Electrostar EMU 377418 forms the rear half of a two-EMU set passing under a cleared semaphore as it departs Littlehampton working 1H31 to London Victoria. The signal box is partially visible on the right.

Departure from Littlehampton. 26 August 2024. #railway #photography

Northern DMU 158756 passes a cleared semaphore on a bracket as it departs Hellifield working 1M53 Leeds to Carlisle.

Departure from Hellifield. 3 January 2026. #railway #photography

Northern DMU 150135 has just passed the cleared semaphore as it approaches Furness Vale station working 2B34 to Buxton.

Approaching Furness Vale. 15 March 2025. #railway #photography

Lower quadrant semaphore DS71 at Droitwich Spa is cleared for the approach of a Worcester-bound service.

Semaphore at Droitwich Spa. 25 August 2024. #railway #photography

Semaphore signals AH15 and AH19 on a bracket at Arbroath.

Semaphores at Arbroath. 27 July 2025. #railway #photography

Appleby (North) signal box, looking almost brand new, evidently having recently been restored. Behind it, a large bracket now with only a single signal on it but presumably once at least one more. Beyond, as the tracks lead off towards Kirkby Thore, two further semaphores can be seen.

Appleby Semaphores and Signal Box. 19 February 2023. #railway #photography

GWR DMU 166221 passes a bracket supporting a pair of semaphore signals as it enters the platform(s) at Yeovil Pen Mill working 2V68 Weymouth to Gloucester. Note that while the two semaphores here - YPM60 and 61 - are upper quadrant, the finials are GWR. (There is a lower-quadrant semaphore at the other end of the station.)

Arrival at Yeovil Pen Mill. 21 March 2025. #railway #photography

A view of some of the sidings at Sellafield, occupied by a number of wagons and DRS locos, the only identifiable one being 68008.

Sellafield Sidings. 10 February 2025. #railway #photography

Scotrail DMU 170427 is seen having just passed cleared co-acting semaphore GL27 at Greenloaning, working 1T56 Dundee to Glasgow Queen Street. The pink heather provides a nice contrast to the greens and yellows of the lineside vegetation.

Passing Greenloaning. 26 July 2025. #railway #photography

An upper quadrant semaphore signal between a pair of railway tracks at Hellifield.

Semaphore at Hellifield. 3 August 2022. #railway #photography

I think you can mostly blame the telephoto lens for that. Zoom out and perhaps it becomes a little clearer.

Increasingly rare indeed. The one at Tŷ Croes in Anglesey is still manually-worked…

Then at Cattal on the York-Harrogate line, there is also this motorised distant for the next level crossing at Whixley.

There is this one at Furness Vale on the Buxton line, which looks to be manually-worked, and also at least one at Chapel-en-le-Frith on the same line.

This one at Hubbert’s Bridge is clearly motorised, but at least it survives.

This one at Heckington appears to be manually worked, though was not pulled off when I saw it.

Tutbury and Scropton still have distants; here is Tutbury’s (pulled off just *after* the train passed it), though I don’t know whether it is manually- or motor-worked.

…on the line to Skegness.

…as are both of those at Wainfleet…

Increasingly rare indeed. The one at Tŷ Croes in Anglesey is still manually-worked…

A mixture of Canon DSLRs (300D, 60D, 6D) and mirrorless (R6) with an array of Canon lenses (mostly the 70-200 f4L and the 100-400 f4.5-5.6L II, sometimes with an extender).

#TractorThursday 37673 at Lostwithiel 1.10.96

A satellite view of Workington station courtesy of Apple Maps.

Looking at this on the satellite view on Apple Maps, I think this looks more extreme because of the telephoto lens.

Clear semaphore signal at the end of the northbound platform at Workington. The Victorian ironwork of the platform canopy is partly visible in the foreground. Beyond, a rusty pipe on a rusty support stands in front of a rusty bridge.

Semaphore at Workington. 26 March 2022. #railway #photography

A tall distant semaphore signal - labelled MV1 - viewed from the footbridge at Brampton station. This is controlled by the signal box at Milton.

Milton Distant, Brampton. 3 June 2018. #railway #photography

Shrewsbury has a mixture of upper and lower-quadrant but, yes, I think most if not all other remaining locations have either one or the other, not both.

TfW DMU 197125 passes a cleared lower-quadrant semaphore as it nears Pembrey & Burry Port station working a slightly-delayed 2B65 Cardiff Central to Pembroke Dock. On the left, in the middle distance, by the level crossing, is the signal box.

Approaching Pembrey & Burry Port. 21 October 2025. #railway #photography