I thoroughly enjoyed my 6 years there as regular signalman 1982-88. 7-5-5 😢

White levers, white and colours Mmm. Bit more information there I think.

Westinghouse did a lot of the instrumentation on WW2 Royal Navy Submarines. When these boxes around Crewe were switched over to The Manchester ROC they sent shunting staff to sit with the Signalers for a couple of days to explain some of the shunt moves that they would be asked to perform. They were just not used to having to perform so many moves and constantly having to talk to the PIC's on duty in the yards around Crewe. Most of their work is done on an automatic basis and shunting is what you might call an inconvenience to them.

It's a shame when all this Railway history is just taken away. I started my Railway career in a little Manual Box, Garston Church Road, 35 years ago.

These big mechanical boxes are amazing. It really is in immaculate condition. Who, though, in the S&T department when that at4:28was installed couldn't spell "received"? 🤔 😁

Wow no time to relax

I was in that box when it closed at midnight on Christmas Eve

I wish the box could be scooped up by a huge excavator and put in my backyard. Great video, and thanks for sharing.

I hope the LNWR booking desk survived. It’s a shame all these odd boxes are closing. It’s like someone’s pet project to eradicate old and reliable things.

What a wonderful set up,truly a labour of love to recreate all that signalling at Preston.

Are they demolishing the box or is it going to end up at a heritage railway?

Thank you so much for this video. The gentleman you interviewed is my grandfather. I'll be sure to show him this video when I next visit him. ❤️

Aren't the boxes in and around Stockport still in use ?

Fantastic recording Salop box for nostalgia before its history 😢 Hopefully Crewe heritage centre can recover some of the fixtures and fittings 👍🏻

White/Blue and White/Black levers,former FPL/ Point levers worked to maintain locking? Those Fletcher blocks have seen some sterling service judging by the state of the woodwork.

damn, that box is gone now, wonder how long Severn bridge Junctions box will survive, replacing that will be a task, also sad when it happens, not the topic but its sort of relevant, right?

❤💪

it's a fantastic signal box it's the best signal box i've visited along side crewe coal yard

come down to the lav line the siginal box is starting renovaiton

Crewe Railway Station not train station please

Living in Radstock myself, its lovely to see the signal box restored and working.

Nice to see the Bakelite commutators,a shame we couldn’t see them being used. I’ve seen Fletchers and standard Bakelite blocks with AB/PB flaps fitted to them but the slides on the panel face are novel.

Impressed at the merging of Block instruments into a modern panel, but at the same time, why is Manual Block still being used with a modern panel?

❤

I worked in the Panel Room 83-89 as announcer. A dream job for a train crank! Great camaraderie.

Progress. But i still love my semaphores and levers.

Interesting setup. I struggle to comprehend it all. You folks must be really clever. 🙂

So happy to see our Siemens Insight simulator (that my team produced) given a video demonstrating its virtues for NR signaller training 😊

It's interesting to see how close Simsig is to the real thing.

Manchester ROC must be the ugliest building in Manchester. Hardly any windows or fresh air must be worse than working in Strangeways.

It’s interesting to see what it looks like now. Back in 1989 I was involved in the London Marylebone IECC, which was one of the earliest (soon after London Liverpool Street), and later on Slough New (Paddington to Heathrow) At that time the displays were the old CRT units - less flexible than modern flat screens. The size of the available screen units and their format (roughly 4x3) had a lot to do with the design of workable layouts and the method of working, including how to cope with screen failures that could occur occasionally. Originally, Marylebone had a pair of identical workstations, with one being able to take over from the other, or the work could be split across the two. At that time, Automatic Route Setting (ARS) was quite new, and there was a degree of concern about the workload, but in reality most of the time it was handled by one alone.

Really interesting seeing the modern signalling 😊 But also sad that the three signal boxes have closed 😢 Spent a lot of time trains spotting at coal yard and Basford hall 🙁

It's always re signalling and never upgrading catenary for higher speeds and introducing in cab signalling

Thank you for all your really interesting videos - much appreciated !!

I'm not a signalling professional, just an enthusiast, but this video is engrossing. So, thanks for sharing 😊

Thanking you most kindly

Incomprehensible to me but fascinating. I’ve walked and driven past that building lots of times and would have loved a peek inside.

I did some work experiance with network rail back in 2008 and was given a day in the signal box. The guys actually took the time to explain things and allowed me to set points and signals was awesome.

‘Old’ New Street - I travelled from it and to it a lot in my youth - mainly to and from Newcastle. I have a love-hate relationship with it. I hated it because it was actually an inconvenience with its escalators and stairs down to the platforms. I loved it because, when I was very young, I could get onto a train pulled by a Deltic - my all-time favourite locomotive. I remember the signal box well. Personally I like Birmingham’s 60s architecture- the Rotunda, the old library and so on. It smacked of ‘the white heat’ of 60s Britain, and it’s a shame that a lot of examples of 60s architecture have been raised. Good to see the signal box preserved.

‘Old’ New Street - I travelled from it and to it a lot in my youth - mainly to and from Newcastle. I have a love-hate relationship with it. I hated it because it was actually an inconvenience with its escalators and stairs down to the platforms. I loved it because, when I was very young, I could get onto a train pulled by a Deltic - my all-time favourite locomotive. I remember the signal box well. Personally I like Birmingham’s 60s architecture- the Rotunda, the old library and so on. It smacked of ‘the white heat’ of 60s Britain, and it’s a shame that a lot of examples of 60s architecture have been raised. Good to see the signal box preserved.

I'd love to see that panel preserved, running a simulator, so it could still be experienced in a "working" condition.

I went up there in 2018 as part of my senior conductor training. See how the other half live type thing. I was like a kid in a sweet shop in awe of it having being playing simsig for years

The panel should be preserved

In the early 90s I worked at New Street and went into the box on a regular basis. I recall that the first time I wnet in and watched the signallers going about their business I was amazed at how they appeared to press a button here and anothed there setting up routes without ever seeming to refer to any documentation. To say I was impressed was an understatement.

I was one of the original S&T when the box was came into use, I think I am the only one left, good days in the box and Westpac Mk1 was good apart from when they ot a fault in them and had to be changed

I remember working on those MK1 Westpac units. They weight a ton and so so easy to damage when moving about. Those pins where a pain. What is missing is the old Westronic system to the outer relay rooms. Replaced by Vaughan's systems.

I applied for that open day and didn't win. Glad you got a camera inside so we could all see.

Thank for this tour of this box. It's been most interesting. As a matter of fact It's listed status should include not just the building but all of the equipment Inside as this is part of history as well.

Best place I have ever worked. I’m now working in Birmingham ROC but still covering the New St workstations. It’s just not the same.