Media centre

Wednesday 12 Aug 2015

New home for Falsgrave gantry

Region & Route:

| Eastern

The railway semaphore signalling gantry which framed many photos of locomotives entering and leaving Scarborough has found a new home on the Yorkshire moors.

The gantry was decommissioned and removed as part of the modernisation of the signals used to control trains on the Scarborough line in 2010.

 

This week, David Wilkinson, area customer services and performance advisor at Network Rail and Philip Benham, managing director of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) marked its transfer to Grosmont station with a plaque unveiling at the station.

 

David said: “This gantry is a great piece of our railway heritage but it had to be removed from Falsgrave to allow us to modernise the rail operation there and deliver a better service for passengers.  We are delighted that the NYMR has not only restored the gantry to its former glory but also brought it back into operational use at Grosmont.  This project is a testament to the teams involved and great example of how we can work together as an industry to protect our heritage whilst continuing to grow and modernise the railway for passengers.”

 

Philip Benham added: “The gantry has given us the ability to improve our operation at Grosmont and was vital for the expansion of our Whitby services.  Following full restoration, it has been integrated into our signalling at Grosmont and is controlling trains during this summer season including, most appropriately, the signalling of trains onto Network Rail.  I want to thank our team of volunteers and Network Rail for their hard work to protect this important part of the railway skyline.”

 

The gantry is a listed structure so its removal needed to be sensitively handled.  Tony Rivero, town planning manager at Network Rail explained; “Planning authorities are, understandably, very keen to see listed structures retained in an environment which reflects their original purpose.  This  project has allowed us to carry out the improvements we needed on the main line whilst still finding a useful, not to mention, beautiful, new surrounding for the gantry.  It’s a real win-win for everyone involved.”