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Monday 9 Jul 2018

Piece of Rhyl railway history handed over to local model railway club

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Wales & Borders

| Wales & Western

Members of the Rhyl & District Model Railway Club were delighted to receive a piece of history from Rhyl No. 1 Signal Box, handed over by Network Rail last week following recent upgrade work in North Wales.

The signal box diagram was donated to the model railway club, which meets in an old chapel in Dyserth, allowing the group to preserve a piece of Rhyl’s railway history.  The signal box diagram, which allowed signallers to understand the location of trains within their area of control via the illuminating track circuit lamps, was used for many years in its present form until the recent signal box closure.  

Rhyl No. 1 signal box recently closed following a major signalling upgrade between Shotton and Colwyn Bay, which came in to operation in March this year as part of the £50m North Wales railway upgrade project. The project, which will increase the resilience and reliability of the railway for passengers in North Wales, has also seen over 6km of new track in Mostyn and track upgrade work completed in Rhyl and Flint.  

Winston Roberts, member of Rhyl & District Model Railway Club said: “We were absolutely delighted to be presented with the signal box diagram by Network Rail.  

“As a former railway man myself, who started in the railway in 1950 as a cleaner of the locomotives at Rhyl, it’s great to have this piece of history to remember the signal box by, and we plan on displaying it proudly in our clubhouse.”

Malcom Peters, signalling route asset manager for Network Rail Wales and Borders said: “We were pleased to hand over the diagram board to the model railway club and we know it will certainly be well looked after.

“We’ve been busy upgrading the railway in North Wales recently so it’s great that we’ve been able to donate this small piece of railway history to local enthusiasts. We know many people in Wales and Borders are passionate about our rich railway heritage so it’s fantastic this diagram board will now be preserved for future generations.”