At least some of the replaced stuff will live on.

We all hate to see the old things go, but WW1 vintage is rather old to be still used on a modern railway. (Shows how things were built to last back then, though)

andersley wrote:

We all hate to see the old things go, but WW1 vintage is rather old to be still used on a modern railway. (Shows how things were built to last back then, though)

WW1 vintage is rather modern, all things considered.

Most signal boxes with working semaphores will still have much of their original equipment from when they were built, which in the case of (for example) Droitwich Spa or Shrewsbury - or Scopwick or Blotoft and Gosberton on the Joint Line! - means 1880s if not even earlier.

You have to think of it in the same way as roads: no-one would claim the Fosse Way or Ryknild Street were unfit for use just because they were originally built by the Romans - and much of Ryknild Street is nowadays just a rural lane... It comes down to ability to handle today's traffic, and all those boxes can do that comfortably.

And it has to be said that semaphore signalling doesn't fall over in the event of a power failure.

Dogboxdriver stated:-

And it has to be said that semaphore signalling doesn't fall over in the event of a power failure.

Unfortunately, not quite true if TPWS is fitted. It relies on power supplies, so I'm assuming that mechanical signalling with TPWS will interrupt trains some way or another in the event of a power failure.

96701 wrote:

dogboxdriver wrote: Dogboxdriver stated:- And it has to be said that semaphore signalling doesn't fall over in the event of a power failure. Unfortunately, not quite true if TPWS is fitted. It relies on power supplies, so I'm assuming that mechanical signalling with TPWS will interrupt trains some way or another in the event of a power failure.

Well, there is that, yes, but TBH I don't consider TPWS as part of the signalling system.

A politically inspired balzup, yes, but a valid part of the signalling system? No, not for me.