Semaphore Signals

Signals, signs, indicators, instructions, directions, to be read, interpreted, acted upon, and only a very few are actually railway signals. The signs are all there, to be ignored at your peril, fined for disobeying, signed By Order, Private do not enter, Not to be moved, Penalty for improper use £25. All the signals in the photograph are set at danger, but the danger only happens if you pass them in that position. We are frequently told that this, that, or something else, sends out the wrong kind of signal, metaphors for semaphores, they’re disappearing rapidly, their stiff arms and solid posts, though they could just as easily be lattice,  replaced by twinkling fairy lights.

It’s a very long way from trundling along behind a man carrying a red flag, via Bobbies with a watch, which may be quicker, but way more hazardous, to today’s signaling centre: Many wrong signals have been given and taken along the way. On today’s franchised out, customer focused, value added, 21st Century railway, semaphore signals can still be found but, all the signs are they’ll not last much longer.

The sign on the engine reads Leicester North, not a regular destination for the Great Northern Railway. Back in the day, Midland Railway men, in Nottingham, once captured a GNR engine, which they held captive for 7 months. This event became known as the ‘Battle of Nottingham’, it took a court battle to get the engine released – surely all the wrong kind of signals.

So for now, I’ll sign off, just in case I send out the wrong signals and end up captured and hauled before the judge.