The Film Archive of Railway Signalling & People

York (Poppleton) to Knaresborough 2025

The geographic location of the signal boxes can be seen on a current OS Map. The map will place Harrogate at the centre of the map panel and other locations can then be selected by use of the Gazetteer or simply scrolling around. Roll the mouse over the icon(s) to reveal what they represent. Increase the scale using the scale selector on the left to separate closely positioned icons.

The Harrogate Line Capacity Improvement Scheme

The FARSAP team last visited the Harrogate line in 2015, and those films are still available to view on our website. However, since that date several changes have taken place, so further visits were made in February and November 2025.
The most significant change is that Key Token working between Poppleton and Hammerton, also between Cattal and Knaresborough was replaced by Tokenless Block in November 2020 as part of the Harrogate Line Capacity Improvement Project. The background to this change and a description of Tokenless Block operation is provided by Phil Graham in the FARSAP film of our visit to Cattal.
Further changes are described at each location.

The five videos are intended for viewing at a maximum screen resolution of 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels high. Please be aware that viewing at a larger size may result in a loss of clarity and a 'grainy' appearance.

Part 1: Poppleton (including Nether Poppleton MCB/OD Crossing)

Part 2: Marston Moor (including Hessay Lane, Hessay Station and Wistrop)

Part 3: Hammerton (including Hammerton Road)

Part 4: Cattal (including Whixley)

Part 5: Knaresborough (including Oakwood Farm Crossing)

Video Credits

Filmed, Produced and Directed by:	Richard Pulleyn
Filmed in:	February and November 2025
Narrator:	Richard Pulleyn
Local Operations Managers:	Tom Settle and Michelle Amareia
Video Editor:	Derek Young

Copyright Notice

FARSAP videos are the copyright © of the Friends of The National Railway Museum.
The material may be freely used except for sale or advertising purposes.

Can you help?

The project would love to hear from you, especially if you worked or still work in a signal box, and you are willing to provide reminiscences and / or pictures. Please contact the The Friends of the National Railway Museum. Contact information is at the bottom of that page.

The Friends of The National Railway Museum

Visit the Friends of The National Railway Museum web site and find out more about them and what they do.

Why not become a Friend of The National Railway Museum yourself ?

The Signalling Record Society

If you are interested in railway signalling please explore their web site. Better still, Why not join the Signalling Record Society.