Great Western Coffee Shop

Now 13:00 ... and no fewer that four GWR line updates
Penzance to London
Penzance to Cardiff
Penzance to Plymouth
Liskeard to Looe

You might have thought that for a mass transit system, there would be a contingency plan such that if any one person was unavailable (e.g. taken ill) the whole thing would not come to a halt.  Perhaps there is more to this?

Trains starting to back up centered on Liskeard.
If it continues much longer, they'll be turned at Plymouth.

Surprised to see the Looe train cancelled.
Would have thought that once it took the token first thing in the morning, it could run up and down the branch without a problem.

Signal Box re-opened at 12:10.

Shut from 10:40 to 12:10.  An ambulance was required, so it was obviously quite a sudden event and I hope the signaller in question is ok.

The trouble with remote mechanical signal boxes is that when the lone signaller is unable to carry on working, the only robust contingency you could have is to double staff the box, or pay someone to sit outside in a car all day at all such boxes just in case. 

Clearly that would not be a sensible thing to do for such an occasional occurrence, and a 90 minute closure is what I would describe as quite reasonable given those circumstances.

The closure of some of these Cornish boxes as part of the ongoing resignalling works will help as with control of the signals moving to Exeter there will likely be someone else available who can step straight in.

The Looe branch is split in two: Liskeard - Coombe Junction and Coombe Junction - Looe. 
Liskeard to Combe is worked by token, which is left in/withdrawn from the token machines at either end. The train is then locked into Coombe Junction - Looe under staff working.  This leaves Liskeard - Moorswater available as the points at Coombe Junction are left in the Liskeard - Moorswater position. 

The locking and release of the token requires the signaller to be informed.  It is perfectly legitimate (though now, practically, never) to have another train in the section between Liskeard ground frame and Coombe Junction whilst a train is stood at either Liskeard platform, or traversing Coombe Junction - Looe.

My understanding is that it's even more complex with two token machines at Liskeard - one for the connecting line (in the signal box) and one in a hut on the platform.

I wonder how it will change when the semaphores are replaced  - will Coombe Junction be automated, perhaps tokenless from there, and saving a couple of minutes on the journey?  Or will the whole thing be reduced to one engine in steam from Liskeard with a loss of ability to access Moorswater while there's a passenger train on the line?

Not sure, as Liskeard will remain open for the time being.

This is an excellent summary of the works: https://www.railengineer.co.uk/a-modular-approach-to-signalling-in-cornwall/

Thank you IndustryInsider - fascinating

Signaller suffered a heart attack and sadly passed away. Thoughts with their friends and family.

Thank you a-driver.
Very sad, and thoughts with the family.

Our thoughts with family and friends. 

At times / events such as this, sure, the running of the trains is insignificant for a few hours and they can be safely halted with the briefest of initial explanations.

That’s very sad news.  Thanks for letting us all know.

A very sad event and my sympathies go to the Signaller's family and friends.

My sympathies to the signaller's family and friends. RIP.

Dave

As a fellow (amateur) signalman, it can be a lonely job and I often think that should something go wrong, no-one would know until a train hit a red signal and the old rule 55 was carried out. A very sad event.