Signal box from 1895 guides final train

A signal box in Surrey will soon direct its last train after more than 130 years of service - but it is far from being consigned to the history books.

The Grade II-listed signal box at Haslemere still guides dozens of trains each day, but will hand over to a modern facility in Basingstoke after its final service at 00:30 BST on Saturday.

It will then be lovingly restored to how it was in the 1930s, just before the railway became electric, and will reopen for guided tours by Easter.

Ken Griffiths, chairman of Haslemere Community Station and Signal Box Trust, said: "It's a shame to see it go but life does move on."

Gary Pannell, who works in the signal box with his team, said: "It's the end of an era. Unfortunately I've seen other signal boxes go as well.

"It will be different to this but essentially the same principle. I just accept that it's the way it is but I'm grateful I had the chance to work there."

The signal box restoration is part of a larger project which will see offices above Haslemere Railway Station transformed into a museum for railway memorabilia and a model railway layout of Haslemere and its goods yard from the 1930s.

There will also be a memorial garden created to honour the 636 Southern Railway workers who lost their lives during World War Two, both while working on the railway and in active service.

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