If you have ever been into the county of Rutland you may appreciate the beauty of the area and how, if you are of a certain age, it reminds you of a bygone era - almost of a land that time forgot. You never know what you may find in the County as I found out recently. Driving along a back road listening to Mrs Woody's list of jobs that need doing around the house before Winter we suddenly came up to a level crossing. Level crossings themselves are not that uncommon. However in this day and age, where Network Rail have closed most signal boxes and control the signals and level crossings remotely from large central control centers, it was very unusual to find an old Midland style manned signal box next to the crossing. Just as we approached the red flashing lights started and we had to stop in front of the now descending barriers. As a railway enthusiast having to stop in front of the barriers is no hardship and as luck would have it I had a camera with me so snapped a picture.
Having done a bit of research the double track is the Leicester to Peterborough line and the signal box should have closed in 2017 but is still manned now in 2021 for reasons I don't know. The box itself had its balcony around the windows removed in 2009 when the wooden windows were replaced with UPVC ones. The style of the signal box is the same as the one at nearby Oakham which is famous for being the basis of the Airfix (now Dapol) signal box kit for 00 gauge railways as confirmed by clicking here.
Camera still in hand I got the train going through.
