Watford to Croxley Green Branch Line
Engine Shed Exploration - part 2
Answer: we went under it! The ground was very soft so we just pushed a little to one side with our feet and managed to squeeze under.
There was very little evidence of the sheds left, although Ben did find a hammer! It really was very overgrown, so it's possible there was more to see further into the jungle. We won't know until a future exploration. Whilst I was there I wanted to walk down the line a little was and re-photograph the nearby signal:
It's gone! Two weeks ago it was here, but now just the ladder and platform remain. Even the telephone box had been removed from the pole. The nearby electrical box also looked like it had had extensive plundering. It survived here for ten years since the line closed, yet two weeks after I put pictures up on the internet it's been removed. A coincidence? I hope so as I'd hate to think that I'd contributed to this in some way.
The "shades" for the signal laying near the ladder. I guess whoever took the rest of the signal already had one of these.
Ben climbing up to inspect what remains.
The bolts where the signal used to be. Whoever took this clearly did it carefully; this was not a case of vandalism. It's a real shame as it would have, no doubt, brought joy to countless others who stumbled across it over the coming years.
Hidden in the undergrowth nearby, Ben discovered the remains of the signal's Fresnel lens.