 |
THE SIGNALMAN HAS ALWAYS TO BE ON THE ALERT
by John Hinson
Persistent complaints from the signalmen at Dalston Road box, on
the Carlisle Goods lines, resulted in the National Union of Railwaymen writing
to the Board of Trade requesting action. The BoT would not normally be involved
in any way with the signalling on Goods lines; however they courteously
forwarded the correspondence to the railway company responsible and in doing so
resolved an issue with ease that the staff and the union had been unsuccessful
with.
Perhaps the correspondence from the signalmen and their union to
the railway company were written as badly as this letter. The first paragraph
attempts to set the scene, whilst the remaining three are outright demands for
revised methods of working. Apart from some strange grammar, there are several
inaccuracies that suggest the writer does not really know what he is talking
about! But beware of too many condemnations, as some railway terminology has
altered over the years. |
 |
|
22-OCT-1915 - Letter from NUR to BOT
The system at present in operation
at this cabin makes the signalman to always be on the alert as he has a busy
street crossing attached to the box with the gates interlocked to the signals,
and between him and the Canal box NB it is worked on the permissive block
system. (Not strictly true - it was worked on what was later
known as the no block system as sidings).The
Canal box NB is at the other end of the NB Goods Yard and when the trains from
the main north road arrive at this yard they are signalled on by bell signal to
Dalston Road notwithstanding it might be from 5 to 55 minutes before it
proceeds in the direction of Dalston Road cabin, or they might not go any
further. If it does leave, he gradually approaches the Dalston Road
Intermediate House (sic) signal
which is interlocked with the crossing gates, and if the signalman is ready
when he sees him coming towards his box he then signals him on to Rome Street,
and in many cases do guesswork in the direction signal to be forwarded to Rome
Street for either the Midland or the M&C line.
Recording block instruments to be placed in the
Dalston Road and NB cabin Canal box the same as between Rome Street and Dalston
Road.
The intermediate house signal
to be unlocked from the crossing gates (the latter to be locked with the
crossover and coal sidings as at present) failing which a "calling on" signal
to be placed on the same post to enable the men to draw the train down without
interfering with the road traffic.
To
introduce direction bell signalling between the Canal box NB and Dalston Road,
the same as in operation between Dalston road and Rome Street.
|
12-NOV-1915 - The latter three paragraphs were put to the NE for
consideration
18-APR-1916 - The NE replied to BoT
As regards the provision of
recording block instruments in the Dalston Road and NB Canal boxes, it has been
necessary to communicate with the NB Company on this matter, and in view of the
fact that trains can join the main line from sidings south of the Canal box
without being seen by the signalman at Canal box, it is not considered that it
would be desirable to provide recording instruments in this section.
Arrangements are being made to provide a calling-on signal on the intermediate
home signal post referred to. Arrangements are being made for a code of
direction bell signals to be introduced between the two boxes referred
to.
|
28-APR-1916 BoT passed details to the NUR
And that, as they say, was that. There is no further
correspondence on file, so one must assume that all parties were happy with the
result. |
 |
Box diagram for Dalston Road
showing the additional
calling on signal 14-1 provided at the request of the NUR.
Modern parlance would describe this as a "Warning" signal. The signal
was worked in accordance with NE practice of the period, where calling-on
signals were cleared prior to the clearing of the main arm. The NE had an
ingenious economical way to achieve this - the two signals were worked by one
lever which would be pulled to half-way to clear the calling on signal, and
right over in the frame to clear both.
This would have made this a cheap
alteration to make, because no locking alterations were necessary when the new
signal was provided.
But why, when it was stated by the union that trains entering that
section sometimes never leave it, and the NB said that trains sometimes enter
it out of sight of the Canal signalman, were bells in use at all? To enhance
them with direction codes is just a bodge. Whilst the BoT had no power to
interfere, one can't help but wonder why they didn't suggest the removal of the
bells and introduce distinct whistle codes to be given by the drivers.
That being said, there was one factor that was never raised at any point
in the correspondence. There was a small intermediate cabin in the section at
the south end of the NB yards by the name of Cauldcots. It was only worked as a
ground frame, being manned only when needed to shunt traffic. No doubt the
railway companies did not want to mention it for fear of its being required to
be manned properly as a signal box, with all the associated costs, but the
proper way to signal the line would surely to have been to do so.
Given the lack of mention of that box, the suggestion of replacement of
the bells by proper permissive block working had not been thought out by the
NUR, and the railway company was remarkably polite in the way it told them
so.
However, the remaining suggestions were adopted and the staff and the
union should both have been pleased with the result.
And for the rest of the life of the box, the signalmen were able to not
always be on the alert, and instead put their feet up and read the paper.
Kew PRO Reference MT6 2435/16
Comments about this article should be addressed
to John Hinson