The LNER Encyclopedia

Although i don't remember steam in service on the ECML some of the LNER infrastructure was still in place and one of my fond memories was watching the indicators at the platform ends at Hitchin. There was a glass fronted box containing five large indicators marked down slow, down fast, up fast, up slow and shunting all roads. When one of these indicators moved you knew something was coming. I'm sure they moved before any signals cleared so it was a real advance warning.. Anyway after quite a while of searching i finally have my own set, not as large as the former Hitchin ones but rather interesting all the same. I think the case may have come from Welwyn Garden City and was for crossing the Luton lines but the indicators were acquired seperately and have minor detail variations.. Anyone else remember these?

http://richard2890.fotopic.net/p36226241.html
http://richard2890.fotopic.net/p54284295.html

As soon as it dries up outside it'll get a coat of paint..

There were some at Hatfield on the barrow crossing between the staggered platforms - covering USL, UFL and DSL but I can't remember one for 'Shunting All Roads'. Certainly remember the others and at Hitchin, there was also an electric bell, which would wake the dead, on the wall by the station inspectors office on the up platform to announce the arrival of trains. This was operated by the signalman in Hitchin Yard box, remember that too?

I was ten when Hitchin Yard box shut so memories of the platform bell are sketchy.. My Dad used to take me to watch trains there in the evenings probably from the very late sixties until around the mid seventies. I had a guided tour of the turntable, few visits to Hitchin Yard box and several rides in the pilot in that time. Any chance of that happening nowadays?

Errrr - no. Whilst I suspect unofficial visits to signalboxes might not be seen as a major crime even nowadays in some parts of the country, an unofficial cab ride certainly would be with dire consequences for the driver involved. Hitchin Yard was a great place as, being up high, you could see all that was going on around you on the railway and also on Cambridge Road below.