Harry Fitzgerald was a resident signalman at Welwyn Garden City possibly going to the box in the early 1960s although I first met him in 1972 when I went to the box as a telegraph lad. From what Harry let slip about his past times on the railways apparently he had started on the LNER sometime during the 1930s as a telegraph lad 'up the London end' and possibly his first box was Holloway South Up followed by East Goods followed by Finsbury Park No.4 followed by Wood Green No.1 followed by Wood Green Tunnel Box followed by Cuffley on the Hertford loop followed lastly by Welwyn Garden City. Harry was a good signalman of his era and he could read the single needle telegraph in his sleep although I got the feeling he was someone that you wouldn't want to argue with (not that I would).
After WGC box closed in September 1976 he transferred onto the station platform at Hatfield and was at Hatfield during the late 1970s and the first half of the 1980s although I was told he passed away sometime around 1987/88. He use to live in the row of houses at the back of where Welham Green station is today and he kept pigeons.
Harry Fitzgerald at Welwyn
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Harry Fitzgerald at Welwyn
Original start date of 2010 on the LNER forum and previously posted 4500+ posts.