The Signalman

[Mickey]

Forget Charles Dickens and his "A Christmas carol" with it's ghost's of Christmas past, present & future stuff this Christmas time why not try one of his lesser known ghost stories instead like this one called- "The Signalman"

A railway Signalman working alone in a lonely signal box near a tunnel on the night-shift is haunted by a ghost

This is one i can relate to a 1000 times over

[Marvin]

Available online here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27924

[Mickey]

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[PinzaC55]

It has been said that this story has been based on Burdale Tunnel because Dickens brother Alfred was the engineer for the Malton & Driffield Railway. http://www.yorkshirewoldsrailway.org.uk ... le-tunnel/

[Mickey]

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[PinzaC55]

Yes it's a good story and the BBC produced a very good telly programme version of it back in 1976 staring the actor Denholm Elliott as the Signalman.

From a railway technical point of view you do wonder what a signal box is doing located on a straight piece of single line with no obvious sets of points or a Junction anywhere outside the s/box but if you can get over that then the rest of it is great to watch and many signalmen watching it will be able to relate to the long lonely hours spent in a s/box alone on either days or nights shifts.

It wasn't uncommon to have what were known as "break section" boxes which were provided simply to break up a long Block Section. If you had to have such a box it wouldn't be a bad idea to have it near a tunnel especially if the tunnel needed monitoring for some reason such such as water ingress, which was the case with Burdale.
Burdale had a matching pair of brick huts at either end which were gangers huts but some have tried to argue they were signalboxes. Since the story was written in 1866 the Malton & Driffield was already open.

[Mickey]

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[PinzaC55]

Granted Pinza but it was still a bit of an 'oddity' having a s/box on a straight piece of single line but it wasn't unknown in the early days of raiway signalling.

Yes a s/box located on a straight piece of single line would split up a 'long block section' allowing 2-trains to travel in the same direction but i guess thats about the only benifit of it?.

There was an accident back in 1876 on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Rly near Radstock that involved various railway staff one being a young-teenage signalman at a s/box called FOXCOTE this s/box was situated on a straight piece of single line as well.

I recall seeing a picture of a s/box in southern Ireland that was located on a straight piece of single line again only to 'break up' a long block section i presume?.

There was a "Break Section" box at Houlbeckfield a few miles east of Malton on the Scarborough line which had only signals, and it was provided solely for use during the summer months when traffic was heavy - that's the kind of thing I was thinking about. For practically everything you can imagine in signalling there is a precedent.
Plus of course although Dickens was a great author you wouldn't expect him to have any real knowledge about railways except for what his brother may have told him!

[Mickey]

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[majormagna]

Dickens was unfortunately involved in a railway accident at Staplehurst in Kent in June 1865 and apparently was never the same again after this accident and died sometime after

The 9th of June 1865 to be precise, and he passed away on the 9th of June 1870, 5 years, to the day, after the accident.

[StevieG]

Long time since I've read accounts relating to the Staplehurst accident, but I think it came about through a then practice of the PWay judging when it was alright to take out rails to turn, transpose, or replace, according only to gaps between trains as in the timetable, but there was some confusion or miscalculation relating to 'Boat' train timings through tide and boat times, and that Mr. Dickens's train appeared unexpectedly while the track was incomplete.
Seem to recall that some vehicles (4-wheel-ers probably) ended up in a river - very traumatic.

[52D]

StevieG the standards of Victorian era PW and signalling certainly left a lot to be desired. After the research i did on the Willington Viaduct accident of 1853 and the one i am currently working on the derailment of the up Scotch Express at Marshall Meadows, i can appreciate the advances made. In fact i think the main catalyst to advancement in safety followed the Armargh accident.
Anyone care to open a thread discussing the advances in safety following through from the early days to present?

[StevieG]

StevieG the standards of Victorian era PW and signalling certainly left a lot to be desired. After the research i did on the Willington Viaduct accident of 1853 and the one i am currently working on the derailment of the up Scotch Express at Marshall Meadows, i can appreciate the advances made. In fact i think the main catalyst to advancement in safety followed the Armargh accident.
Anyone care to open a thread discussing the advances in safety following through from the early days to present?

Believe I recall reading that 'Armagh' was an important factor in the bringing about of The Regulation Of Railways Act, 1889, which AFAIR, included requiring the adoption of block signalling and continuous brakes on passenger lines and trains - a most significant milestone in the improvement of safety in the 19th century.

[Mickey]

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[Mickey]

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