Absolute Block Signalling Question

[52A]

In the north east bell code 1-1 was "Station Master entering signalbox"!

[Mickey]

Yeah it appears that a small number of 'unofficial bell codes' between signalmen existed around the country, B.R. regions and areas especially in regards to a manager approaching or entering the box and also to ask the signalman 'next door' to come on the phone.

[Mickey]

I originally became interested (which became an obsession) in railway signalling when I was 10 years old in 1967 after observing mechanical signalling 'in the raw' on the Kings Cross area. I bought a small hardback book called British Railway Signalling Vol.2 second edition 1968 by K.M.Kitchenside & Alan Williams and learnt a lot about the rudiments of railway signalling including how track circuits worked, all the bell codes and what the different lever colours meant plus signalmen's general and emergency rules & regulations on such things as how to deal with a train passed a signal box without a tail lamp, a divided train, a train unusually long time in a section and a number of other rules & regulations.

My signalling obsession was further fuelled by getting into a number of signal boxes in 1970 including-

Broad Street No.2
Dalston Junction
Kensington South Main
Woolmer Green
St Albans South on three separate occasions.

Anyway by the time that I started in Welwyn Garden City box as a telegraph lad (box lad) in 1972 I felt like a 'old hand' in signalling ha ha ha...

Kings Cross area boxes visited between 1971-1973-

Holloway South Up
Holloway North Down
Ashburton Grove
Finsbury Park No.3
Finsbury Park No.4
Finsbury Park No.5
Finsbury Park No.6
Harringay (passenger)
Ferme Park South Down in 1971 after it had closed
Hornsey No.1
Wood Green No.1
New Southgate
Cemetery in 1973 just after it had closed
Potters Bar
Marshmoor just after it had closed
Hatfield No.1
Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn North
Knebworth
Stevenage North

[Mickey]

At 15 years of age I attended the Ilford signalling school on the border with east London & Essex for 2 weeks during the summer of 1972 to try and learn the single needle telegraph instrument that were still in use on the GN main line at that time with another telegraph lad from Holloway South Up box and we were both mixed in with a class of trainee signalmen all of which were 'off the street' and one bloke that I recall was a ex-copper who was going to a gate box on the GE in Essex and all of them didn't know nothing about signalling although strangely enough I probably knew more about railway signalling than all of those guy's put together in that class!. Thinking about it again the instructor was a funny dude who wore thick black rimmed glasses and had a mop of dark black hair and wore a grey dust jacket and who was probably in his late 40s or early 50s?.

At the very start of 1980 I again attended the Ilford signalling school but this time as a trainee signalman bound for Victoria Park box at Hackney Wick in east London. From memory the signalman's course at that time lasted for 6 weeks and from an original class of about 12 the class was gradually whittled down to maybe 5 or 6 by the end of the course.

The Eastern Region Ilford school & hostel was a single storey low rise building complex that was similar to army barrack room spiders with a main entrance and reception area and a 'cookhouse' come restaurant to the right of the entrance & reception area. A main corridor then ran the length of the complex with the individual single men's rooms leading off along other corridors with the main corridor ending at 2 or 3 large classrooms for training purposes. The hostel part of the Ilford hostel & school closed sometime around the early/mid 1980s with the rest of the training classrooms closing sometime during the later 1980s or early 1990s?.

An amusing story regarding the Ilford hostel that I remember hearing back in the early 1980s was that the police received a 'tip off' that the Yorkshire Ripper was a railwayman and he lived in the Ilford hostel!. Apparently the police took the tip off seriously and apparently surrounded the hostel and questioned all it's residents before letting them all go free!.

[S&T]

The Eastern Region Ilford school & hostel was a single storey low rise building complex that was similar to army barrack room spiders with a main entrance and reception area and a 'cookhouse' come restaurant to the right of the entrance & reception area. A main corridor then ran the length of the complex with the individual single men's rooms leading off along other corridors with the main corridor ending at 2 or 3 large classrooms for training purposes. The hostel part of the Ilford hostel & school closed sometime around the early/mid 1980s with the rest of the training classrooms closing sometime during the later 1980s or early 1990s?.

I remember the Ilford training school Mickey....attended several training courses there in the 80s. I commuted each day as I think most of the accommodation was shut by then....although the cook house was still open. I certainly remember doing a course on the HW2000 point machine and adjusting a set of points they had on a short section of track. Also recall doing a PBX telephone exchange course and the Person In Charge course (don't recall exact name) there as well. Don't remember the others. Most of the S&T training was done at the Derby Technical Training School.

[Mickey]

Yeah I remember the multi-aspect colour light signal with a route indicator (a feather) along side a set of motor operated switches S&T that area was also used for fire training as well which from memory consisted of a metal tray filled with petrol which was set alight by the instructor and then you had to use the fire extinguisher to put it out!. Yeah the same as yourself S&T I travelled daily from WGC to Ilford and return which didn't bother me as I loved railways and travelling from Liverpool street to Ilford was a novelty being in GE territory instead of my usual GN main line.

[S&T]

Going off track completely from the original subject...but it jogged my mind whilst recalling training.

One of the more unusual training tasks I had to do....and probably the shortest training....was at Drayton Park. We had to learn how to isolate the third rail by using shorting-bar with a long wooden handle. I recall wearing some rather heavy duty rubber gloves as well. A flash and a zap and job done. If I recall correctly the isolating training point was on the far side of what was the old LT sheds.