Finsbury Park no.3

[Mickey]

Just a clarification of in particular the Down fast line block instrument(s) and especially the 'block' to Finsbury Park no.5 the next box and block section north of Finsbury Park no.3 through the station, anyway was the block instrument concerned to obtain a 'line clear' release from Finsbury Park no.5 located above the block shelf in about the middle area of the long block shelf in the box although the Down fast line colour light home signal lever no.79 and the Down fast line semaphore distant signal lever no.80 were located in the lever frame on the extreme right-hand end of the frame. I was told that both levers no.79 & no.80 were regarded as 'the box lads levers' as they were located opposite the high train register desk where also the control phone along with the other circuit phones and the GN single needle telegraph instrument(s) were located and therefore it 'saved the signalman legs' after 'ringing' the train forward on the block bell to Finsbury Park no.5 and then having to walk 6 or 7 paces along the lever frame to 'pull off' the Down fast line home & distant signals so 'the box lad' use to work those two levers. Also with regards to Finsbury Park no.3s own Down fast line semaphore distant signal the signalman or telegraph lad had to wait until Finsbury Park no.5 had 'cleared his Down fast line signals' as well before the electric release on the Finsbury Park no.3 Down fast line semaphore distant signal would release no.80 lever so it could be pulled out of the frame.

I visited Finsbury Park no.3 only once either during 1972 or 1973 courtesy of one of the telegraph lads at the box named Alistair and the signalman at the box that afternoon was an Asian fella named Danny from vague memory ?.

[thesignalman]

At short notice I worked Finsbury Park No3 as telegraph lad for one shift only. Nobody told me until afterwards that the lads were expected to work levers 79 & 80 which no doubt was the reason the signalman barely spoke to me. With the lack of communication I had trouble enough completing the train register accurately in a strange environment - it was not one of my most best days!

John

[StevieG]

During my one visit there, I hadn't noticed that the 'lad' was expected to work the Down Fast rather than just voluntarily helping out John.

The old memory must be getting dodgy Mickey, because I thought that the DF Block and bells were close to 79 & 80 (which were Distant and Home respectively - not the other way round).
Must have a look at my old notes/sketches sometime to check.
( Might you be thinking of No.6, where the Up Fast signal levers were 'the wrong way round' ? - 53 Home, 54 Inner Distant, 55 Outer Distant.)

[thesignalman]

The old memory must be getting dodgy Mickey, because I thought that the DF Block and bells were close to 79 & 80 (which were Distant and Home respectively - not the other way round).

You may be right, Steve, I thought the same but wasn't confident enough of my memory to say so.

John

[Mickey]

During my one visit there, I hadn't noticed that the 'lad' was expected to work the Down Fast rather than just voluntarily helping out John.

The old memory must be getting dodgy Mickey, because I thought that the DF Block and bells were close to 79 & 80 (which were Distant and Home respectively - not the other way round).

Ha ha well in my defence Stevie was I also had only visited Finsbury Park no.3 once only that was one afternoon for about an hour maybe back in either the second half of 1972 or the first half of 1973 I really can't recall now and to be honest I don't remember much about the positioning of the block instruments and the individual block bells on the long block shelf except possibly they were all of the GN wooden cased instruments and individual block bells although I have a feeling that no B.R. 3-position standard block instruments were at the box but I maybe wrong ?. Anyway I just 'assumed' that with levers no.79 & 80 being located at the far right-hand end of the 80-lever frame and were called unofficially 'the box lads levers' I thought if the Down fast line block instruments were place about half-way along the block shelf it would have 'saved the signalman on duty having to walk' from the Down fast line block instruments to those two levers at the far end of the frame to 'clear' both of them but as you said Stevie and John also thought the 'Down fast line block instruments' were located at the far right-hand end of the 80-lever frame above levers nos.79 & 80 or in that area above on the block shelf. Anyway even exactly 50 years on from when Finsbury Park no.3 & no.5 both closed during late 1974 from memory (during October?) it is still interesting (to me at least) to know how the old signalling in the boxes worked.

From a telegraph lads perspective, possibly out of the two Finsbury Park boxes that still employed 'box lads' in the early 1970s maybe Finsbury Park no.3 was regarded as the 'better' of the two boxes job wise because Alistair who had invited me to visit Finsbury Park no.3 back then had recently at that time 'swapped boxes' from Finsbury Park no.6 to Finsbury Park no.3 so possibly Finsbury Park no.3 was regarded as the 'better job' out of the two boxes?. Personally I always had a liking for Finsbury Park no.6 which always seemed a more interesting job plus I always liked the actual box although possibly this was due to Finsbury Park no.3 appeared to be 'tucked away' and virtually out of sight to the travelling public although that reason was deceptive regarding how much work Finsbury Park no.3 did because quite a few 'train movements' took place at Finsbury Park no.3 but they were mostly unseen to most people standing on any of the Finsbury Park station platforms.

[Mickey]

At short notice I worked Finsbury Park No3 as telegraph lad for one shift only. Nobody told me until afterwards that the lads were expected to work levers 79 & 80 which no doubt was the reason the signalman barely spoke to me. With the lack of communication I had trouble enough completing the train register accurately in a strange environment - it was not one of my most best days!

Ha ha I believe you've mentioned this before John a few years ago and yeah I can believe one or two signalmen who worked the box either as regular or relief signalmen may have thought that you was being a bit 'awkward' in not attending to the Down fast line 'blocks' and or working those two levers especially if you was just standing at the high desk looking at the block shelf after Holloway North Down had just offered you 4-bells 'be ready' on the Down fast line and you was just standing opposite the block shelf with the signalman at the other end of the frame wondering if you was going to acknowledge the 4-bells and offer it on to Finsbury Park no.5 and pull off?. Ha ha..

"They were great days and I am glad I caught the last six or seven years in the late 1960s and early 1970s before it was all swept away!!."

[StevieG]

The old memory must be getting dodgy Mickey, because I thought that the DF Block and bells were close to 79 & 80 (which were Distant and Home respectively - not the other way round).

You may be right, Steve, I thought the same but wasn't confident enough of my memory to say so.

John

" .... Well in my defence Stevie was I also had only visited Finsbury Park no.3 once only that was one afternoon for about an hour maybe back in either the second half of 1972 or the first half of 1973 I really can't recall now and to be honest I don't remember much about the positioning of the block instruments and the individual block bells on the long block shelf except possibly they were all of the GN wooden cased instruments and individual block bells .... "

John and Mickey,
Just had a look at my 50+ year-old notes, and the Down Fast Blocks and bells were just to the right of the on-shelf diagram (only a few levers from 79 & 80), with all the others ranging from the left side of the diagram (no B&W 'penguin' Blocks when I visited about 1969/70 Mickey).