End of the line

[Mickey]

Retirment is approaching in the coming months so after 50 years of railway work starting in 1972 as a 15 year old 'telegraph lad' at Welwyn Garden City signal box on the East Coast main line and then subsequent stints as secondmen at both Kings Cross loco between 1974-75 and at Stratford MPD during 1979 before transferring back into the signalling grade and becoming a signalman in 1980 until the present day overall it' has been a good 50 years on the railways. Working on the railways was always what I wanted to do even as a 7 year old child I remember telling my parents that is what I wanted to do to work on the railways when I grew up and like most people on here my interest in railways started long before I actually started working on the railways but as a child during the early 1960s a full decade before I actually started working on the railways in 1972.

Also my active particpation on the forum will in the coming months also decrease as I do not own my own PC but I shall still 'look in' from time to time during the rest of the year and beyond to 'catch up' with topics that interest me and also with regards to some of my own postings I hope especially several different topic threads that I started on Welwyn Garden City signal box over a decade ago and a few more about the box in more recent years along with LNER railway staff from the 1960s and 1970s and my own NLL Recollections as a signalman (North London Line recollections of the 1970s-2000s) mite one day be of some historical interest to a few railway scholars and enthusiasts in the years and decades to come.

My own CV-

1.1972-74 A telegraph lad at Welwyn Garden City s/box later on to become known as a 'train recorder' on British Rail during the 1980s.
2.1974-75 A secondman at Kings Cross loco. Originally known as a fireman during steam days and later on during the 1980s as a driver's assistant before the position was abolished altogether.
3.1979 A secondman again this time at Stratford MPD in East London.
4.1980-2022 A signalman on B.R. but later on it was changed to 'signaller' after privatisation during the late 1990s to include the growing number of female staff entering the signalling grade.

Signal boxes that I worked at between 1980 and 2022 either as a resident or on the relief signalman between 1987-1990-

1.1980-81 Victoria Park in Hackney in East London my first box
2.1981-85 Junction Road Junction on the Gospel Oak-Barking line
3.1985-87 Upper Holloway NX panel box from new when the box opened in November 1985
4.1987 Western Junction at Dalston both as a lever frame and a NX panel
5.1987-1990 As a relief-signalman on the North London line covering the s/boxes at Camden Road, Upper Holloway, Gospel Oak, Willesden High Level, Acton Wells both as a lever frame and a panel, Kew East Junction, Acton Canal Wharf, Neasden Midland Junction and on the Euston-Watford DC lines at Willesden Low Level
6.1990-1992 Upper Holloway NX panel again for a 2nd time
7.1992-2004 Camden Road panel
8.2004-2022 Upper Holloway NX panel yet again for a 3rd time.

Also a special mention and thanks to all the railway staff I have met and known and worked with over the last 50 years it's been a pleasure.

And lastly as a fast approaching 65 year old It has been a long 50 years journey since that sunny morning back in July 1972 at Welwyn Garden City station at 9:00am that a fresh faced 15 year old boy was taken up Welwyn Garden City signal box by Jack Mead the local stations manager to start work as a telegraph lad on the railways...

[strang steel]

May I wish you many congratulations on reaching your retirement, Mickey; and hopefully you will have many many years of putting your feet up after what appears to have been an excellent railway career.

I retired a while back, and as far as I am concerned it was one of the best decisions I made.

[Dave S]

Jack Mead the local stations manager [/i]

Jack Mead was at Enfield Chase when I worked the Southern area.

Of the other TM's. I always liked, and got on well, with Tony Mead (Potters Bar). I also remember another, Alec Hutchison (aka 'The Flying Scotsman') was at Letchworth covering Hitchin to Royston. It was entertaining watching either Eric Norman (Hitchin CO3 chief clerk) or George 'Wacko' Oakman (Royston CO2 Clerk) pull the wool over his eyes and thoroughly confuse him when he inspected the TIB ....just because they could

[Hatfield Shed]

That's a full half century career, which few are likely to emulate in the future, congratulations. In three months time you'll be wondering how you ever found time to go to work is the general experience of 'retirement'...

[manna]

G'Day Mickey

Congratulations on 50 years on the railway and on reaching retirement, now you need a 'Hobby', either Computer's or building 'Signals' for the rest of us.

manna

[rockinjohn]

Hi Mickey not sure how I missed this momentous up &coming moment(to you/me &some others Congratulations,sad that your excursions(pun intended)on these pages will be less frequent, spare lap top here sadly 12000miles away prohibits you taking the offer up!,Your regular posts on so many aspects of Railway life &detail were along with others much welcomed, albeit a bit "London &Home Counties" concentric having said that its myself too!So suits fine, better to inform on what you know,& you sure did&do ,thank you &others for the many hours of reading &still am,you &others bring light but technical relief to the LNER Forum.God Bless &thank you again.jj

[Mickey]

Thank you jj, manna, Hatfield Shed, Dave S & John (Strang steel) for all your kind words.

Well with regards to coming on the forum in the future I have just discovered a nice little I.T. cafe off one of the back streets near Oxford Circus in London's west end and surprisingly I am the only person in here being so close to Oxford Circus in the heart of the west end so I may well drop in once or twice a week when I am in the west end.

Dave with regards to Jack Mead in 1972-73 and may be a year or two before 1972 Jack was the station manager at WGC station and he may have had responsibility for other stations in the area such as Hatfield, Welwyn North & Knebworth?. The last thing that I heard of him was many years ago was that around 1975 he was at Hitchin as a station manager but apart from that I never heard any more about him. Jack had a couple of deputies at WGC during 1972-73 one bloke was called Mr.Hamer a bloke aged about 30 I would say and he was often seen walking around WGC station platform or the booking office area holding a 'piece of white paper' in one of his hands and I remember one of the signalmen at the box making the comment to me "When you see someone holding a piece of paper (like him) he's trying to give the impression that he's busy and has a job to do" which subsequently has always stuck in my mind especially if I see someone walking around holding a piece of paper ha ha ha... As for the other deputy manager I have forgotten his name but I can still picture him in my mind's eye and I reckon he may have been around 35 years of age and was balding also they both wore black suits (may be provided by British Rail?) with a white shirt and tie I seem to remember.

Someone said to me recently the amazing thing is that you (me) actually survived for so long (50 years) which is an achievement in this day and age.

[jwealleans]

I hope you will continue to contribute, Mickey, it's interesting to read first hand accounts of what the railways were and are like to work on.

...he was often seen walking around WGC station platform or the booking office area holding a 'piece of white paper' in one of his hands and I remember one of the signalmen at the box making the comment to me "When you see someone holding a piece of paper (like him) he's trying to give the impression that he's busy and has a job to do"

One of the first things I was taught when I started work - if you have a piece of paper in your hand, people think you're busy. Never let me down.

These days it's all to do with what times you send emails, but everything evolves, i suppose.

[strang steel]

Thank you jj, manna, Hatfield Shed, Dave S & John (Strang steel) for all your kind words.

Well with regards to coming on the forum in the future I have just discovered a nice little I.T. cafe off one of the back streets near Oxford Circus in London's west end and surprisingly I am the only person in here being so close to Oxford Circus in the heart of the west end so I may well drop in once or twice a week when I am in the west end.

Sounds like a great find, Mickey. A pleasant place to spend an hour or so makes a great destination when out for a wander. When I first retired, I could not quite get my head around the fact that I was not on holiday, and would never be required to go back to work again - especially 12 hour nights which became rather too much for my system once over 55. It sounds a bit silly, but retirement is a big event in one's life.

This long holiday feeling lasted about 6 months; for my brain to adjust to the new regime. My problem was that I decided to make a start to all the chores I had put off, which included chopping large parts of a birch tree which was shading out half the garden. The result was a searing pain in my back and about three days in bed. The moral being - don't try and overdo things immediately you finish work.

[S.A.C. Martin]

Hi Mickey - congrats on reaching your retirement years on the railway. I am approaching my fifth year - I have at least ten times the amount of catching up to do to you!

I hope that my career is as varied and interesting as yours has clearly been.

[Hatfield Shed]

...often seen walking around WGC station platform or the booking office area holding a 'piece of white paper' in one of his hands and I remember one of the signalmen at the box making the comment to me "When you see someone holding a piece of paper (like him) he's trying to give the impression that he's busy and has a job to do" ...

The next step up 'back in the day' was smart suit and a clipboard, with plenty of halts for observation and note taking. You could go hours without challenge doing this; regularly entertained by the number of people that promptly made themselves scarce.

[Mickey]

I hope you will continue to contribute, Mickey, it's interesting to read first hand accounts of what the railways were and are like to work on.

...he was often seen walking around WGC station platform or the booking office area holding a 'piece of white paper' in one of his hands and I remember one of the signalmen at the box making the comment to me "When you see someone holding a piece of paper (like him) he's trying to give the impression that he's busy and has a job to do"

One of the first things I was taught when I started work - if you have a piece of paper in your hand, people think you're busy. Never let me down.

These days it's all to do with what times you send emails, but everything evolves, i suppose.

Thank's Mr.Wealleans. Yeah the old 'white piece of paper doge trying to give the impression of being busy' is fast disappearing in the age of e-mails without doubt ha ha ha...

[Mickey]

Sounds like a great find, Mickey. A pleasant place to spend an hour or so makes a great destination when out for a wander.

Yes it is John and it's only a couple of streets away from Oxford Circus in the heart of the west end of London.

[Mickey]

Hi Mickey - congrats on reaching your retirement years on the railway. I am approaching my fifth year - I have at least ten times the amount of catching up to do to you!

I hope that my career is as varied and interesting as yours has clearly been.

Thank you Mr.Martin and the best of luck with your book on Mr.Thompson also enjoy the rest of your railway career.

[Mickey]

...often seen walking around WGC station platform or the booking office area holding a 'piece of white paper' in one of his hands and I remember one of the signalmen at the box making the comment to me "When you see someone holding a piece of paper (like him) he's trying to give the impression that he's busy and has a job to do" ...

The next step up 'back in the day' was smart suit and a clipboard, with plenty of halts for observation and note taking. You could go hours without challenge doing this; regularly entertained by the number of people that promptly made themselves scarce.

Your post raised a smile with me Hatfield Shed I like it ha ha ha...