Another Day in the Office

Well if I thought I was tired yesterday, I had a shock today. Today I operated all the signalling movements under supervision. I tell you some of those levers are very hard to pull. They require a great deal of physical effort from the upper body and the legs. Tonight my shoulders and arms really ache.

There are compensations, as you can see from this view out of the window.

 This little signal box is a hive of activity for about 30 minutes an hour after which it goes quiet. A typical sequence of events is; accept trains from the boxes either side, there then has to be a judgement call as to which one is going to reach Goathland first as a train should not be stopped on the bank leading to the station. Then as the train approaches it is time to set the points and signals correctly. As the train arrives you have to exit the box to swap the tokens with the driver.

I will admit that standing at the side of the track as a large steam locomotive chugs towards you albeit at a slow pace is nerve wracking.

Once the tokens have been swapped it is back to the box to see the trains away, advise the two adjacent boxes, and then reset all the signals and points. All these activities have to be recorded faithfully in the trains register. I forgot to say that some of the signals have to be pulled just before the train reaches them.

So during the 30 minutes it is punishing on the brain and the body. For reference I include a picture of the levers, they look benign don’t they. You wait until you have pulled them, particularly in a hurry. Number 21 is a particular b……..

Still I have thoroughly enjoyed my two days, I now have to start learning the rules and regulations before my next shift in a weeks time. I have seriously considered purloining Millie’s Brio train set and constructing a replica of Goathland station to practice on. I am not sure Millie and Martha would understand their roles as signalmen though!