Hello to all…My name is Stew and I’ve just joined your community.As you can see in the subject line I am from England.My job here,is that of a Signaller on Network Rail.I hope to learn more about your trains scene.Thanks.Stew
Welcome aboard Stew! Youve picked a good group to join. We have a lot of rails here as well as fans.
I am an engineer for a midwestern line.But as of the moment I am “semi retired” lol.But hope to be back running soon.
Enjoy and thanks for joining us.
Welcome to the right hand side of the cab, Stew.
Welcome to the furum stew.
I’ve recently started to get interested in UK rail since the Tornado came on the scene and get a lot of info from your Railway Herald PDF
[#welcome] indeed, Stewy! [#welcome]. I for one have learned probably most of what I know about railroading on these sites and have found the people knowledeable and friendly, with very little hazing.
You may well know this already, but here’s one factoid to start with: we almost never call railroads “railways” in the USA. The exception would be the occasional company name like the one you work for, or as a distinction to make one corporate entity a “railroad” and the other a “railway”.
You reached me at a happy moment. I have just begun reading Lonely Planet’s English Language and Culture, which is essentially a translation guide of British-to-American idioms. May I write to you through Private Mail some time?
Wishing you the best experiences, a.s. (al-in-chgo)
Dear Newbie; Welcome to the other side of the pond. I lived in England in 1959 and 1960 and am a fan of British Steam. I was last over in the UK in 2006. Hope you get over here sometime.
Thanks for all the replies,and your welcoming comments.
Morseman…Yes the Tornado loco has generated a lot of interest.As I write,it is visiting the North Yorks Moors heritage line.Their northerly terminus is Grosmont,which “connects” to the Network Rail line at Grosmont.Grosmont is on the Network Rail Esk Valley line that runs from Middlesbrough to Whitby.The signalbox where I work is at Nunthorpe,which oversees the single line from Nunthorpe to Whitby which is signalled by token (are you following so far? LOL).To get onto the NYMR at Grosmont it has to pass through Nunthorpe,which it did on Monday 27th April.Unfortunately I was not on duty that day,so I missed it[:(] However I do know that it is in charge of a mainline charter train on 18th May,so I hope it will come off NYMR next week,and that I will be able to see it.
http://nymr.co.uk/news/tornado-arrives-at-the-nymr
Al-in-chgo… I apologise for using the word railway,insyead of railroad.I hope I am forgiven LOL.I hope you will learn a lot from the Lonely Planet book.You are welcome to mail me privately at devinestew@yahoo.co.uk
Stew
So your a “towerman” basicly? I think thats what I picked up from your last post.I have been just missed for the “fun” trains like that. One night we were on teh IHB and the IC F units rolled by( too bad it was 2 am and we couldnt see them well lol)
If you get some pictures of the Tornado please share!
Welcome aboard! Seems to me, as a signalman, you can probably help us all out with some of the differences between UK practice and North American practice along those lines – and there are many, of which I am only dimly aware!
Enjoy – it’s a fun group!
I don’t think I’ve ever understood the “signal by token” concept. As I understand it, the “token” is a physical object, possession of which acts as the authority for a train to occupy the line.
Suppose such a line runs from city A to city B. A crew is given the token at city A and proceeds to operate their train to city B. Now, dispatch wants to send a second train to city B. However, they cannot because the token is already in city B and has not returned. Effectively the line is limited to a round trip before any further movement can occur, which strikes me as a very inefficient .
Am I missing something?
What you have just described is the most basic form of single line working used in Britain, staff working. As you rightly point out it is inflexible, which is why in the 19th Century they developed electric token working. This employs two machines in the signalboxes (“Towers” in US parlance) at either end of the section. The number of tokens in both machines must add up to a preset number to enable the signalman to extract a token to give to a driver.
Let’s suppose the signalman at A wants to send to a train to B. All the tokens are in one or other of the machines, so he can take out a token. He gives it to the driver of the waiting train and off it goes. When it gets to B the signalman there has to insert the token in his machine and send line clear to A before another train can be issued with a token. Once he has done this the signalman at B could if he wishes extract a token. Alternatively, if another trains wants to go from A to B. the signalman at A is now able to extract another token.
In more recent times, to save on labour costs, a variation of this system has been introduced called “No Signalman Key Token”. In this version the token instruments at each section have to be worked by the train crew, but are
Welcome to the forum Stew!!!
English railroading is an intrest of mine, and even more so when I went ot visit family there last August. I have to say, St. Pancras station in London is the most AMAZING station I have ever been in.
[quote user=“Tulyar15”]
What you have just described is the most basic form of single line working used in Britain, staff working. As you rightly point out it is inflexible, which is why in the 19th Century they developed electric token working. This employs two machines in the signalboxes (“Towers” in US parlance) at either end of the section. The number of tokens in both machines must add up to a preset number to enable the signalman to extract a token to give to a driver.
Let’s suppose the signalman at A wants to send to a train to B. All the tokens are in one or other of the machines, so he can take out a token. He gives it to the driver of the waiting train and off it goes. When it gets to B the signalman there has to insert the token in his machine and send line clear to A before another train can be issued with a token. Once he has done this the signalman at B could if he wishes extract a token. Alternatively, if another trains wants to go from A to B. the signalman at A is now able to extract another token.
In more recent times, to save on labour costs, a variation of this system has been introduced called “No Signalman Key Token”. In this version the token instruments at each section have to be worked by the t
Hi Stewy,
Glad to see you’ve joined the signal box forum too.
For a brief time in the late 1980’s I lived in Yorkshire and briefly helped on the North Yorks. Moors Railway. I used to help do the gates at Grosmont.
An update to my post…Tornado came out of North Yorks Moors Railway on 15th May,and I WAS on duty at this time.Unfortunately it was being towed by a Diesel and was tender first.Nevertheless , I was able to get it on film,so to speak.I have uploaded it to YouTube,and it can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR1iiFrBnio .I have managed to grab a screen shot, but I’m not sure how to show/insert it on here
Stew
Stew, thanks for the sneak peek. SUCH a classy locomotive!! - a.s.