Sleeping overnight in a signal box

[TheSeeker]

Hello Folks

I had a very vivid dream last night about being a signaller in a remote signal box during a blizzard. It was too bad to leave for home so I slept there overnight. An army style folding bed and blankets were stored there for this purpose.

Would anything like this have happened in real life?

No clue where I got the idea but I was looking at the famous picture of the Class 37 snow plough train yesterday.

Plus I ate some cheese before going to bed

Cheers

Ben

 

[Bald Rick]

Yes, I have known it to happen, both at signalboxes, but also operational control offices and other locations where shift based staff can't get home (or their relief can't get in).

 

[ItsGrimUpNorth]

Not often we get that kind of snow in Carlisle these days!

 

[QueensCurve]

Not often we get that kind of snow in Carlisle these days!

Nor even on the Cumbrian fells. :cry:

It is now 11y since a very heavy snow storm in Cumbria (Feb '86) led to people being holed up in the Sellafield site for the night. The same would presumably apply in a rural signal box.

Made me link of Snow Drift at Bleath Gill - a lovely BTF.

Edit: I just notices the BRUTE in the photo behind the snowplough. Whatever happened to the BRUTEs?

 

[lincolnshire]

Just as a footnote to above post, BRUTE,s still live on inside Gatwick Airport, there used to store the posts and tapes for making queue,s when problems start at check in etc.

I think one or two still hide way on stations for storing items in usually out of sight of the public.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It is now 11y since a very heavy snow storm in Cumbria (Feb '86) led to people being holed up in the Sellafield site for the night. The same would presumably apply in a rural signal box.

I wish it was 11 years since 1986! 31 you mean. (I feel old).

There has been heavy snow disruption since that, though. I recall around 2008ish a day when almost no commuter made it to London and many of the Tubes and buses weren't running as nobody was there to drive them and the roads were unsafe.

Attached a picture of snowmen by Tower Bridge and Euston in the height of the evening peak on that day! (They had trouble with staff too, and ended up operating hourly all-stations 12-car, which was more than sufficient for the passengers that actually travelled). Note the closed shops...

 

[Mag_seven]

Its probably "rose tinted spectacles" but we don't seem to get "real" winters anymore.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Its probably "rose tinted spectacles" but we don't seem to get "real" winters anymore.

That is true. Could be a natural cycle, or does the lack of smoke particles in the atmosphere mean less insulation to make it colder?

 

[Zoidberg]

...

Edit: I just notices the BRUTE in the photo behind the snowplough. Whatever happened to the BRUTEs?

After reading that I was left wondering WTBB (What The Blue Blazes) is/was a BRUTE. WIKI told me and for the benefit of others, from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Universal_Trolley_Equipment

British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment (BRUTEs)were trolleys used from 1964 until 1999 for sorting, handling and transport by of parcels, newspapers, etc.

BRUTEs were a wheeled platform, generally with mesh around three sides of the body, the fourth side being open with canvas (or later plastic) straps for restraint of the load. The front included a panel for notes to be chalked to help sort traffic. A few BRUTEs had just the front, for carrying bulky loads too big for the cage, or two hinged ramps (no sides) to load or unload BRUTEs into railway vans. Each BRUTE had two fixed wheels at the rear and two swivelling caster wheels at the front, with polyurethane tyres and taper bearings.[1] Coupling were at front and rear, the front being a pin, the rear a hinged loop on a sprung shaft. A lever on the front operated brakes on the rear wheels and lifted the coupling pin.

...

 

[TheSeeker]

After reading that I was left wondering WTBB (What The Blue Blazes) is/was a BRUTE. WIKI told me and for the benefit of others, from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Universal_Trolley_Equipment

Thanks! That had me wondering too.

 

[Bantamzen]

Its probably "rose tinted spectacles" but we don't seem to get "real" winters anymore.

No, I think it is a fair point. As a child back in the <cough> 70's & 80's I recall having to literally dig ourselves out to go to school even when several feet of snow was lying (school closures were rare back then). And this occurred several times a year in Bradford. The last time I have had any snow related disruption was a few years back when for one day the snow was heavy enough to force most services to be pulled, although I was lucky enough to shoehorn onto a lone 3-car 144 which was pushed into service as a path -checker and trundled from Bradford FS at least as far as Baildon. I don't know if it got much further though, my wife was forced to walk from Guiseley back to Baildon as there was nothing coming back down the Wharfe valley.

But these days disruption occurs when just a couple of centimetres lies on the ground because most road users suddenly lose the ability to drive. But really heavy snow seems like a thing of the past.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Hello Folks

I had a very vivid dream last night about being a signaller in a remote signal box during a blizzard. It was too bad to leave for home so I slept there overnight. An army style folding bed and blankets were stored there for this purpose.

Would anything like this have happened in real life?

No clue where I got the idea but I was looking at the famous picture of the Class 37 snow plough train yesterday.

Plus I ate some cheese before going to bed

Cheers

Ben

Call that snow? This is snow!

 

[Llanigraham]

I do wish people would post smaller photos!!

 

[TheSeeker]

I do wish people would post smaller photos!!

Sorry about that. Is there a way to use the IMG tags to do this?

 

[me123]

I don't think so, but you can create a URL link - that's certainly my preferred option when you get massive images.

 

[TheSeeker]

I don't think so, but you can create a URL link - that's certainly my preferred option when you get massive images.

Thanks. I resized them locally and uploaded rather than using a direct URL.

 

[Crossover]

I do wish people would post smaller photos!!

I have reported it to get it sorted

 

[signallerscot]

I've had to sleep in the box when my car broke down once. Back in the early 80s a long since retired signalman in my neck of the woods was chucked out of the house by his wife for something and spent a week living in the locking room underneath the box he worked in. He ended up in a bit of a sorry state and she took him back after that...

 

[edwin_m]

Thanks! That had me wondering too.

A copper circa 1980 and a parcels trolley - some people would be wondering which one was meant to be the Brute...

Many years ago I was on the support team during commissioning of one of the phases of Yoker IECC. This involved visiting all the fringe boxes including (until the final commissioning) several traditional boxes to upgrade the terminals they used for inputting and receiving train descriptions. At Bowling we found the signalman trying to sleep on the floor (no trains scheduled of course) but pretty irate with us because every few minutes a colleague would change over the main system at Yoker and he'd get two loud tweeting noises for communication lost and restored.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I recall stranded staff , sleeping in goods brake vans - ok with the coal stove going - but horribly uncomfortable with plank benches and rock hard , coal grimed "padding" ......still , needs must.

 

[LAX54]

Hello Folks

I had a very vivid dream last night about being a signaller in a remote signal box during a blizzard. It was too bad to leave for home so I slept there overnight. An army style folding bed and blankets were stored there for this purpose.

Would anything like this have happened in real life?

No clue where I got the idea but I was looking at the famous picture of the Class 37 snow plough train yesterday.

Plus I ate some cheese before going to bed

Cheers

Ben

spent 3 days 'on duty' at Cantley once ! luckily I had a fair amount of grub to hand, and the 'Red House' helped out too

 

[Bald Rick]

spent 3 days 'on duty' at Cantley once ! luckily I had a fair amount of grub to hand, and the 'Red House' helped out too

Bet you were sick of the smell at the end of that.

The sugar factor, obviously