South Western Railway Signalbox "not open"

[Omnishambles]

Do bear in mind that if a member of traincrew is missing, then their train(s) will be cancelled, but everything else will run; there is (presumably) still the option of switching traincrew around at the last minute so that the least important working ends up being the one that is cancelled. If a signalbox is closed because there is no signalman, then the whole service over that line stops.

As a signalman I have gone in when feeling foul and stuck it out. On one occasion I told the management that I would finish the shift but wouldn’t make it the following day; on another I rang in as soon as I booked on and said I wanted relief because of toothache: they found somebody in under two hours (I was off for a week because the dentist messed up). Signalmen know, or used to know, just how vital their presence was to the railway’s operation and wouldn’t miss out willingly. Nor would they dump the signalmen that were waiting to go home in it. One is the way to difficulties with the management, the other leads to unpopularity with your workmates.

……then there’s others who have their Saturday night annual leave declined, tell everyone that will listen about it all week and then go sick.

 

[Horizon22]

If a stand-by is also unavailable (surely a very rare eventuality) then that sees the box (and line?) shut for the duration.

Yes, but intervention of management and shifting resources in such an extreme scenario might see it reopen.

Most people only see the tip of an iceberg when it comes to railway rostering - with the exception of train crew resourcing at certain TOCs but even then very few are aware of the amount of interventions going on in the background so that the impact isn't even worse than it already is.

 

[godfreycomplex]

Signalmen know, or used to know, just how vital their presence was to the railway’s operation and wouldn’t miss out willingly. Nor would they dump the signalmen that were waiting to go home in it. One is the way to difficulties with the management, the other leads to unpopularity with your workmates.

On the other hand signallers are well aware that the chance of distraction and resulting incidents if you go in not fit for duty is high. Also, if it’s a contagious illness of any kind, they don’t want to catch it

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Feb 2025 ==

……then there’s others who have their Saturday night annual leave declined, tell everyone that will listen about it all week and then go sick.

That is also a thing

 

[Deepgreen]

Yes, but intervention of management and shifting resources in such an extreme scenario might see it reopen.

Most people only see the tip of an iceberg when it comes to railway rostering - with the exception of train crew resourcing at certain TOCs but even then very few are aware of the amount of interventions going on in the background so that the impact isn't even worse than it already is.

Yes, I was just saying that having a stand-by is really only a one-step option - you can't keep having stand-by after stand-by, so it has to be accepted that sometimes staff are not to be found. It's an interesting topic - signallers have traditionally been very reliable for reasons already mentioned, and I also wonder if they are slightly less prone to illness because they usually work alone - i.e. infections at large in society may be a little less likely to hit them.

 

[sharpener]

Perhaps we are dragging the thread off-topic, though...

My fault, and apologies, no offence meant ( to anyone).

Thanks for the brief trip down memory lane though. I went to Elm Road school so had plenty of opportunity to marvel at the big wheel that operated the crossing gates. I also recall a number of interesting discussions about NM including the history of the diveunder tracks at Elm Road and also the Metropolitan Water Board pipe track going towards Raynes Park. And not forgetting the big push to swap out the old bridge over the main road. Happy days.