Strange signal near St John's on BBC report

[Cricketer8for9]

The problem was that the clock-style train describers could only show one description at a time and when several trains were following close behind one another the signalman had to remember which ones were still to pass. With the disruption due to the fog the signalman at Parks Bridge Junction mistook which train was which. There was also the problem that only twenty-four train types could be shown, and one of these was replaced by ‘Cancel’; with the Hastings diesels there were now too many and they had to ‘share’ a description. Normally a train register would help, but due to a shortage of booking boys it was not possible to keep one at Parks Bridge Junction.

Was a shortage of booking boys a regular occurrence? London had fairly full employment around that time; so would poorly paid shift jobs be hard to fill?
Likewise with steam. Driving jobs much easier than cleaning and maintenance of dirty ash pans etc.

 

[Gloster]

Was a shortage of booking boys a regular occurrence? London had fairly full employment around that time; so would poorly paid shift jobs be hard to fill?
Likewise with steam. Driving jobs much easier than cleaning and maintenance of dirty ash pans etc.

I would think that the root of the problem was the general economic situation: in 1957 the economy was at the end of a few years of substantial growth (in 1957 unemployment was under 2%) this was particularly concentrated in the South-East around London. Railway jobs might still be seen as fairly secure, but they were not well paid and could be disruptive to home life. A young man with reasonable literacy skills, which would be needed for a booking boy’s job, would likely prefer one of a wide variety of better-paid jobs with more amenable conditions. So, yes, I would think that there was a general shortage of booking boys due to them seeking greener fields, but I am no expert on this area.

 

[thesignalman]

Was a shortage of booking boys a regular occurrence? London had fairly full employment around that time; so would poorly paid shift jobs be hard to fill?
Likewise with steam. Driving jobs much easier than cleaning and maintenance of dirty ash pans etc.

I doubt there was a shortage of booking boys as such, vacancies could easily be covered by signalmen (from any box) on overtime if it were deemed important by management, although they may have chosen not to as a money-saving option. The reference could also be to a "deliberate shortage" whereby positions were permanently dispensed with to save money, and the recording of trains officially dispensed with. I worked at several signal boxes where this was the case.

As somebody who started as a booking boy (actually called a telegraph lad where I worked), I would not say you needed any particular literacy for the job, just the ability to read and write. The rest you learnt after being appointed. These jobs were given to under 18s who (at least, by 1970) could not legally work night shifts so the hours were perhaps not as anti-social as they could have been.

John