Lancashire and Yorkshire School of Signalling

[@johnlightfoot9967]

I remember the instructor asking the class very seriously "What steps would you take if a train derailed close to your signal box". We all mulled it over but looked a bit lost until he burst out laughing and said "Bloody big ones".

[@gorillaau]

Great sense of humour, but I would hope that no one would abandon their post. What was the bell code for derailment or emergencies? SOS?

[@benjaminhack4145]

gorillaau I think you would contact each signal box either side by ringing the bells like they’re going out of fashion. Then all signals to red and then the breakdown train is brought in by special permission.

[@gorillaau]

@@benjaminhack4145 Hmmm. I'm sure There is a procedure for it. Probably written down in the signal box, in case you forget in the heat of the moment.

[@stephenhunter70]

@@gorillaau I looked for it on www.railwaycodes.org.uk/signal/bellcodes.shtm . It amounts to a lot of bell ringing when done their way, so there surely has to be a short cut, or maybe 1-6!

[@millomweb]

@@gorillaau Stupid question. The answer is obvious - zero bells. Covers: Dead signalman Absent signalman Prevents trains entering the section.

[@MilesB1975]

My Grandad was a Signalman Inspector around that part of the world. It always seemed like a mysterious art with all the bells and whistles.

[@craigmunday47515]

Yes - I "learnt" switching in and SLW on that layout at Manchester Victoria in 1989. Still a SignalMAN now in Cornwall.

[@ianwoodhams6886]

I loved seeing this at the NRM because it was at Manchester Victoria when I went to signalling school there in 1990. That was the start of 33 years service.

[@robertschemonia5617]

I live in almost the dead center of the Midwest US, and have always been fascinated with the UKs amazing railroading past. I would absolutely drop everything and go volunteer there for a week or 2. Just because in the end, I saw the Flying Scotsman in the background. I would clean that Locomotive with a toothbrush if they asked me to. Hell, I'd be just fine emptying bins for them or pushing a broom or mop, just to get a behind the scenes look at some of that stuff. Oh, and Rocket? I built a model of Rocket when I was in middle school.

[@Travelinmatt1976]

I feel the same way, it's just different than American railroads.

[@WaxingRadiance]

Then you should make visiting York your number one thing to do in life. The Rail museum is an amazing place to visit.

[@millomweb]

@@Travelinmatt1976 I noticed in a video only yesterday (for the first time) even your tramcars have bells on.....Ding............Ding............Ding !

[@millomweb]

The earliest being hauled by animals, of course. Tracks were different - not rails but flat surfaces with wheel guides. c.f. Mumbles Oystermouth railway - Wales. You also may be fascinated by our canals too !

[@bananaman432]

DEFINATELY come to York railway museum, or arrange to ride on a steam train somewhere, not hard to find

[@carlarthur4442]

Remember I trained as a Signalman. At Manchester Victoria station 1968 , it was a six week course to learn the rules and regulations, I then had to take an exam on what I'd leant and if you passed that you'd then go on to learn the Signal boxs , you started with smaller boxs first and worked your way up to the busier bigger Signal boxs , I started in a small passenger box , then a goods box with a junction, then a passenger and goods junction , and worked my way up to what was known as Spl class boxs , over the years I worked as a regular Signalman and a relief Signalman in different gradings , worked on the Mersey underground P S B and then onto Sandhills P S Centre , I did prefer the manual boxs like Hooton North junction, and Horton South Jcn , started Hooton Nth jnc 1969 until it closed mid 1970s , Horton South jnc was a lovely box to work , and Rockferry . Covered about 23 boxs in all and enjoyed the job most of the time , everyone can have off days as you know , but enjoyed the training it was a challenge to get through it all their was a lot to remember , you got taken on the rules and regs every two years . Enjoyed the video brought back happy memories thank you .

[@momatmach1]

I learnt signalling at Manchester Victoria with this layout in 1990 and still working on the railway , still working absolute Block some of the time, good to see it was preserved

[@adelestevens]

When I was in signalling school at Manchester Victoria the layout was defunct and looking very much in need of restoration. But we did get to have a good look at how it was put together. I'm so glad that it did get rescued. One day I hope to get to NRM and see it in action.

[@paulcowell7588]

Gave railways to the world...I hope the world is grateful...

[@noelhass3712]

When I was driving suburban trains in Adelaide (South Australia) I loved going up in the old signal cabin at Woodville, it had a 48 lever mechanical frame, I knew couple of the Signalmen, would let me make the road and pull stick off for my train! great memories.

[@Jeagles]

I Had the opportunity to look around Lowestoft signal box before it closed and it’s amazing how similar that 1913 model is to the signalling systems in place even in 2019

[@millomweb]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[@grahamallen7798]

Dave at signal box A! On the main line was always known a wavy Davy.. coz....he always waved at drivers from signal box....nice man...proper railway man

[@neilwilkinson8062]

I remember the layout in the central ( now a lounge) area of the LMS school ( of engineering when I knew it) on London Road, Derby. A group of us were given an introduction to Block Working one evening. It was almost identical to this L&Y model, though the actual train was no longer there. The whole layout was all stripped out a few years later, and the school is now a conference centre. So it is good to see the NRM has preserved a working example of what was once an invaluable training tool.

[@lukrailway]

We had a group visit to the museum late last year - the volunteer on this display was brilliant! It was quiet and he let us behind the display to see how everything worked.

[@goesbysteve]

If there ever were a reason to revisit the museum!

[@19TheChaosWarrior79]

I wouldn't be surprised if John C Earwicker hadn't been trained on this. His channel is full of vids from the signal boxes around Manchester he worked in. His channel stopped abruptly years ago and if you Google his name only a obituary comes up. I dunno if it's the same bloke but he has an amazing archive of old railway footage on his channel.

[@harrygardner1525]

John did train on this, I used to also be a signalman & worked alongside him. John left the rail industry & emigrated to Canada circa 1999 but sadly died of a brain haemorrhage in his late 50s.. he was a really nice guy.

[@azrailfan2717]

Very cool operation there. I’m impressed it lasted that long 😱. If I ever travel to the UK I’ll make this museum my first stop 🤠

[@gerry343]

1913-95 An amazing length of service for this piece of technology.

[@millomweb]

Not as impressive as 1891 to present day. Yes, a 1891 piece of equipment (or similar) still in use today and 'drivable' by fairly modern computer. One with a modem with 'pulse dialling' option to drive an automatic telephone exchange - patented by Strowger in 1891 !

[@millomweb]

That was only a teaching aid. The real life equipment built before then is still in use in some places !

[@joemunro5573]

Phil Graham appreciation post… absolute legend.

[@Travelinmatt1976]

amazing, I love practical hands on teaching aids such as this. You can talk about how things work, but when you show how it all works it's so much better. It would have been nice though to go into more detail, maybe a more comprehensive video about all the workings, maybe even how it was first built and then restored.

[@MrSulzerboy]

I could watch this all day. Fascinating.

[@ichabodon]

On a side note to this, in the Longmoor army training camp in Hampshire there used to be a layout of all the rails, crossings and switches. Sadly I believe that it has now all gone. It used to be on the Longmoor railway that connected to the main line

[@callumthornelow2936]

Yes all, because the locals at Liss bought the land from underneath them and asked them to leave.

[@alexanderip1003]

I been to this place before with my *3 relatives in England *the trio's down to 2 now Rest in Peace Uncle Gerard Kelly and please watch over my aunt and cousin from above

[@stephensmith4480]

Superb. I did my Absolute Block training on that very system at Manchester Victoria Signal school back in 1990. My instructor was a guy called Derek Hart. Happy Days indeed.

[@BorderRambler]

Ah that was his name , I was there in 88 but for the life of me couldn’t remember his name . Did you lodge in the pub at Whaley bridge too ?

[@stephensmith4480]

@@BorderRambler Hi there. No mate, I travelled each day on the train from Liverpool lime st. There was another class in the room next door, they were all lodging, as they were from all over the place but my class was lads who were from the north west. I can`t remember the other instructors name. Derek Hart was in one of I think it was Collin J Marsdens books from when he was a relief signalman at Chapel-en-le-Frith. Happy days mate, apart from travelling home on a 142 that was packed like a Sardine tin😊

[@BorderRambler]

@@stephensmith4480 Yeah we travelled down early monday for a 9 am start and left early on a friday lunchtime i think ? Im from Carlisle and we had lads from brum and wales and other places . I shared room with a lad from Walsall, no seperate rooms back then . We were put at whalley bridge as the course before us in 88 were getting into bother in Manchester ie too much drink lol . You still a signaller as I packed it in and went to the dark side and became a driver !!

[@stephensmith4480]

@@BorderRambler All good stuff mate. No, that signalling lark was not for me. I took it to get on the job. I`v been groundstaff ever since, still am, but how the job has changed, it`s incredible. About the only really god thing I can say, is that now you can earn a decent living, compared to when we started.

[@RaysRailVideos]

Love this, as a volunteer at the nrm locomotion we had a trip to york and were taught about signalling and even got to have a go of this ourselves which was great fun but very intense, would love to do it again some day.

[@hedgehog3180]

I wonder if this could be turned into an interactive display or if one could be built based on that. Seems like the sorta thing that kids would love.

[@Loganberrybunny]

Slightly tangential to the specific video, but living in Worcestershire it amuses me to see a few people in the comments here talking as though semaphore signalling itself was a thing of the dim and distant past. Stand on the platform at Worcester Shrub Hill and you'll see my point!

[@Kromaatikse]

I think it's possible to build something similar now using mostly off-the-shelf components. It's reasonably easy to set up Märklin C-track to provide track circuits while still being able to power a train, for example. The biggest trick would be the block instruments (simulate them and the bells on a computer, say a Raspberry Pi) and physical signal levers (could probably be 3D-printed or built from Meccano).

[@Drummerboi_2002]

I remember my trip to the national railway museum and I'll never forget it

[@kastro4460]

I always love when they use accurate miniatures of the real thing to train, like in that other video where they use drivable supertanker models in a lake to teach about manoeuvres with them

[@DisVietVetUSA]

Thank You very interesting and has increaced my knowledge of British signaling

[@MrNoUsername]

Even after watching multiple videos of signaling, I still can't comprehend the actual signaling procedures. I'm getting the hang of the bell codes, but the actual setting of points and setting of signals I'm still studying. With the demonstration at, now I understand the operation, at least a little bit (I'm learning all this for fun. I got curious about the actual signaling procedures thanks to model railway timetable operation)

[@riverhuntingdon6659]

Lovely. Wish there was a model of an old Manchester - Bury Electric unit mind, come on Bachmann or Hornby !

[@adelestevens]

Brittania Pacific models do a ready to run oo gauge 504 emu for around £400 , which isn't bad for a hand built model. If one if the mainstream manufacturers wanted to do one maybe they could cut costs by using some of the components to do 305 ac emus as well?

[@xaiano794]

Just want to point out that these are still used today in the uk to signal trains. I'm not talking about heritage lines either.

[@hbrano1]

This is so great, what a treasure!

[@Techno-Universal]

However phones did replace the bell system at most signal boxes over the next two decades after the training model was built but the model still stayed relevant for quite a few years for more rural signal boxes that won’t connected to phone lines until the 1950s/60s! :)

[@neilwilkinson8062]

Techno Universal I think you may benefit from a little research into the subject

[@highdownmartin]

Phones were added but they certainly did not replace the block instruments and bells!!

[@millomweb]

@@highdownmartin I doubt electric heating has replaced the coal fires either ;) Back in the day when you really did put the kettle on something - the fire/stove ! "Kettle's on" "Oh great" "Give it a couple of days to boil" ":("

[@kevinrkinsella]

Common shared telephone circuits preceded dial up phones on the Railway. To make a call you repeatedly tapped a button on ‘your’ phone to send a series of pulses to all the telephone instruments on the circuit. All the phones on the circuit dinged for every tap and each phone had its own allocated code. 6 pause 2 might be for ‘location 6, instrument 2’.The person at the instrument being called picked up the phone and a conversation was possible. Calls were not private and any other phone on the circuit could be lifted to listen in. To prevent detection eavesdroppers would loosen the handset voice cartridge to avoid changing the sidetone on the line! The batteries were crude and the Lineman was kept busy eliminating high impedance faults.

[@neilwilkinson8062]

kevinrkinsella Omnibus phone, it only required two wires ( one pair) calling in at every signal box (Block Post) on a route. The black button was used to ring every phone on the circuit ( as you describe) the red button, reversed the polarity, so only rang at control.

[@CycolacFan]

That is fantastic. Wouldn’t do to have hiccups during the bell pushing would it?

[@chanachon56]

Or a sneeze, or a cough :)

[@sithlordofoz]

I've been the the NRM many times over the years but never managed to see the layout, let alone make it on the right day. It's a bit hard to co-ordinate from Australia. Maybe in 2021.

[@millomweb]

Better send the pigeon now then ;)

[@benjokazooie]

i saw this layout when i was up in nrm york over the scotsman celebration. however i didnt pay much attention to it, and i wish i had now.

[@markissboi3583]

What great piece of railway history 🚂💭 👌ok - - - . - clear

[@Richardsrailway]

When I first started on west Anglia in 1993 , my first job was box boy

[@TheCastleMarch]

Just how many have found it this week

[@jessesands4099]

Very good explanation!🙂🛤️🚂🇬🇧

[@Septimanien]

Formidable ce vieux chemin de fer !

[@SB5SimulationsFerroviairesEEP]

Historiquement intéressant! Merci. Stéph.

[@billylauwda9178]

So they were runnin model trains in school?

[@paulmishler402]

If i ever make a model railroad i am going to incorporate stuff like that into it to make it super realistic

[@joshc1981]

So how would a signal token system work?

[@mulgerbill]

I'm from Victoria AU, most of our practices were based on British systems. I've earned certificates for all our token systems (and everything else we've used) I'll have a go. Token systems are used to work traffic over sections of single line between stations or crossing points. To ensure that there could only be one train in any given section, say A to B, at any time, the driver of any train wishing to enter the section had to be in physical possession of a token. This usually took the shape of a staff or a tablet which had the names of the stations at each end of the applicable section engraved or cast into it. On busy lines, multiple numbered tokens existed but to ensure only one could be available at any time they were secured into electrically connected and interlocked instruments at each signalbox. It took the cooperative efforts of both signalmen to release a staff. The telegraphic codes and method were similar to the double line demonstrated in the video with the main difference being the when B granted permission to the signalman at A he had to hold down the bell key to energise the lock in the instrument at A which would allow release of a token. This would electrically lock both instruments to prevent withdrawal of a token at either end. The token was handed to the driver of the train waiting at A and signals cleared for the train to depart. When the train departed the signalman would advise B by sending 2 beats on the telegraph. On arrival at B, the driver would hand the token to the signalman there who would, after ensuring the train was complete, insert the token into his instrument and send "train arrival" 3 beats. This would reset both instruments ready for the next train in either direction. Hope this rather long winded but still condensed essay helps.

[@johnhumphreys3246]

@@mulgerbill Agree. I hold the same tickets too

[@fordlandau]

However computerised train control and radio authorities have just about completely replaced semaphore signals and block system. Is there anywhere in the UK ( apart from heritage railways ) that still has traditional signalling?

[@millomweb]

Cumbria coast line aka Furness Railway. Carnforth to Carlisle. Includes Sellafield to Whitehaven SLW

[@SteveW139]

Shrewsbury - 180 levers in Severn Bridge Junction box and 120 in Crewe Junction. And Stockport on the main Manchester to London line - five mechanical boxes.

[@millomweb]

@@SteveW139 I bet there's fewer than 60 used in either box nowadays. Were they 3-storey - top floor for the signalman and a lever room below containing 5 lackeys. It'd certainly be interesting to see how it was all arranged. One long frame - or maybe 2 long frames back to back - or 4 in a square formation ?????

[@buffplums]

How incredible

[@stuartthegrant]

I would love a go on that model.

[@riverhuntingdon6659]

Same as that old fruit ! Wouldn't mind a go on an LYR leccie either, pop,click,flash,grrrrowlll from the Dick Kerr motors !

[@stephenlittle7534]

Well done guys.

[@oliveraranguiz6091]

where is this located?

[@NatRailwayMuseum]

Towards the back of North Shed at the National Railway Museum in York. There are public demos once a month, dates are listed on our website

[@strafrag1]

Excellent!

[@ichabodon]

Thank you for that bit about Liss buying up the land. Sad

[@JintySteam1]

wish i could have a go

[@imtiyaz240679]

Really best

[@codswallop328]

fascinating stuff

[@philippenachtergal6077]

See also this old 1958 piece where you can see this model when it was still used for training: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHWpiqeDpbNgr7M And this long training video where you can see the real stuff being used: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXKyZH2Yjb6FpKs And this 1962 piece where you see the people who build and maintain the signaling equipment: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXKyZH2Yjb6FpKs

[@josephinebennington7247]

Trains move fast. Several signallers down the line would need coordinating fast, wouldn’t they? An express doesn’t want any signaller humming and haaaing. How is an uninterrupted run achieved?

[@highdownmartin]

They work to the working timetable and are kept up to date on how the sequence of trains are running by control and by bigger boxes at the major station and junctions either side of the smaller boxes. Also you get promoted to biggest more complicated boxes and start off in a passing box with maybe only two or three signals each direction. If you keep delaying trains cos you’re too slow and can’t keep up then you’ll be a porter in no time!!

[@millomweb]

The busiest it gets is 2 trains from opposite directions - but no express trains on our line !

[@3xfaster]

It’s a very polite game of hot potato and mother may I.

[@stephanesonneville]

Now a £10 computer do the job of 30,000 signalmen.

[@stephanesonneville]

@MusicalElitist1 Totally true! A simple Raspberry PI can handle the state of 30K switches. The whole database would fit in its 1G RAM. Count 64 bytes for the one switch (its location, state, etc). You can do it with 2M byte !

[@BorderRambler]

There are still many absolute block lines around the country still using this system today , but slowly being replaced by larger signalling centres .

[@FinnDavid2979]

hi everyone fun fact york train station does not have a signalman.

[@PlatinumEagleStudios]

Why is signalling such a formal job? I found it weird that signal men have to dress up in ties and dress shirts JUST to go to work.........People in the UK seem more proper then anywhere else in the world because they love their suits and ties.

[@AstroNotFound]

1:35 "When I started on the railway in 19funynumber

[@mazno1455]

I always wonder who might unlike this kind of video's....!? Psyco lets say!!....

[@sambennett3482]

Ford land a. Shrewsbury for one!!

[@CBeard849]

Nowadays everything is controlled with an X-box controller.........

[@fatwalletboy2]

One of the instructors when this was at Victoria circa 1987 was a complete bell end. No patience so I quickly lost interest. I did report him for his unorthodox approach to "teaching".