I used to walk home from school and pass Newton Abbot West most days and when I got to the station I would always look across to the signal box to see if Charlie was on duty. In the summer the signal box windows would be open and it wasn't hard to catch his eye between trains. If the coast was clear he'd lean out of the window and invite me up into the box. I'd walk back to the station and onto the platform (no barriers existed then) and sneak up to the end of the platform and when no one was looking, dash up the stairs and into the box. I've spent many happy hours just sat there watching the trains go by, chatting to Charlie and listening to the bells between East and Aller Junction. What a wonderful memory of a lovely chap and a wonderful signal box this video has brought to life! I've told the tale many times of my visits to Newton Abbot West but I never thought I'd find a video of the man himself operating the frame, so sad to hear he is no longer with us. Thanks for posting the video.
I love this. Thanks for uploading. There aren't enough videos of Newton Abbott, I always found it such a fascinating station as a child. Really like the gentle pace of this as it shows the station from the perspective of the signalman.
I left school at 15 in 1963 to join the railways at Taunton with ambition to become a signalman which I achieved at Stonehouse Bristol Road signal box on the Midland line between Bristol and Gloucester. Following a couple of years as telegraph boy on the platform, I got my chance when a vacancy for a booking lad became available at the magnificent 136-lever Taunton West Station box. As you can imagine, at such a busy station with mainline, branch lines and other traffic including engines of the engine shed, it made it a great place to work. Highlight was Summer Saturdays. Manic, absolutely Manic!! I had to write in the register, every single bell signal, be it train type, entering section and out of section. It sometimes seemed impossible to keep up with all of these holiday expresses. and branch trains to Barnstaple and Minehead and arrivals from Yeovil. I did enjoy this video of Newton Abbot West in 1986 but unlike years gone past, it is clearly a shadow on its previous life with monotonous traffic flows and no active locomotive depot to add interest. It just looks boring and does not seem to have tomake entries in the register to add some interest. Like Taunton signal boxes, closure for Exeter and Newton Abbot boxes was not far off, sadly. I STILL HAVE THOSE BELL CODES FROM THE 60'S RINGING IN MY EARLS!! Time to send 2-1, out of section and out of here!!
![Finesse2Tymes - Pretty Ricky [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xIoP_mhYRT0/mqdefault.jpg)
I used to walk home from school and pass Newton Abbot West most days and when I got to the station I would always look across to the signal box to see if Charlie was on duty. In the summer the signal box windows would be open and it wasn't hard to catch his eye between trains. If the coast was clear he'd lean out of the window and invite me up into the box. I'd walk back to the station and onto the platform (no barriers existed then) and sneak up to the end of the platform and when no one was looking, dash up the stairs and into the box. I've spent many happy hours just sat there watching the trains go by, chatting to Charlie and listening to the bells between East and Aller Junction. What a wonderful memory of a lovely chap and a wonderful signal box this video has brought to life! I've told the tale many times of my visits to Newton Abbot West but I never thought I'd find a video of the man himself operating the frame, so sad to hear he is no longer with us. Thanks for posting the video.
I love this. Thanks for uploading. There aren't enough videos of Newton Abbott, I always found it such a fascinating station as a child. Really like the gentle pace of this as it shows the station from the perspective of the signalman.
I left school at 15 in 1963 to join the railways at Taunton with ambition to become a signalman which I achieved at Stonehouse Bristol Road signal box on the Midland line between Bristol and Gloucester. Following a couple of years as telegraph boy on the platform, I got my chance when a vacancy for a booking lad became available at the magnificent 136-lever Taunton West Station box. As you can imagine, at such a busy station with mainline, branch lines and other traffic including engines of the engine shed, it made it a great place to work. Highlight was Summer Saturdays. Manic, absolutely Manic!! I had to write in the register, every single bell signal, be it train type, entering section and out of section. It sometimes seemed impossible to keep up with all of these holiday expresses. and branch trains to Barnstaple and Minehead and arrivals from Yeovil. I did enjoy this video of Newton Abbot West in 1986 but unlike years gone past, it is clearly a shadow on its previous life with monotonous traffic flows and no active locomotive depot to add interest. It just looks boring and does not seem to have tomake entries in the register to add some interest. Like Taunton signal boxes, closure for Exeter and Newton Abbot boxes was not far off, sadly. I STILL HAVE THOSE BELL CODES FROM THE 60'S RINGING IN MY EARLS!! Time to send 2-1, out of section and out of here!!
Every train was logged and there was a manual log and an electronic system, I think it has just been edited out on this video.
Anglo-Irish My maternal hometown ❤️
Was the tank top part of the uniform ?