Being a Railway Signaller - with Christopher Nairne
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- Опубликовано: 27 ноя 2024
- Christopher Nairne is currently Guildford Relief Signaller, working across six Network Rail boxes:
Guildford ASC
Woking Panel 3 (Alton line)
Wokingham SB (featured here)
Haslemere SB
Farncombe SB
Petersfield SB
He is also an award-winning freelance theatre lighting designer, represented by Sam Day at InterTalent. See www.christophernairne.co.uk for details.
Film by Chris Eyre. Music by Martin Walsh: martinwalshmusicformedia.org.uk
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90% Boring is a series of films about what makes people happy at work, what gives them satisfaction, contentment or meaning in the daily grind. It covers a range of disciplines including:
Being a Railway Signaller
Being a Journalist & Theatre Maker
Being a Painter
Being a Bishop
Being a Human Rights Defender
(Not) Being Magicians
The title comes from author Elizabeth Gilbert, who once said that everything that is interesting is 90% boring, that even the most glamorous-looking of careers will be underpinned by a lot of hard work and, frankly, tedium. I find this a very liberating thought. 'Dream jobs' feel more within reach when we can see how much they have in common with most jobs. You just need to show up, day after day, with commitment and energy. But perhaps more importantly, we can see that the pleasure found doing these jobs can be found doing almost any job. This series gives insights into a variety of personalities and roles, revealing where the little joys of work can be found day to day, and hopefully where you can apply them to your own worklife.
I thought your video was excellent thank you for making it. I was lucky enough in the 1980's to be invited to go into a Signal Box and see how it all worked and when there were no trains about having a go at pulling the levers. It was a rural isolated box with 64 levers in the frame, to this day I remember to cross 4 trains at this Single Line Junction Box it took 90 moves on the frame to do this, you were pulling or putting back levers for about 19 minutes. That experience led me to become one of only a handful of qualified Movements Inspectors on a Narrow Gauge Railway following a six hour examination by the railway Inspectorate. I still think real signalling can only be done in a mechanical Signal Box but whatever type of Signal Box you are in I hope you have a long and happy career signalling.
Thank you Andrew! Lovely to hear about that :-)
Brought back memories of my time as a signalman in the 1960/70s.
Started at Crystal palace, then onto Leigham Junction , Hayes (Kent) ending at Twickenham West Junction box.........scariest was a short stint at Star Lane on the Brighton line just south of Coulsdon. It was situated in a deep cutting, well away from anyone.
There was a mental institution close by, and often some of the inmates would get out and try to get into the signal box.......lots of fatalities in the area due to them committing suicide........ Glad to get out of there!
Very good point about the mid nineties privatisation, I was working on Woking pway and the sense of dis jointed control , loss of ownership , personal pride in the patch was destroyed in a moment . I had to move on , shame . If there'd been more collaboration rather than political shuffling it may have been different .
Great interview . Signallers are the safety valve . 👍🇬🇧
Cheers Chris, very well presented short film.
Christopher also has a very engaging way of speaking. Overall great video.
I just passed my IST course can't wait to get started.
good luck!
How’s it going??
Fantastic, such a cool job 👍
Fantastic video signalling is very interesting sorry to learn that your signal box closed that was featured in video did network rail relocate you are you still in signalling in 2024
Hello, Chris says he's "still happily signalling away at my remaining five signalboxes, so did not need to be relocated (although NR certainly supported any residents who wanted to stay on somewhere, as they don't like losing skilled people that they've paid to train up)"
This was really fascinating. Didn't realize that signal boxes still exist. Also loved the ghost story he shared. I wonder how often does he get people telling him about the Charles Dickens short story, The Signalman?
Thank you. And apparently, he gets that often!
With that amount of tea a day, I strongly suggest replacing that plastic kettle with a stainless steel one :)
Great video, thanks for sharing your insights. I am going for a Trainee Signaller role and have my interview this week. Wish me luck!
Best of luck!
Mee too 🙏
How did it go? If you got it, how did you find the training?
@@ChrisEyreFilmAs a track operative
Can I do signalling?
Hi! Yes absolutely. People go in with no railway experience, so you'd be very welcome I'm sure
As much as this looks like such a rewarding job, wow it looks like such a stressful job given how easily things could go wrong.
Hi Jordan, Chris says he finds 'the busiest shifts the most rewarding; challenging, for sure, but not stressful as such'
This is fantastic!
I have an interview for a signaller grade 7 role tomorrow. Thanks for your honest insight into the role, if I'm lucky by the look of it, this could be a great career change for me!
Best of luck with the interview!
how’d you get on?
@@Timbodadonwaiting to hear back now. Today should be the day I find out 🤞
How did your interview go?
Could you give me some examples of questions you were asked?
Thanks
@@TheJ182I’d like to know this too, got an interview soon
great!!
Not great pulling the levers in your socks! 😂😂
The trains in those lines are in safe hands!
Socks? My man, upgrade to a pair of box slippers