A career as a signaller

[nikibee]

Hi there. I’ve been looking through the thread and it’s a great source of information. I’m considering applying for a job as a Signaller and I see that there is a twelve week training course if successful in applying for the role. Does anyone have any experience of the training course? Is it a high intensity course - how did you find the standard of the training? Thanks in advance

I’ve just finished week 2 of signalling school and passed my first observation yesterday.

There is a lot of information thrown at you daily and next week we’ll have our first written assessment. It is really intense in my opinion and came as quite a shock to me even though I’d read through this thread beforehand.

Our trainer is amazing, I love his teaching style and he is super supportive and will stay for hours after school to help out if you need it. Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll help out if I can

 

[WizJim]

I’ve also applied for Fiddlers Ferry.

Did you complete the online assessments yet?

Yes mate I had already done them for an earlier position a couple of weeks back - Current status is test completed but I've had the email to say the test has been passed.

My first application (Penyffordd SB) is 'Application under consideration' which by looking at earlier posts could be bad news (As its not 'Application under consideration for assessment 2' but I'm still hopeful!

 

[MostlyHarmless]

I’ve just finished week 2 of signalling school and passed my first observation yesterday.

There is a lot of information thrown at you daily and next week we’ll have our first written assessment. It is really intense in my opinion and came as quite a shock to me even though I’d read through this thread beforehand.

Our trainer is amazing, I love his teaching style and he is super supportive and will stay for hours after school to help out if you need it. Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll help out if I can

Thanks for sharing! Those of us that who are in the recruitment process or maybe even waiting to go to signalling school will find your experiences really useful I'm sure

 

[Chumba]

What a ride this has been, I've been lurking on this forum since the beginning of March throwing applications into the void. I'd just started growing numb to all the rejections and even considering giving up on the railway and going back to university next year when I got an email inviting me to an interview for Haslemere! I'm trying hard to manage my expectations since an interview and job offer are two very different things but I'm still quite excited. Thank you for all advice and tips thus far.

I have an interview for Haslemere too, good luck

 

[Habitat]

What a ride this has been, I've been lurking on this forum since the beginning of March throwing applications into the void. I'd just started growing numb to all the rejections and even considering giving up on the railway and going back to university next year when I got an email inviting me to an interview for Haslemere! I'm trying hard to manage my expectations since an interview and job offer are two very different things but I'm still quite excited. Thank you for all advice and tips thus far.

Great work, congratulations!

You need to memorise all the lifesaving rules and the safety vision.
Think hard about why you want to leave your last job and also why you want to be a signaller.
Know the box up and down line from the vacancy and the level crossings.
Research NR, the digital railway and upgrade plan.
Know the TOC and whether FOC's use the line.
Get a load of NTS answers ready and be confident but not arrogant.
Wear a suit and tie.
You may not need some of the above and there may be things I haven't listed, but preparation is key!

 

[Llanigraham]

You wont need to complete signalling school for a crossing keeper job. It'll be in house training only.

Some Crossing Keepers do need to go to Signalling School and the LOM can also request it as well.

 

[SiggerSigAh]

Re the above, I'd just mainly focus on having a scenario to hand for each of the 8 Non Technical Skills (if you search the thread they're listed somewhere), and have a good think about why you would deem safety so critical to the role of a Signaller.

Maybe my colleagues and I got lucky, but none of us got asked any box specific questions other than "do you know where it is?".

Best of luck!

 

[Trainthetrain]

I’ve just finished week 2 of signalling school and passed my first observation yesterday.

There is a lot of information thrown at you daily and next week we’ll have our first written assessment. It is really intense in my opinion and came as quite a shock to me even though I’d read through this thread beforehand.

Our trainer is amazing, I love his teaching style and he is super supportive and will stay for hours after school to help out if you need it. Let me know if you have any other questions and I’ll help out if I can

Hi, thank you for the information Is there any preparation that can be done before the course starts?

 

[TRain87]

Hi, thank you for the information Is there any preparation that can be done before the course starts?

Practice note taking in short hand, but so you can make sense of them lol...I used to take notes, then back to hotel and rewrite them up, keep the info fresh. Other than that, just enjoy your time before you get into signalling school, it can be quite intense!

 

[nikibee]

Hi, thank you for the information Is there any preparation that can be done before the course starts?

If you haven’t been asked by your LOM to learn anything before hand then I wouldn’t worry about it. Like TRain87 said, enjoy your before school.

But personally I was asked to learn some bell codes, and some definitions. But you’ll learn these early on anyway.

 

[SiggerSigAh]

Hi, thank you for the information Is there any preparation that can be done before the course starts?

If you don't already know the phonetic alphabet I'd suggest looking at that.

 

[Jaysub]

Does anyone have any info on the cross keeper role in littlehaven?

Single manned,shifts etc...?

 

[Chaz T]

If you don't already know the phonetic alphabet I'd suggest looking at that.

American, NATO or British?

 

[Highlandspring]

American, NATO or British?

Whicever one goes -
Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whisky, X-Ray*, Yankee, Zulu.

We don’t do any of that Air Traffic Control 5.9 = “Fife decimal niner” nonsense either.


*NOT ‘x’ for... Xanadu as I once heard an S&T supervisor say.

 

[Rockhopper]

The NATO one is the most commonly found version these days but there are some spelling variations - Alfa and alpha for example

 

[MostlyHarmless]

American, NATO or British?

NATO and British are the same when it comes to the words used - never checked the spellings though!

 

[Rockhopper]

We adopted the NATO one back in the ‘60’s I think although there have been several versions of it since then!

 

[Rockhopper]

I’ve not personally visited any boxes but I’ve spoken to a few who have attempted it and they have been sent on their way rejoicing! My understanding is that the signallers job could be at risk if he’s is caught with an unauthorised person in the box. True or not I don’t know but I do know that I won’t be putting any Network Rail employees in that position.
There are ways of organising an authorised visit I believe.

 

[Sunset route]

I’ve not personally visited any boxes but I’ve spoken to a few who have attempted it and they have been sent on their way rejoicing! My understanding is that the signallers job could be at risk if he’s is caught with an unauthorised person in the box. True or not I don’t know but I do know that I won’t be putting any Network Rail employees in that position.
There are ways of organising an authorised visit I believe.

The days of casual walk up visits I would say are by and large over, you might be lucky at some locations, but there is too much at stake in the modern world we live in. If you’ve spent over a year trying to get a job, survived signalling school, eventually passed out then have a LOM that is a stickler then your not going to risk your job. At the other end of the scale you could be an old boy working a rural location with an easy attitude LOM and if all is quiet you might sneak an interested visitor in to have a look unofficially.

30 old years ago I started in the grade thanks to an unofficial visit to my local signalbox, and thanks to me two others started in the grade thanks to unofficial visits to my signalbox. One progressed to a LOM, the other is now a work colleague of mine in a large signalling centre.

If a visit is desired then best arrange via Network Rail who will contact the local LOM.

 

[Tom Quinne]

There is little to zero chance of a unofficial visit to a SB these days, sadly there are way to many people (railway or not) out looking gain brownie points who will report you in a heartbeat.

 

[DanH]

When I recieved my invitation for interview, I just rang up the recruitment team who emailed the local LOM, who then emailed me back within 15 minutes saying I could come to his box for a visit at any time. And to just let him know so he could let the signaller on duty know.

Contact the recruitment team and I’m sure they will point you in the right direction for a box visit

 

[Jaysub]

Thanks for the help people,i will do that and get in touch with them...
Forums are for information so appreciate it alot.

 

[OverTheRails]

Has anyone’s applications turned from test complete to application under consideration and then actually gone on to an interview? One of my applications just changed to that and from what I’ve read, that’s usually bad news! Fortunately my others are at application under consideration for assessment 2 so fingers crossed there is still some light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[Chumba]

Has anyone’s applications turned from test complete to application under consideration and then actually gone on to an interview? One of my applications just changed to that and from what I’ve read, that’s usually bad news! Fortunately my others are at application under consideration for assessment 2 so fingers crossed there is still some light at the end of the tunnel!

Yes I've had a couple of applications under consideration recently, one went to unsuccessful, two went to Assessment 2 Scheduled, (once interviews were allocated) I've had one interview and this one now shows as Assessment 2 completed. Just waiting to attend the last interview.

 

[Rockhopper]

I've got two that are sitting at "Test Completed" and have been for weeks now.. so frustrating!

 

[P200E]

I've got two that are sitting at "Test Completed" and have been for weeks now.. so frustrating!

Me too!

 

[Bell 1-2-1]

Long time thread watcher so firstly thanks for those who have posted, it helped no end sitting down quietly with a couple of mugs of tea and reading the whole thread. ( better get used to upping your tea intake ).
When you are applying and then waiting for responses and finely heading to York it is daunting mixed up with excitement at wanting to get started and have lots of information, so don’t be afraid to ask anything however daft it may sound.
One thing Iv learnt is that the selection process maybe difficult to get through but it does produce a lot of really decent people who will gladly pass on what they can both on here and most of the experienced guys in the boxes.
I passed out from York last September and like so many on here happy to answer any questions about going to York and getting through the course.
Good luck to those with interviews coming up.

 

[srm94]

Great work, congratulations!

You need to memorise all the lifesaving rules and the safety vision.
Think hard about why you want to leave your last job and also why you want to be a signaller.
Know the box up and down line from the vacancy and the level crossings.
Research NR, the digital railway and upgrade plan.
Know the TOC and whether FOC's use the line.
Get a load of NTS answers ready and be confident but not arrogant.
Wear a suit and tie.
You may not need some of the above and there may be things I haven't listed, but preparation is key!

Thanks for the pointers! The prep is underway.

 

[ROCsteadycrew]

Yes I've had a couple of applications under consideration recently, one went to unsuccessful, two went to Assessment 2 Scheduled, (once interviews were allocated) I've had one interview and this one now shows as Assessment 2 completed. Just waiting to attend the last interview.

Congratulations! Which two places have you had managed to get interviews for? (If you'd rather not say, I understand!)

 

[nom de guerre]

I did get some private msgs helping me out with my question as well so all good.

If you search the Jobs forum for Littlehaven at least one of your questions has been answered previously (plus some other info too)