It's not often brought up but the gang did tamper with two signals on the approach to Sears Crossing (as it was called back then) not just the one. Bruce Reynolds was driving one of the two Landrovers and dropped off Roger Cordrey and another gang member who's name I forget at the overbridge to the north of the crossing, they then walked along the track, mounted the signals and altered the aspects by covering the greens and lighting up the yellow and red aspects using car batteries. ....
Had they not done the previous yellow (it was three aspect at the time, was it?) there would have been no guarantee that the train would have been able to brake for the red, of course.
OTOH, assuming AWS had been installed (?) surely Jack Mills would have seen the fake yellow, but then had a clear AWS signal (ie indicating a wrong side AWS) and then the same again approaching the fake red. This surely would have made him very suspicious. Wrong side AWS failures being pretty rare - and dangerous in the extreme.
Did he bring this up at all at the enquiry/police investigation, do you know?
As a Driver myself I certainly do not condone what they did on that August night back in 1963, but as part of our railway and (like it or not) cultural history I find all aspects of it fascinating.
SURE. I and lots of people are fascinated by the Luftwaffe, the SS and Hitler and how they fought the war - doesn't make me a supporter of their goals though.
So many untruths and to be frank, complete and utter b*ll*cks is perpetuated about the robbery that I think it's important to get the facts correct. ....
D326 and the first two postal vehicles were impounded by the Police in the old Aylesbury bay platform at Cheddington Station, it was shunted there by Rugby Secondman Bill Green, who, with his Driver, had been the first railwaymen on the scene when they were working a passing freight train. As the gang had cut all the telephone wires at the scene, Bill was instructed by his Driver to take D326 and the postal vans down to Cheddington to raise the alarm there, it would have been a very long and time consuming walk otherwise. While Bill did this his Driver tended to the frightend postal workers still aboard 1M44. Very soon afterwards Bill received a severe reprimand for helping out and simply following his Driver's instructions.
Why? Because he wasn't passed to drive? Or because he had no guard on the train or what?
Surely, in the extreme circumstances of the time, any sensible infringement of the rule book should have been allowed. After all, the mail train should not have been in any danger. The signals would have been on red, and any bobby in the first box that D326 reached would have seen the train did not have a tail lamp. (In any case, I assume second man Green would have stopped at the first box he reached to report what had happened.)
EDIT: just had a rethink. The stopped mail train could have been in danger. After all, the bobby, seeing the indications from the track circuits, would assume the train had failed in section. So the first signal to the north would have been set to red - but it was possibly showing a fake yellow. The preceding signal would have been set at yellow (properly). So any train approaching would have slowed for the first yellow but on approaching the red, might have actually seen the fake yellow - passed it and ran into the back of the mail train.
Presumably the guard on the mail train had been tied up, so he would not have been able to protect the train by setting detonators? Could have been a nasty collision. Or have I missed something?
Thanks for the summary.
Perhaps Rugby Town council should name a road after Bill Green too.
