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8 hour shifts - always at work. Runs of 7 earlies, a couple of days off then a few lates then 7 night shifts in a row. Absolutely exhausting. yes there was a long weekend every 3 weeks but too tired to do much. 12 hours are obviously longer shifts but far fewer of them, so many days off it...

The TSS Duke of Lancaster has been a familiar sight from the North Wales Coast line and A548 road near Mostyn docks for over 40 years, a former BR cruise ship and ferry. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSS_Duke_of_Lancaster_(1955)

I've never worked TDA but as a Signaller I speak to them all the time. In the West Mids they are Grade 5, not a bad number at all. Quite a few have gone from TDA to Signaller or Operations Control and Management roles. Its a great way in.

Good luck those interviewing for the WMSC. Don't know how much you all know about the location and the roster links/grades etc. but I'll try to give you an idea. Telford workstation: Grade 5 Wolverhampton workstation: Grade 7 Cherwell Valley workstation: Grade 7 North link...

As for the best train company... That has got to be the sadly short lived Wrexham and Shropshire. Excellent customer service, the staff were all amazing. No wonder they got 99% in customer satisfaction surveys. Lovely comfortable Mk3 coaches, the refurbished ones then took it to an even higher...

This might be of interest for anyone about to start IST. From the vast Signalling Record Society website a couple of videos of the Network Rail Absolute Block and NX panel simulators at Perth filmed a few years ago. https://www.s-r-s.org.uk/videoPages/Perth.php

The Rugeley-Walsall-Birmingham New Street route must be one of the top contenders here. 'It's free on the train' is often said in Rugeley when discussing travel to Cannock/Hednesford etc. Maybe that explains WMT's attitude to Rugeley... Very often services are turned back at Hednesford if...

12 weeks from the offer letter but subject to the post being vacant.

Great Barr was renamed Hamstead in 1974. Just along the line Bescot became Bescot Stadium after the new Walsall FC ground opened in 1990. The football stadium then got renamed Banks's Stadium in 2007...

Anyone remember the opening day of the new Sandwell and Dudley station in 1984? Dignitaries on the platform, brass band playing, the very first train due to call is approaching.... It ran straight through without stopping!!!

Around 1500 gas lamps still around London but there is a storm brewing about some of them..... https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9761617/Westminsters-300-iconic-gas-lamps-replaced-eco-friendly-LEDs.html

The same rules apply whether its a single manned box, a panel in a PSB or a workstation in a signalling centre/ROC. The Signaller is in charge. Don't be afraid to refuse entry to anyone you don't want around.

A couple on the external list now. Tweedmouth (grade 5) and the Sandwich (grade 2) There's a vacancy at Aston on the internal list. A nice steady grade 4 NX panel and one of the few signal boxes left in the West Midlands.

I remember some 303s turning up on the Stafford to Rugby locals in the early to mid 1980s. Until then the services had been worked by 304 and 310 units and the 303s were the first trains with power operated doors that we had seen in the Midlands. Photos of them on these workings seem very rare...

I must admit to being somewhat surprised on reading this report. Correct detection on points is the first thing to look for if a signal wont clear. Nobody sets out to have an incident though, and this has strong similarities to the derailment at Knaresborough in 2015. In that case the box was...

I'm probably going to get stick for this but the few 47s that wore EWS livery looked great. It really suited them. The best livery by far though was rail express systems.

Nice to see Platform 5 still in business. Their pocket books were always better than the Ian Allan offerings.

Stourbridge Junction to Stourbridge Town. One Train Working with Staff.

Correct. Personal Daily Travel Allowance is only paid to to those whose job has moved further away. It won't be payable if you have applied for a job yourself.

Remember Red Star? That had a very good reputation but was thrown away. The parcels distribution market certainly is booming at the moment with the ever growing demand for internet shopping, hardly any of it going by rail. Amazon. Now there's a good example. They have a huge distribution...