Big Jumby 74
Member
The job was no different from any other I guess. By its very nature a 'booking' job was in effect an entry level position in to the signalling grade for (largely) young lads like myself just out of school. The 'bobbies' we worked with were often a varied mix, some old school, one who I had the privilege to work with had seen railway service in WW2 and there were others, some with an enthusiast type interest in the job, not necessarily just signalling, and others who were just family men wanting to keep a roof over their families heads. I always found my mates approachable if advice was needed, but I appreciate this may not necessarily have been the case in all circumstances. From my own perspective, my time at that job was probably at the top of my list of best working experiences on the job, not just for the aforementioned reasons, but I was lucky to have a senior boss who demonstrated that he had a lot of trust in me within the signalling environment, which in turn taught me in later years to show respect and trust in others in their various grades. In later years I would never ask of someone, anything that I myself had either not done, or that I could not demonstrate a solution to.
The old two year rule! That seemed to be the case in Planning as well. My old TR's had to be deposited with our station supervisor at the end of the late shift each day, but what happened with them after that, who knows! Can't now remember if when anything out of course happened on any given shift, were we asked to retain relevant register sheets for inspection by higher authority?
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