Chapter 4 - Work on the Railways - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

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*On Wooden Rails <strong>Chapter</strong> 4 8/30/05 8:26 PM Page 138 On Wooden Rails - Celebrating 150 Years of <strong>Work</strong> on the NSW Railways “ A signaller in an isolated box would love to see you coming….it was pretty lonely in some of those places, they’d only see drivers for a few minutes as they passed through, so it was a social call as well for these blokes when we’d stop in and say g’day. The signallers were good blokes, all different,. Characters – every one of them in their own right , the art of conversation hadn’t been lost there – they looked forward to sharing the day’s experiences and a yarn.” 7 “Ron and I got on well, we’d look after each other. Living and camping with your mate – it was close - its like a marriage, it isn’t going to last if you didn’t accept and tolerate each other. I lost a master key once – pretty important – I wasn’t qualified to have it – we were camped at Tottenham had a fire going so I said to Ron – ‘you stay here, and I’ll go and do the maintenance in the yard’, left the key and it disappeared – the Sectionman, was disciplined – suspended without pay – I footed half the bill / half my wages while he was suspended”. Technology has changed a fair bit in signalling – closure and rationalisation of signal boxes, largely replaced now by remote controlling – in the area that Ron and Max worked, all train movements are now facilitated from Orange – with the use of satellite phones, mobiles, and four wheel drive vehicles. Later developments saw consoles with electronic working, toggles and push button replacing many of the old levers. Some signal boxes became modern complexes with new equipment, while others operated on a combination of toggle switches, automatic indicators and manually operated levers. Modern signal boxes, or Centralised Traffic Control, are now computerised, replacing multiple, manually operated signal boxes and many of the signalmen that worked them. Through all of the technological changes and moves from manual to more automated and computerised working, the skill required to ensure safeworking has changed, but has certainly not diminished. Frank Cox was a signalman in Bathurst, joining the railway before WWII and retiring in 1983, who claimed that while there had been locomotive changes from steam to diesel-electric, resulting in faster running, a lot of the equipment around the station hadn’t changed much at all. 7 Ibid 8 Interview with Frank Cox, in Hearn, op.cit., 135 9 Ken Ames, op. Cit., describing Katoomba Signal Box, 1951, p 11 10 Maurie Mulheron interview in Hearn, op.cit., p133 138 Train Control Sydney “If you visit the signal boxes down here [at Bathurst], you’ll find that they are still worked manually. They’ve got the old levers, ……. And if you want to move something you really have to work on it…………..When I left down there, they still had the old, ancient telephone system – wind the handle……they were very backward with their equipment and changes.” 8 Inside the Box “The signal frame had 40 levers, which included signals, points and lock bar levers. The double line safeworking system in operation was block telegraph with starting signal control. The signal box was well equipped with many telephones, block telegraph instruments, and all the new gear to run a good 24-hour signal box.” 9 Maurie Mulheron started as a signalman in Lithgow in 1943 “I liked the work, I was my own boss, I liked the additional responsibility…….You worked your guts out. Lithgow was a real hub of activities as far as the war was concerned. There was the small arms factory there, all the collieries and the coal and the traffic that was passing through Lithgow had to be seen to be believed.” 10 Maurie was a leading union activist in the ARU. he was Signal Section Secretary, and at one time Branch Vice President, and was instrumental in some of the major campaigns to improve conditions in the signal box. These included the formation of new grades with the introduction of the new ‘super boxes’. Another campaign was around the reduced working week, refusing to open the Eastern Suburbs line until such time as Transport Minister Cox agreed to the reduction in hours. <strong>Chapter</strong> 4 - <strong>Work</strong> on the Railways
*On Wooden Rails <strong>Chapter</strong> 4 8/30/05 8:26 PM Page 139 The track diagram is a very important part of the Signal Box equipment, as it indicates to the signalman the exact location of points, signals and all train movements within a given area. It shows the Up and Down main lines, suburban lines and also siding points and where these converge to and from the main line. The diagram also displays lock lights. “Green when free to operate and a white light to indicate the position of the points, whether normal or reverse. The position of the signals are repeated by a red light when a stop and a green light when clear. Thus, the Signalman, by strictly observing his track diagram he is able to skilfully operate points and signals and promote efficiency in the co-ordination of transport. The Signalman’s technical and exacting duties frequently demand precision judgements and he is responsible not only for the safe transit of thousands of human lives, but also of valuable live stock, goods and perishable trains.” 11 Former Station Master Ken Ames described the pride and detailed care taken of the signal equipment. “In a signal box, irrespective of the type of frame, all those concerned with the working took great pride in keeping everything as spotless as possible. The brass work would be highly polished and all the glass windows and fittings without a speck on them. On mechanical frames that had the full-size levers controlling the signals, points and facing point locks, extra care was taken to clean the handles on the upper part of the levers. This section was about 10 inches (25cm) long of rounded solid steel with a steel locking pawl handle at the rear and were manually operated. This section would be cleaned back to natural highly polished steel by the use of a special strip emery paper supplied by the Railway Stores. A special cloth approximately 14 x 18 inches (35 x 48cm), also supplied, would be used by all employees using the levers to prevent the salt from their hands coming into contact with the polished steel and causing rust. “ 12 The signal box has always played a significant role in the prompt and safe movement of trains within the area of control. Barry Camage worked many country stations and signal boxes before managing Train Control in Sydney during the 1980s. He describes some of the workings of the signal box: “there were the diagrams that highlight the various positions of signals, then another that shows clearance points. Another diagram tells you which signals, points and lock bars that are numbered on the diagram, tell you what your different 11 Mulheron, op.cit., p8 12 Ames, op.cit., p92 13 Interview with Barry Camage, July 2005 14 Hearn, op.cit., p135 15 ibid., p136 On Wooden Rails - Celebrating 150 Years of <strong>Work</strong> on the NSW Railways signals are, starting or ‘home’ or things like that. At Tarana – safeworking systems included block telegraph, on the Tarana to Loxley side – track block automatic, Tarana Oberon, staff and ticket, different again – had to know the different systems. It was a 32 lever frame at Tarana – some of the down signals could be hard – had a ratchet wheel you had to turn then an indicator behind the signals to show whether it had been freed.” Barry claims that the skills and technology of the signal box and modern control rooms have changed, but remain just as important in the safeworking of trains. “One of the differences is that the signalmen in the box had to inspect the trains as they went past for hot boxes, or load shifts and the like, now the signaller can’t see the trains, only see the movements on the diagrams. A lot of the boxes have been abolished and centralised into control rooms, and a lot of places don’t have shunting yards, and the technology is much more advanced now.” 13 A Woman in the Box Mark Hearn gives an account of Pat Groves, who spent about twenty years on the railways as a station assistant, and in the mid-1970s became the Secretary of the Station Assistant’s Section which is when she first decided that she wanted to do the safeworking course to better understand it and the terminology. From that time on, she was determined to become a signalman, much to the consternation and hostility of instructors, management and some of her co-workers. “When I first put in my application for the job in the safeworking school, I was late putting the application in, but in the meantime, the talk went through from the department and back to the union and back to the department. Finally I was brought in for an interview and was asked among other questions, why didn’t I go out, if I wanted to promote, why didn’t I go out as a clerk. I said, ‘Because I don’t want to go out as a clerk, I want to go out as a signalman’ .“ 14 Her persistence saw her become the first woman ‘signalman’ in the NSW railways. “When I first went out as a safeworking station assistant it was a slow job, but it was quite fast enough for me, as I had never had anything to do with the operating of signals, I’d never been in a box before …… each box is a bit faster to the last box and you gradually get used to the faster working of trains.” 15 Since 1977 Pat continued her career as a ‘signalman’ and remained active in the ARU until her retirement. <strong>Chapter</strong> 4 - <strong>Work</strong> on the Railways 139
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Chapter 4 - Work on the Railways - Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW

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