Proceedings 2002/2003 - IRSE

OBITUARIES 15
overseen the conversion of over 1,700 single-track
km of the WR to multi-aspect signalling and the
creation of one of the first co-axial trunk telecomms
systems on the railway. On the LMR he had similar
success with the major schemes at Trent, Derby and
Saltley followed by the West Coast work controlled
from Warrington, Preston and Carlisle.
In 1975 he was appointed as the BR Director of
S&T Engineering, a post in which he successfully
steered the industry through many difficult technical
and contractual changes until his retirement in 1981
after 42 loyal years of service to the railway.
Armand joined the IRSE as a Student in 1942,
progressing to the Council by 1960 and giving many
years of service to the Miniaturisation and
Examination Committees. He became President in
1970 and led us on the first Convention to Spain –
and what a joy that was!
In his Presidential address, as we all do, he made
predictions. Most of them came to pass, but he
doubted that computers would become involved in
the safety side of signalling. When he joined the
British Railways Board, and heard of the preliminary
work in BR Research by Alan Cribbens’ team, he
quickly, gracefully and with great good humour,
accepted that things had changed. He then stuck his
neck out to support the SSI development and played
a major part in securing approval for the work to proceed.
To do that, in the climate then existing showed
true greatness.
In 1982 he was elected an Honorary Fellow and
continued to give regular support to the Institution at
meetings and social events. It was a particular
pleasure to see him at the Members Lunch in 2001,
which coincided with his 80th birthday, and again in
2002 when he completed 60 years of membership.
Throughout his working and Institution life he had
wonderful support from his wife Joyce. Her death in
1995 was a blow which left him devastated.
Now, after a lifetime of service to our Industry,
which will live on in the newly created Armand
Cardani Memorial Fund, it is his turn to be mourned.
We are grateful for all that he has done and we will
miss his leadership, guidance, friendship and unfailing
good humour.
Whatever the grief we as colleagues feel at
Armand’s passing it is as nothing compared to that
of his family. Our prayers and condolences go out to
all of them.
J Waller
Past President 1978 and 1991
Guidance for Equivalents to the IRSE Examination
as part of the new Bye Laws.
Ron had served the industry since the 1960s and
received a broad training in railway telecommunications
that served him well in later years. His career
started in 1967 as a Technical Assistant in the
Nottingham Divisional Engineer's office. He rapidly
acquired the skills to survive at the sharp end, which
was fortunate because the two projects of Derby
and Trent power boxes of 1969 had their last minute
crises, with much of the telecom external wiring
having to be redone in the four weeks prior to the
first commissioning. Teams of office technical staff
and local technicians carried this out and Ron was
part of this mammoth effort where we all worked
long hours for nigh on three months continually. A
toolkit and van were the only essential requirements.
On the due day, everything worked perfectly with the
S&T management being unaware of what had gone
before.
The cut and thrust of local management had an
attraction for Ron and, with his now considerable
experience, he took on the role of District Telecom
Engineer initially at Bedford and latterly at Euston.
Those were the days when the Divisional set up was
king and if the District Engineer said it can or can't
be done, then that was it. Ron invariably said 'yes'
and the spirit of motivation that he instilled in the
local staff was a credit to everyone. At that time,
Euston staff looked after the main offices of the LMR
and also the BRB. Weekends were always fraught
with the innumerable telecom moves and changes
that had to be done to accommodate the constant
alterations to the organisational structure. Many of
these would be advised at the last minute and very
often were devised on the hoof on the day.
Complaints were few, but Ron and the team can be
forgiven if the records were somewhat lacking.
The promotion trail led Ron to a post with
Transmark and he was despatched to various
locations around the world where his experience of
ground level improvisation was always welcome
advice. After a short spell in Mozambique, he drew
the supposedly short straw and was posted to
Northern Ireland. This was during the 1980s when
life in the Province was somewhat precarious. He set
about upgrading the NIR telecom network and made
a good many friends in the process.
The ground level work continued to have the
RON HALL
1944 – 2003
Ron Hall, a Fellow of the IRSE, died suddenly on
24th March 2003 at the age of 58.
Ron was one of a small band of Telecom members
who strove to get a greater telecom following and
membership within the Institution. He had been a
member of Membership Committee for some years
where he could always be relied upon to call us to
order if, on occasions, we were tempted to stray outside
the rules. His advice was always valued and he
had been active recently in the team that drafted the