First steamy blip of the season

First day of the Easter running period which continues until Sunday 15th April. And what an atrocious day. The wettest and most miserable of weather I’ve ever experienced as a signalman at Wittersham Road. Cold, heavy, slanting rain making working the crossing gates and collecting token from the platform an unpleasant activity.

Even the two gas fires made little impact on the temperature in the box owing to going in and out so much. At best, by the end of the day it had reached 62f. A scruffy, untidy box when I went in this morning. Stuff all over the floor as well as muddy boot prints. Brasses dull and dust on the block shelf.

Even a problem with the block instrument as I was unable to get a token out between Wittersham and Northiam. A quick call and instructions to wiggle the token on the pin solved the problem temporarily. Something to add to the store of experience.

Had a visit by the Signals Manager in the afternoon to trace and rectify the cause of the problem which added pressure as he was fiddling with both block instruments as I was dealing with two trains crossing in the reverse order to normal. Not ideal, but it all worked well and gave me much confidence at the end of the day.

Finally, as the last train drifted away towards Rolvenden, the sun came out to bathe a watery landscape in golden light. It didn’t last for long, the clouds returned, this time fortunately devoid of rain.