PerthBox

The hydraulic buffers at Glasgow Central are still tested by running a loco slowly into them once a year. Well actually they do alternate halves of the station every 6 months, but it has the same result.

They had drophead buckeyes.

Hopefully a slightly more helpful reply; the type I'm familiar with were a dark coloured (though I suspect they may have been painted yellow when brand new) 2ft - 3ft tall vertical cylinder in the cess, with a hose going to a plate mounted on the running edge of the cess leg rail.

I once worked with someone who’d been a signalman at Glasgow Central (well I’ve worked with quite a few ex Central men in my time). He told me a story about a particularly boring nightshift in the late 80s after all the possessions and isolations were on and there was nothing happening and nothing moving. He and a similarly bored colleague were mooching round the box in the early hours with nothing to do when our hero spies the vacant announcer’s desk and decides to have some fun. “Watch this, I’ll show you how it’s done” he said as he sat behind the desk and started to fiddle with the equipment; the announcers were totally seperate from the signalmen so he had no idea how to work the equipment, but it can’t be that hard can it? So he turns the various knobs and sliders up right up as high as they’ll go, pushes the big green power button and starts tapping and blowing into the microphone. In the quiet of the closed Central station an ominous loud buzz suddenly starts and is quickly replaced by a series of apparent explosions from the speakers, then the voice of god booms out over the sleeping city “PASSENGERS WHO’VE JUST ARRIVED FROM LONDON 20 YEARS LATE, BRITISH RAIL WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGISE FOR BEING SHITE” before expanding on the same general theme in ever more colourful language. Apparently the entertainment only stopped when the police phoned up the box!

Perth and Glasgow Central had it, also referred to here as the cuckoo. There are still a few locs with speakers on them dotted around Perth though the system itself is long dead. Of course if the cuckoo failed to summon the S&T then the next step was a phone call to the BRSA..

An interesting wee step to/from platform there. I wonder who was responsible for moving it before the passage of a train?

Showing at the far end of the catwalk a red and white ‘non-potable’ BR standard 2 gallon plastic water container. These were, in my experience at least, very much rarer than the green and white drinking water version.

With no mobile phone signal the conductor who was travelling passenger ran about a half a mile north from the crash to place dets on the Up line until she came to a lineside phone (to me the fact this phone was working is probably the most remarkable bit of the whole story!) where she was able to contact the signaller to make sure the train was protected, then ran back past the crash scene for another two miles or so to go to Carmont signalbox. She did all this with a broken ankle. There were many brave and selfless acts that day and you might say 'well that's just what every member of railway staff is trained to do' but it's one thing talking about it in a classroom or a rules exam and quite another actually doing it.

I know you say you’re not blaming the staff involved but the bit I’ve highlighted in bold does rather seem that way to me. The signaller and driver simply followed the rules as the were at the time of the accident; one of them paid with his life and the other was left struggling to cope with the trauma of what happened though he is, thankfully, back at work now. One of my colleagues said to me a few days after the accident “I would have cautioned that train” but I don’t believe him for a second, it’s simply hindsight talking. In the same situation I certainly would have done exactly the same as the signaller at Carmont.

It’s not the case that ‘no one’ working at the signal box is able to secure points. I’m not trying to defend Network Rail but we shouldn’t draw the conclusion that this is part of a bigger problem; my experience (and you’ll just have to believe me here) suggests there’s no issue with signallers’ competence to secure points at mechanical signal boxes in an emergency, at least not in the Scotland North operations area. It’s unfortunate that this signaller was not competent to do so but it’s just another small hole in the swiss cheese leading up to the accident. Anyway I’m sure RAIB will explore it fully in the final report if they think it is a contributory factor.

It's all so obvious in hindsight, isn't it. Who on the 11th of August would honestly have thought that an 2 hour delay in getting a set of points secured would indirectly lead to a disasterous crash with the loss of three lives?

Well done also to the NR MOM who went into the wrecked coaches to look for any injured/trapped passengers, then assisted with the efforts to put out the fire.

Yep. However, it's an interim report and there's a balance to be found between simplification for the public and pedantic accuracy. The fact is that appropriate equipment to secure the points was located in the signabox but the early shift signaller was unable to use it. That's been glossed over by RAIB presumably because it doesn't really make any material difference to the events or add anything to the findings; whether or not it'll figure in the final report remains to be seen. There are a number of other small aspects in the interim report's narrative leading up to the accident that have been simplified, glossed over somewhat or omitted entirely but they are all very minor details in the grand scheme of things. None of it changes the context of what happened and some of these may well yet be addressed in the final report.

The clamps and scotches were in the signalbox but the early shift signaller was not passed out on securing points, hence why the MOM (two actually, one from Aberdeen and one from Dundee, who arrived just before the train left) had to attend. I expect we'll be reading more about the RAIB's thoughts on that in the final report. In any case it's pointless asking 'what if' - the accident happened and that's that.

Yes, Perth is all still SGE multi-aperture heads from 1962. Only a handful of shunt signals have been replaced with Dorman units.

Perth still has miniature yellows, though the only one currently in use is on P46 in the Up Dundee Loop for the route leading toward the Mineral Yard (McPherson’s Sidings)

That last one isn’t a signal box, it’s a modern replica used as an office.

The crane in Elgin Yard hadn’t been used since about 1986. It was dismantled not long after you took your photos.

It hasn’t run with an X headcode for about 25 years now. These days regardless of who is or isn’t on board it runs with a randomly selected headcode in the 1Zxx series (except, obviously, 1Z99).

799 was named Prince Henry. ‘Harry’ is a nickname, his proper name is Henry Albert Charles David.

I wouldn't say they're "correct" as such but that's what I've always known them as. As you've sussed from the username I'm a local lad (though on the signalling side rather than the footplate). I've always thought Gleneagles in the 60s would be a great subject for a layout!

I'll be interested to see this layout develop, it's a great location for watching trains sweep through the landscape. Locally those bridges are known to railwaymen as Bardrill Road, Mill Hill and the Three Arches. I've never heard anyone call them Muiralehouse or Peterhead but of course location names come and go through the years.

The lights shine onto the flask, it is under constant observation by MOD police during the whole journey. The coaches are always coupled with the observation window and lights facing the flask wagon(s).

Yes, they are sliding toplights as per the older pair.

Very nice, however in real life Network Rail staff wouldn't be allowed within the compound while a flask is being loaded or unloaded. The only staff present would be from DRS and eDF along with a handful of armed officers from the Civil Nuclear Constabulary keeping an eye on things too.