A Railwayman Remembers

A Presentation by Dave Cockle.

The talk covered Dave’s career from when he left school in 1968 and joined the railway, being posted firstly to Finsbury Park No.3, (an 80-lever mechanical frame) signal box for basic training, at this time all communications were conducted over the phone.
In 1972 he was transferred to Wood Green No.4 box following a spell at Hertford North. Here, life was much busier with 127 movements on the early shift, 106 on the afternoon turn, and 72 on the night shift. He moved to Enfield in 1974, where work was a little easier with just 10 trains / hour off-peak.
Life changed after that when he had periods of work as an Operations Clerk at Bounds Green, also based at Bounds Green he became a Carriage Cleaning Inspector following problems with cleanliness on the overnight sleeper trains, eventually being promoted to Operating Supervisor, covering Bounds Green, Ferme Park and Hornsey Carriage Sidings. Later he became Station Manager at Tottenham Hale, this duty covered 15 stations, 3 signal boxes and a crossing. In 1994 he transferred to WAGN Headquarters in Old Street, until 2000 when he became Operations Inspector at Kings Cross for First Capital Connect, this duty also included running Staff Training Courses. The final position he held was as Operation Compliance Manager covering Kings Cross to Peterborough and Kings Lynn, this duty was also extended to include Blackfriars to Bedford. On his last day at work in August 2007 he was involved in a Fire Evacuation course on the Northern & City Line. I must say you see all aspects of life working on the railway with many experiences covering people, equipment and in Dave’s case a lot of pleasure and fun. A fascinating afternoon for everyone at the meeting.

Dave Elsdon
Branch Secretary