"Life on the Settle - Carlisle Railway: Railwaymen talk to W. R. Mitchell"
Author: W. R. Mitchell. Published by Dalesman Books, 1985[1].
Page 11
Our quotation, from a retired permanent way official, carries the feeling of pride, coupled with frustration, that was experienced by the men charged with its maintenance. The 'Carlisle road' was testing, but uncomplicated.
"The signals were nicely spaced. There was plenty of room within the sections. You could manage quite well, even in fog and mountain mist. Down Lanky (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway) you got some terrible fogs, and everything was crowded. There seemed to be signals every few hundred yards."
Page 14
There was a saying on the line:
"During fog or falling snow, into the cabin[2] you must go."
Page 38
At Ribblehead. when the weather was extreme,
"they had three different sets o' men. Let's put it another way — they'd got three different duties. Sometimes t'same men did all t'jobs! If a gale was blowing, freight trains went into the loops at Blea Moor — particularly the “'down" road after coming across the viaduct — and the sheets were examined. Owt as was loose was re-tied. There might not be a sheet at all. Sometimes it had gone. Sheet and t'lot! They used to re-sheet 'em, tie 'em up and set 'em off' They were the Gale Men. Then you had the Snow Men, for cleaning points out and clearing signals. Snow blowing at a hell of a rate can block signal lights. Men used to go up ladders in a gale and clean these things off. That was a fair job in itself. Then you had your Fog Men. A Fog Man sat out in a lile cabin near distant signal. When t'signal was on, he put a cracker (detonator) on t'rail. When signal came off, he took that cracker off. Blea Moor was rather special. More than once, we've requested Control for all three gangs — Gale Men, Snow Men, Fog Men: all together. It was snowing like hell, and blowing a gale, and you couldn't see t'ground!"
"Men of the Settle-Carlisle: Railwaymen talk to W.R. Mitchell"
Author: W. R. Mitchell. Published by Dalesman Books, 1985[1].
Page 29
A former employee in the Leeds district office recalls:
"We had an inquiry — it was actually to do with providing overcoats for fogmen — and we collected some statistics about the number of times in a year men were called out 'fogging' in various parts of the area, from Cudworth to Carlisle. We were pretty sure that Leeds or Normanton would be the foggiest area but, no, Ribblehead had the biggest number of call-outs. The reason was the changeability of the weather. Mist would blow over, dense cloud develop, a man would be called out 'fogging', and half an hour later the sun would be shining. The man would go off duty — and be called back for 'fogging' in next to no time!"
Page 44
A Stationmaster recalls that ... In 1947, a porter received 40s a week, but it was 38s.lid. after his 'health and unemployment' had been deducted. The lowest grade signalman got about 52s.6d. Permanent way men received the same as porters, but their income could be augmented somewhat by 'fogging' money.
Page 64
The driver of a goods train in the days when wagons were loose-coupled, recalls keeping an anxious eye on the signals. ...
"The driver knew exactly where the home signal and starter were, even in fog, on any route. He had to know, because there was no excuse for a driver passing a signal at danger, even if there was no light in it. If the light was out, he must stop."
Page 85
A man ... who joined the railway in 1937, aged 21, was a platelayer on the 'water trough length' at Garsdale. The working day began at 7.30 and finished at 5.
"The railway company supplied clogs because the water trough area was generally slippy. They also gave us thick overcoats for 'fogging' duties. We usually wore overalls."
"The Story of Ribblehead Viaduct"
Author: W. R. Mitchell and Peter Fox. Published by Castleberg, 2001[1].
Page 30
Jack Towler, who was 89 years of age when I chatted with him in the summer of 1989, began work on Ribblehead Viaduct in 1924. He became a ganger in 1939. ... Jack mentioned some of the special duties in this highland situation. At times of fog, men with warning detonators were summoned; they were provided with huts, two at the north side of the Viaduct, for the 'up' and 'down', and one towards Selside.
"Ganger, Guard and Signalman: Working Memories of the Settle and Carlisle"
Author: Dick Fawcett. Published by Bradford Barton, 1981[3].
Dick Fawcett worked in a variety of roles for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (and then British Railways) between 1932 and circa 1968. On pages 16-18 of this fascinating book, he recounts his first stint as a 'temporary Fog Signal Man' protecting the 'up' distant signal for Hawes Junction (which he recalls was then located between Lunds Viaduct and the north portal of Moorcock Tunnel). His turn of duty began at 5:30 pm (when he signed-on at Hawes Junction Signal Box) and was scheduled to end at 6 am the following day (although visibility had improved and he was called-in about three hours earlier than that). He was equipped with a set of flags (red, yellow & green); a hand lamp capable of displaying red, green, amber or clear light; and
several packs of detonators, each holding twelve".
He describes his post as
"the usual type of fog hut, made of concrete, with an iron brazier and plenty of coal ... situated so that I had a good view of the signal, but at times I could not see it for the whirling snow".
He goes on to describe in brief but vivid detail his experiences that night, including some of the difficulties and hazards associated with observing the signal and placing / removing detonators.
Footnotes & Acknowledgements
Research and original text by Mark R. Harvey (but see notes below).
[1] The text in these sections is quoted directly from the stated source. W. R. (Bill) Mitchell was a prolific author and a 'people person'. He loved to acquire - and then retell - stories relating to the Settle & Carlisle Railway and the people associated with it. During a series of meetings at his home during 2014, Bill kindly gave Mark R. Harvey permission to extract selected material from his published and unpublished works and to directly reproduce that material on the SCRCA web-portal (subject to full attribution). We owe Bill a huge debt of gratitude for both collecting this material and making it available to us to share to the widest possible audience 'in context'.
[2] This is a reference to platelayers' cabins, a.k.a. platelayers' huts.
[3] The text of this brief review is paraphrased, although it does include two very short direct quotes from the original (as indicated by the quotation marks and italicised formatting) and these are included under the principle of 'fair dealing', given their small size and the non-commercial / educational context of this web-portal.