Coming home at the end of the day

The light engine, Holman F. Stephens, arrives back at Rolvenden at end of the day's service and the fireman is handing the Tenterden - Rolvenden section token to the signalman.

Although nearly everyone on the railway has finished for the day the loco crew still have an hour's work ahead of them as they dispose of the engine by dealing with the fire, all the ash and clinker, oiling and watering and generally preparing for the firelighter in the morning.

I was at Rolvenden Signal Box handing back the Long Section Staff from Wittersham, a lump of metal whose purpose I will not go into here. I'd spent another day at Wittersham Road Signal Box on a learning turn preparing for the fast approaching passing out turn.

It was a very hot and sometimes wet day at Wittersham and very busy too. It always seemed to be raining when I had to go out to meet trains or operate the gates.

During the day there were problems with user worked crossing gates being left open, which is dangerous to users and the railway. All gates should be locked but it seems that farmers are more concerned about easy, quick access than safety. Gates which were shut by a guard were found to be open next time a train passed. All this meant having to caution drivers and ask them to close gates and report back when they returned.

Then the Rolvenden Up Outer Home signal became defective and the drivers of up trains had to be stopped at the Wittersham box on a red flag and given instructions on what to do when they got to that signal. All this had to be written up in the Occurence Book -which began to look like War and Peace by the end of the day. So much for a quiet day at a wayside country signalbox.