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London North Western
Railway:
 Midland
Railway:
 Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
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LMS Route: Rugby to Wolverhampton LMS Route: Rugby to
Leamington LMS Route: Rugby to Tamworth LMS Route: Rugby to
Leicester LMS Route: Rugby to Market Harborough
Rugby Station: lnwrrm3317
Rugby No 7 Signal Cabin which was situated on the down side
adjacent to Newbold Road over bridge. The height and length of the cabin was
such that the cabin required steps with two flights to access it and two stoves
to heat the cabin. To the left is the cabin's latrine which would be equipped
with a chemical bucket. On the right is a timber fogman's hut with felted roof.
Bob Haddon writes, 'My great grandfather worked for the LNWR circa 1880.
First at Oxford and then Stevington near Bedford. He then moved job and had a
former railway cottage that belonged to the L&BR at Hillmorton as a
linesman. My grandfather told me when he was alive, that my great grandfather
died around 1915. Apparently, when he was out laying fog signals in thick fog
he caught pneumonia. My great grandfather's name was William Rainbow.'
Richard Foster, Harry Jack & Ted Talbot write in the
'LNWR Society Journal Volume 5 No 3 December 2006 Page 43, 'The fogman was
normally expected to place detonators on the rail by hand, a hazardous
operation by any measure, even when only the nearest rail had to be covered.
But in busy places the man was often expected to cover several tracks, and of
course he was only required to be there when fog prevented visibility of the
trains he had to dodge between. In some places his job was made easier by the
provision of fog machines: basically a lever operating a chain or
wire which placed a detonator on the rail or removed it when no longer needed.
This reduced the need to go on the track, but if it was a one shot
machine, he often still had to do so to replace the detonator each time one was
exploded. There were a number of patented fog machines which could accommodate
several detonators before needing replenishment and which allowed this to be
done from the lineside. The LNWR had machines of its own design containing two,
four or eight shots.'.
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