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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

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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