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Mate I got myself so worked up about blood pressure before my medical I got my wife to stop putting salt in food 2 weeks before, I stopped all alcohol and caffeine, I just went really over the top about anything blood pressure related. When I finally went into the medical he told me that if my...

I would take the day shifts off, nights are way preferable. Fewer line blocks, fewer trains, no crossing requests, no box visitors, heavenly!

Pretty easy I would say, depending on whether you’re on 8s or 12s and how short staffed your line is (I’m not sure how it works in ROCs). In the last two years on Grade 3 + 18% FP I’ve managed 55k and 60k, albeit that is hammering the overtime quite a bit. They’ve done a recruitment drive...

I’m a Grade 3 General Purpose Relief, the locations I work in attract an 18% flexibility premium on top of base salary so my pay, as an example, is: Grade 3 - £36,009 + 18% = £42,490 I then get overtime and night shifts paid at Grade 3 rates (I.e. what a resident would get, so not + 18%). So...

That’s a really good summary, just when you think you might be getting to grips with a confusing new concept you’ve been taught a funnel is rammed down your throat and the next concept is piled in on top.

That clears that up then!

I’ve never been able to find firm rules for when all the pay starts. I think it really just works however your LOM wants it to work or however it has historically worked in the location you work in. For me it was training pay all the way through IST and learning the box(es). As soon as I...

Agreed, we moved from 8s to 12s last year and, for me at least, it’s been a dream. I don’t really notice the extra 4 hours at work each shift, but I definitely notice that I’m barely at work any more. 7/8 rest days in a row every four weeks is unbelievable. As you say, any overtime on 8s...

As I’ve previously posted I absolutely love this job and, whilst every job has its downsides, the downsides of signalling are for me trivial compared to those of every previous job I’ve had in the 20 years before I started doing this.

It’s threads like this that really make me rue the loss of cab rides for signallers. I’ve been a signaller for 4 years now and never set foot in the cab of a train, or had a decent chat with a driver outside of usual comms. It would be bloody invaluable to speak to some of the drivers down our...

Happy days, welcome aboard!

That’s how it would work on our line - stay on training pay until you’re passed out and ready to work a box on your own, then get the full grade of whatever that box was.

Grade 3 boxes, between 2-6 trains an hour usually. I wasn’t trying to dismiss your opinion on the job by the way, just giving my 2p’s worth. 1703846065 I undoubtedly miss having colleagues to take the piss out of and generally chat rubbish with I must say. I’d never say never with working...

I think it’s an amazing job. I work on my tod in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature. I only see my boss about once a month and when I do he mostly sorts my requests and gripes out. Every shift I go home and forget about trains and work until it’s time for the next shift, no fretting...

I was on an IST of 10 people. 9 passed on first attempt, 1 passed on second attempt after illness. 5 were on a contract where they had to apply for jobs during the course. All 10 of us had permanent jobs within 3 months of finishing IST.

Another 10 applications here mate, keep going with it. I eventually got the job by reapplying for a post I originally got rejected for without an interview. I used 99% the same application, got an interview and got the job so there’s definitely a large element of chance to it. As gator op says...

Hello mate, I sign Melton, feel free to hit me up if you need any info. You might find that Melton is just a central location to put on the advert though and you may be destined for one of the other boxes between Syston and Manton (Frisby, Whissendine, Ashwell, Langham, Oakham, Manton)...

I didn’t come from education but I switched careers to signalling in the middle of the pandemic from a public sector job I’d been doing for 15 years. I still quite enjoyed my previous job but I wanted progression and didn’t fancy the path that it took there. I can honestly say after 3 years...

It sounds like you must have some sort of willpower if you are able to make yourself go for a run so I reckon you’ll be OK - I’ve got the breaking strain of soggy shortbread so I never had a chance.

Mate, I was a big lad before I went to IST, then 10 weeks of a fat cooked breakfast, a lunch of baguette, crisps and chocolate, and then a 3 course dinner in the evening was absolutely brutal on the waistline. Still, it’s proven to be good training for sitting in a signal box cramming food...