Platform bells to signal trains to passengers

[Peter Fox]

I can remember in the 1960s at Bat And Ball (Sevenoaks) three things in particular:
(1) The horrible sour smell of the gas lamp in the booking office
(2) The letting-off of pigeons from the back platform
(3) There was a bell, just a ding not a brrring, on one platform [Down] which told you that a train was imminent. (I presume two dings for up but I was in short trousers.)
I was too young to appreciate much of this.

I know that electric bells, often substantial things, were used sometimes on the continent to warn passengers to come out of their cosy waiting rooms but was this an all-day and everyday occurrence in Blighty? I can't recall this anywhere else.

 

[LowLevel]

I can remember in the 1960s at Bat And Ball (Sevenoaks) three things in particular:
(1) The horrible sour smell of the gas lamp in the booking office
(2) The letting-off of pigeons from the back platform
(3) There was a bell, just a ding not a brrring, on one platform [Down] which told you that a train was imminent. (I presume two dings for up but I was in short trousers.)
I was too young to appreciate much of this.

I know that electric bells, often substantial things, were used sometimes on the continent to warn passengers to come out of their cosy waiting rooms but was this an all-day and everyday occurrence in Blighty? I can't recall this anywhere else.

Yes, pre departure boards platform bells were common enough. A few of the stations I call at still have them but they aren't used and I doubt if they still work - the control is still there in the signalboxes for them I think.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Yeovil Junction had one until the late 80s. It’s now performing the same function at Buckfastleigh.

 

[John Webb]

The bells varied. At St Albans South signal box from 1970 onwards (or before) there was a plunger which rang a bell on the platform to alert staff to an approaching stopping train or to request a porter or supervisor to attend the box according to a list of codes in the box. I believe the bell was an ordinary type, not one that would give a single ding.

 

[Gloster]

After Bodmin Road box closed there was a bell at Bodmin Parkway, as the station became, that was operated by a plunger in Largin box. Otherwise trains would just turn up without warning as there were no track circuits or signals visible from the station. (And did they give the signalman grief if he forgot to ring!)

 

[Paul Kelly]

There was a bell on the platform at Worcester Foregate Street last time I was there (a few years) ago. I assumed it was just somehow relaying a bell code from the signal box rather than being specifically intended for passengers, as it did quite a few rings in quick succession. It was definitely more accurate than the PIS display in indicating when a train was about to arrive.

 

[Gloster]

I don’t think that bells were intended to directly inform passengers and were just about always installed for the information of staff (as ever with the railways, there may have been odd exceptions). If passengers got to know what the different codes meant, that was fine, but ultimately passengers were to be advised of where their train was by the staff on the platform, who would get their information from various sources, including the bells.

 

[mailbyrail]

I remember the 'weasel bell' on Doncaster station in the 1970s to call a porter to the barrier to do some 'weaseling' - a passenger needing assistance with luggage which would likely generate a tip.

 

[swt_passenger]

Fratton had a bell ring for up trains not too long ago. I think it was mentioned here that bells were basically there for staff purposes, as @Gloster has mentioned, in this case there was no view from Fratton of trains arriving from the Portsmouth direction.

 

[75A]

Thank you, it's been bugging me where I regularly heard a bell before a train appeared, I was a regular @ Fratton Park in the 70's & 80's.

 

[Rescars]

In my youth I recall these bells advising staff (and anyone else in the know) about the imminent arrival of a train. Two short rings for an up train, three short rings for a down IIRC. These bells made a continuous sound, not the single stroke of a block bell.

 

[The Puddock]

The platform bell at Dundee still works but is now only used when the customer information screens fail. There is also one at Huntly which still works but only a couple of the signallers who have worked in the signalbox for a long time bother to ring it these days.

 

[randyrippley]

Yeovil Junction had one until the late 80s. It’s now performing the same function at Buckfastleigh.

It rang when an up train left Crewkerne station
Was more a warning for the station staff than passengers

 

[Gloster]

It rang when an up train left Crewkerne station
Was more a warning for the station staff than passengers

How was it operated: track circuit, staff at Crewkerne or signalman at Yeovil Junction? Whatever, that is still a fair way away.

 

[Lemmy282]

Used to do a bit of spotting at Worksop in the 70's, there was a bell that rang a few minutes before a train arrived from the Retford direction, but I don't remember similar from the Sheffield end.

 

[Ashley Hill]

It rang when an up train left Crewkerne station
Was more a warning for the station staff than passengers

Was it that far out? When waiting for crossing trains it didn’t seem that long before the up train arrived. Likewise the down. It seemed to me that Yeovil Jct box rang the bell when the trains were passing its distant signals. I may be wrong.

 

[D6130]

When I lived in Petersfield in the mid-seventies there was an electric bell on the down platform adjacent to the foreman's office which was operated by the signaller. One ring for an up stopping train, two for a down stopping train and three for a non-stopper in either direction. Presumably the latter was to warn the staff against using the staff/barrow crossing.

 

[randyrippley]

How was it operated: track circuit, staff at Crewkerne or signalman at Yeovil Junction? Whatever, that is still a fair way away.

I was told it was rung by the signal man when the train departed. Could it have been linked to the starter signal?
It did ring a fair time before arrival, something like 12 minutes.
Just wondering if that changed along with the signalling when platform 1 was turned into a through line?

Was it that far out? When waiting for crossing trains it didn’t seem that long before the up train arrived. Likewise the down. It seemed to me that Yeovil Jct box rang the bell when the trains were passing its distant signals. I may be wrong.

AFAIK the section started at Crewkerne
And FWIW I don't remember ever hearing a down bell, though I rarely went that way

 

[Ken H]

Alan A Jacksons Londons Termini book tells of a bell in a belfrey rung by pulling ropes from ground level, like a church bell. It was rung to announce departing trains. Somewhere in London. Imagine that at a London terminal today

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Located in several boxes I worked - Leominster (South) , Pontypridd etc.

We used to ring them when we remembered ........

 

[krus_aragon]

Were (are) there platform bells at Neath?

This thread has prompted a memory of hearing occasional bells while waiting for trains there a decade ago, but I assumed they were part of a staff communication/notification system. I never associated them with the approach of trains!

 

[Gloster]

I was told it was rung by the signal man when the train departed. Could it have been linked to the starter signal?
It did ring a fair time before arrival, something like 12 minutes.
Just wondering if that changed along with the signalling when platform 1 was turned into a through line?


AFAIK the section started at Crewkerne
And FWIW I don't remember ever hearing a down bell, though I rarely went that way

Crewkerne box closed in 1967. Perhaps it was rung by the Junction signalman when the train departed or passed Chard Junction, or it could have been when one of the automatic barriers activated.

 

[Roger1973]

I think that there was usually a bell (I can't remember any specific pattern of 'dings') rung on the westbound (up?) platform at Lincoln (Central) when I used the station occasionally in the mid 90s.

I assumed it was from the signaller (before it was re-signalled) as a warning to station staff, rather than for benefit of passengers.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Were (are) there platform bells at Neath?

This thread has prompted a memory of hearing occasional bells while waiting for trains there a decade ago, but I assumed they were part of a staff communication/notification system. I never associated them with the approach of trains!

Way back - when the brick box at Neath was new - the rail men running the station had a magnificent personal used PA system to advise on approaching trains - and even better "advice" for desiring to board passengers. "2 coming over the bridge Emlyn - hold back on the Swansea a moment....."

In those days - Neath was signalled from what was termed "the panel" at Port Talbot - so it could have had a bell push , but I suspect not.

 

[Taunton]

There was an article in one of the magazines (likely the Railway Magazine, in the days of the old long, calm articles), maybe in the 1960s, on exactly this. For some reason station bells seemed to have lasted longer on the Southern Region than anywhere else.

Every combination of type, operation and who rang them and for whose benefit seemed to exist. Some seemed to be aimed at passengers, others at station staff to assist with platform duties, which in those times were as much about parcels and mails as passengers. A common factor was no indication of what it signified or who it was for.

Someone must have that old article somewhere in their collection.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

There was an article in one of the magazines (likely the Railway Magazine, in the days of the old long, calm articles), maybe in the 1960s, on exactly this. For some reason station bells seemed to have lasted longer on the Southern Region than anywhere else.

Every combination of type, operation and who rang them and for whose benefit seemed to exist. Some seemed to be aimed at passengers, others at station staff to assist with platform duties, which in those times were as much about parcels and mails as passengers. A common factor was no indication of what it signified or who it was for.

Someone must have that old article somewhere in their collection.

Mostly I suspect to advise the platform staff to get ready for despatch and "be ready" for mail / parcels etc handling.

Though one can always enjoy the platform bells as seen in the 1945 "Brief Encounter" film - an utter classic and not just for the LMS railway going about it's business. An attraction that got the Director , muscling in on the Train Accouncements in real time.....

 

[chuff chuff]

The platform bell at Dundee still works but is now only used when the customer information screens fail.

Ah yeah reading this thread I remember the one at Dundee but haven't heard it in years.

 

[Gloster]

The bell at Yeovil Junction was a standard WR plunger on the block shelf, though what alerted the signalman to press it I have not found out. At Sherborne a warning bell was triggered by an approaching train (presumably by a track-circuit or treadle) that alerted that they must lower the crossing barriers.

 

[John Webb]

The bell at Yeovil Junction was a standard WR plunger on the block shelf, though what alerted the signalman to press it I have not found out. At Sherborne a warning bell was triggered by an approaching train (presumably by a track-circuit or treadle) that alerted that they must lower the crossing barriers.

Possibly either receiving "Train Entering Section" from the previous box or a particular track circuit being operated?

 

[Ashley Hill]

Possibly either receiving "Train Entering Section" from the previous box or a particular track circuit being operated?

It was WR tokenless block to Chard Jct and Templecombe so no TES.