Mid Hants telephones

Issue 145 Autumn 2010  A tale of two sheds 

Acme Supplies has a shed located off the railway, here all manner of “that will come in useful one day” items are stored, unfortunately newer items are being constantly added on top. This adds to the fun of a shed, you go looking for item X which, if lucky is there somewhere, only to discover item Z, long forgotten, “Ah, so that’s where it went”.

Mega sheds

At Ropley two of what could be described as the ultimate in sheds have been built, shed is hardly the term to describe these splendid buildings.

One could stay here for days and amuse oneself with all the facilities installed, benches, drills etc, a quick count found electrical sockets for three different voltages.

My thought that a shed is a place of solitude obviously wasn’t shared by those working there; a request for phones and internet access was soon received.

Unfortunately those who planned and built these sheds seemed to share my view that one doesn’t need communications if one is retreating to a place of peace and tranquillity, no allowance at all was made for phone and IT cables.

This caused a bit of had scratching for Phil and myself, although there were cable trays running the length of the building you cannot run computer cables containing delicate voltages alongside whopping big electrical ones with lots of volts and amps in them.

Under Plan A two cables were going to be run from the building back to the station, one for phones and the other for the IT stuff which needed intermediate equipment, the offer of some newer IT items which could work over the full distance removed the need for the second cable.

As mentioned before there was no allowance for the cables, I do tend to go on about this a lot as it has caused extra work, so a large hole was drilled in the newly built side wall and a duct buried under two tracks to the S and T concrete trackside troughing, this would be the route back to the station.

Using again the services of those old troopers from the Sunday PW gang, Brian, Dave and John plus Bob and Peter from the building group, not forgetting Phil, the cables were run during a snow storm one Sunday morning from the station building towards the sheds. From a joint box outside the station building this cable went along platform 2 under the rails by the signal box beneath platform 1 in a duct and then through the troughing towards Medstead.

Due to careful pre planning and measurement sufficient cable had been ordered for the job to ensure we ran out of it about 20 metres short of the new building. 

It would have been possible to connect to existing telephone cables either at the end of platform 1 or the signal box but for the sake of a better job the new 10 pair cable connects directly back to the telephone exchange.

The afternoon, weather now fine, saw the cables run internally through the sheds from one end to the other, about 80metres, which gives an indication of the size of the building, a 6 pair for phones and a 4 pair Cat5 for the IT services. The cables were run at a high level keeping clear of all other electrical cables.

Another drum of cable was ordered and on the following Friday with a cast of one the cable run was completed, it continued up the troughing through the duct under the track and into the shed, from there it had to go up and over the entrance doors and was terminated on a Krone block. At the same time another 5 pair cable was run from this block and has been left spare in the concrete troughing, it could be useful for SPTs with stage 2 of the Ropley signalling scheme due shortly.

The same day saw the jointing of the cable outside the station building and in the troughing, one phone was fitted and service provided. A further half days work completed the job, 4 phones, 2 extension bells and a line for a FAX.

I now would like to mention the tea and cakes dished out at the official grand opening but it seems my invitation to this event has got lost in the post so I never went. 

All change

Despite the means of switching the Alton SPTs had been common knowledge for a couple of years, manually switched by the signal person (politically correct) about 10 days before opening day someone decided the switching had to be controlled by the signalling system. While this involved a small amount of work it meant time had to be found at short notice to do it, it also makes out of hours testing of the circuitry well nigh impossible. 

Where are the cakes?

I went to Alton on the first day of the Spring Steam Gala, this was when someone bravely decided to open the new signal box and associated colour light signals, I attended to make sure the SPTs were working, it was planned to be a brief visit but mention was made that there would be cakes handed out so I hung around, if I hadn’t have gone home mid day I think I would still be there now waiting for the cakes to turn up, it seems they never did. To fill in time awaiting the culinary treat a couple of old cabinets were sorted out, another store of long forgotten “come in useful items”. A number cable joints were deemed surplus to requirements and have been passed on to the Dean Forest Railway.  The gentleman from HMRI who was doing the official inspection of the signalling declared an interest in the telephone system so he was given a guided tour of the exchange, he declined a gift of a PABX4 group selector which had just be found,  I don’t think he got a cake either.

With the commissioning of the new signalling the Butts Treadle indicator circuit was removed from service, very early on day one someone from the S and T had nobbled it, after a few weeks all cabling was removed and I remarked it had gone without any of the complaints I had been expecting, it seems I spoke too soon. During May Bank Holiday saw a visit to Alton to connect an extension of CressNet to the station, no sooner had I stepped onto the platform than I was greeted by a number of station staff saying they wanted the Butts indicator back, “Nothing to do with me, the traffic department wanted it out so it’s out, best have a word with them”. Scuttle off to the telephone exchange to connect that end of the circuit and about 30 minutes later I returned to the station, the topic of conversation was….,  well it is easy to guess. It seems there was an idea to put a petition on the official 10 Downing Street site for its return but nothing happened as it seems Gordon was having problems of his own at the time to worry about it.

Due to certain people having a verbal ear bashing changes are now planned …  watch this space!

Issue 146 Winter 2010/11  The Noise

A suggestion was for an incoming train to ring the platform bell but I thought this might be confusing plus a quick straw poll with a member of the shop staff “can you hear the platform bell from here” had revealed the answer “sometimes” What was needed was a distinctive sound to denote an up train. I remember once seeing a film about Glenn Miller in his formative years, he was a struggling musician and looking for a distinctive sound and when he found it the rest is history. From memory Glenn Miller in the film looked remarkably like Jimmy Stewart, most probably advancing years playing tricks.  

Early on in the planning stage the proposed circuit was referred to in an e-mail as “the noise” a title that has stuck with it.

When on automatic mode the signalling equipment sends a signal when an approaching train operates a treadle at Chawton to a small relay set in the signal box locking room. A 3000 type relay operates (where would we be without them) and starts everything off, an intermittent signal sounds 2 buzzers at the station, one in the office the other in the shop. After a short delay a timer operates and stops the buzzers, long enough for about 5 buzzes.

The circuit was placed in service mid May and would no doubt have been done a lot sooner if those wanting the facility had spoken to the right people in the first place, I have heard it has been well received, not told officially but informed third hand. 

The calendar

           Following the acclaimed success of last years calendar cleverly called “Mid Hants Railway Norstar Telephone exchanges 2010 calendar” there are now thoughts of producing a 2011 issue. The draft front cover has been produced and might even be included on this page. One problem exists in that only having 4 exchanges, and having 12 months in a years one is rather limited in having different pictures from last year , should one have 3 shots ( my education wasn’t wasted ) of the Alton equipment taken from different angles or include pictures of phones? The jury is still out.

The bells

New “old” platform bells have been fitted at Alresford and Alton but that is a story for another day.

The problem

A phone call at home from Pat Butler early one Saturday evening with the news that all communication had been lost between Alresford and Ropley, he said it could be that a fire started by the light engine had caused the problem; a second phone call a short time later confirmed this. We don’t have the luxury of underground joint boxes so the cables have to come to the surface to be jointed, out of all the undergrowth that could have been burnt along side several miles of track the small area of grass that had was at the joint location.  Plans were made to take the Wickham trolley on Sunday morning and repair the damage; at least the weather was good.

Next morning and the cold light of day with heavy rain as a bonus revealed the joint no longer existed; all that remained were the securing bolts and a big mass of burnt copper, fortunately the rain stopped and the repairs made, concrete troughing now protects the joints at this location.

The ongoing problem

For a while it was suspected there was a fault with the SPT ring tone generator at Alton, several visits after reports of problems found everything was alright. Another report and a check at a signal it was found the ring tone was very faint, could be a problem phone. Checking at another signal, also faint. Two faulty phones, not very likely or a problem in the exchange. Go to exchange and ring tone is ok, so it is two faulty phones. Return to the phones at the signals and ring tone now correct. Fault has got better, back to exchange and look at the tone generator, touch a wire and the tone goes faint. A percussion clear, technical name for knocking the unit restores the tone. To cut a long story short a dodgy soldered connection was found, slight vibration could clear the fault and no doubt trains passing a few feet away from the exchange were doing this. After soldering the offending connection the box was duly bashed numerous times and the fault didn’t return. Several weeks later saw another visit as things were reported dead, again no ring tone. The unit has been taken off site and will be severely spoken to, there is a standby ring tone supply built into the system, this was provided in case the electronic one became faulty and has been used to provide service in the interim.

The other problem

Again at Alton, speech on the platform phone was distorted and of an intermittent nature, several visits either found the fault had already gone or disappeared while trying to locate it. A number of items were changed and could be ruled out; it wasn’t the phone, cable to the exchange or the Norstar equipment, which didn’t leave much else. Fortunately the fault stayed on long enough on one visit for it to be traced to a pinched pair of wires in the station office connection box.

The disaster

Following the fire in the carriage workshop nothing remains of the telecoms infrastructure there, at least it can be easily replaced unlike the other contents of the building. Some before and after pictures at www.phones-midhants.co.uk/CressNet.aspx 

The less positive bits

Not every thing has gone so well, a request for a circuit for War on the Line between platform 2 at Ropley and the picnic area was duly installed but never used, a complete waste of my time and materials. If a similar request is made next year I will be out of the country on business, so advanced warning, best ask someone else.

When the railway web site was altered there was no longer any mention that the Telecoms Department exists or even a link to its web site at www.phones-midhants.co.uk , since the changes sales of unwanted interesting telephone artefacts, junk to the ill informed, dropped to near zero and accordingly funds that could have be contributed to new projects was no longer available, any money needed now coming solely from the railways funds. When it comes to public awareness I have always thought we were the poor relation of the railway. Recently a link has been provided if you know where to look.

Issue 147 Spring 2011 Ring ring, who’s it for?

A phone call at work didn’t bring the news that something disastrous had happened to the phone system but an old platform bell had been donated to the railway. I had better admit now that the doom and gloom calls are very rare,  I like it that way, so rare they tend to be remembered, saying that any call about anything is also extremely uncommon.

If the bell worked the Alresford station staff would like it installed there. Duly collected it was taken to Medstead, a weighty item with a nice polished wooden case and a large metal gong about 9 inches in diameter, after getting it to work it was passed to the building department for fixing. There were two lines of thought here, first as mentioned earlier it was heavy and no doubt awkward to fix high up on a wall and second if some one duly removed it out of hours because they thought it better at their place of residence than the station I didn’t want the blame for not fixing it securely enough. No point getting old if you don’t get artful.  There now occurred a delay during which there was a counter claim from the Alton station staff as to where the bell should be located, it was claimed the bell was originally from that station, in what era I don’t know, certainly not on Platform 3 during the time the Mid Hants has been in residence.

I considered there were three ways to solve this custody battle, a form of time share where the bell spent so much time at each station before going to the other, use to Judgement of Solomon where each station would get half a bell or my preferred solution sit back, do nothing and let the two station staffs fight it out amongst themselves and the winner would get the bell, to the Victor the spoils.

However fate dealt a hand, Chris Hunt had recovered a SR platform bell from North Tawton, original home of the Ropley footbridge, many years ago, only problem was it was missing its gong. Mark Walden asked if I had a suitable gong, the only problem is Acme Supplies only deals in old phone items, he then mentioned a 6 inch gong was needed. The mention of the size reminded me of a type of phone extension bell, the “6 inch external magneto bell”. A quick trip to Acme Supplies and a very brief rummage produced the aforesaid mentioned item complete with 2 gongs. 

The bell had been in store for a very long time and there is very little likelihood it would have ever been used on the railway but had been kept on the off chance it would come in handy one day and in this case it did.  Vindicated at last!

 Different voltage

There was now one slight problem, all the existing platform bells had previously spent their lives in telephone exchanges and worked on 50 volts, the two “new” bells worked on 12 volts, it was thought to be cruel to stick the higher voltage through the coils of these veteran bells.

Another visit to Acme Supplies produced a couple of 50 volt to 12 volt converters, duly connected these now run the bells. It is unfortunate that the wiring at Alton that had only been renewed several weeks earlier had to be altered for the new converter. Such is life.

So if one day someone who isn’t old enough yet to draw their pension is standing a Alton and hears the platform ring then states “that’s not how bells sounded in Southern Railway days” they might be right.

All the threes, 3, 3, 33

Just before the crossing keepers hut was moved to its new home at Ropley there was a request for a phone line to be installed in it. “Why” I thought, it was hardly likely to be used much and there were phones not very far away on either footbridge column. I then realised it would be the third time I had fitted a phone in that structure in three different locations at Ropley in thirty three years, hence the heading. In the event it was decided a phone wasn’t needed after all but I thought the title was too good not to use.