Sepia Saturday 151 - telephone operator

Just a few minutes between raking up the autumn leaves to participate in this week's Sepia Saturday. I have managed to stay on theme this week, although my telephone operator picture is nowhere near as spectacular as the one Alan posted. This first picture is from an article in the January 1957 edition of Trains Illustrated called "The American Train Dispatcher".

An American Traffic controller at his telephone desk, c.1956

And although not strictly on the telephone theme, the second picture does have a lot to do with communication, so kind of linked. This picture is also from the January 1957 edition of Trains Illustrated and was featured in an article called "Signalling and the Modernisation plan". It's a picture of the inside of York signal box which, at the time, was the largest of its kind in the world, controlling nearly 18 miles of running lines, 5.5 miles of loop lines, with 74 running and 154 shunt signals, and 277 sets of points. Some sense of the enormity of this can be seen in the layout on the far walls. I suspect today that there are only a couple of lines here, all controlled by a microchip the size of a pinhead.

The electric route relay interlocking signal box at York

Lots more vintage magazines and vintage postcards on my web site

    

Vintage London Underground map, c.1924

I was leafing through a vintage guide book of London, searching for inspiration for a future blog post, when I came across a couple of maps that the book owner had obviously use to aid his/her trip around the city. The first was a cutting from the Daily Sketch newspaper from 1924 featuring a London Underground map. This one is A3 and quite battered so I'm still working out how to scan that one in. However, the second insert is a bit smaller, and although in 2 pieces and bigger than my scanner, I think I have managed to successfully merge the 2 parts of the map.

London Underground map, c.1924

What I love about this map, in fact all old maps, is looking at the places where the lines used to end compared to where they end today, where station names have changed, and also where stations have become disused. For example, the Highgate and Hampstead Line has been much extended, merged with the City and South London Railway, and has become the Northern Line. St. Mary's, Mark Lane, Brompton Road, Dover Street, Down Street, British Museum, Post Office, and Trafalgar Square, have all either been renamed, closed or merged with other stations. Some of these 'ghost' stations are still visible from passing tube trains whilst others are long gone. Keep a look out the window as you pass through the tunnels ... you never know what you might see.

    

Sepia Saturday 83: The Road to Sunshine

My plans for taking a day trip to the coast on Sunday seem to have been dashed by the weather forecast which appears to predict rain all weekend. Instead we'll probably end up going to London for the day and take in some museums. Depending on how many of the family come will depend on the mode of transport. Ideally I'd like to go by train as it's much less hassle, but the tipping point comes quite quickly when there's more people. Since a kid, I've always had a soft spot by railways but must admit to finding today's railways, stations and trains a little less romantic than when I was younger (although some of the recent restoration works at St Pancras and Paddington are looking impressive). But even the way train travel was described in the early part of the 20th century sounded idealistic and romantic. For my entry to this week's Sepia Saturday I'm trying to recapture some of that by sharing these vintage advertisements taken from a 1920's guide book.

As usual, more vintage magazines and vintage postcards on my web site

And it would seem that if the spate of recent TV programs and books is anything to go by, I'm not the only person who dreams of returning to the age of the train. Both Julia Bradbury and Michael Portilo have presented excellent TV series over the past few months. These are possibly still available on iPlayer, but if not the accompanying series books are readily available, and what's really excited me is that Bradshaw's 1907 Railway Map is also available ... all aboard.

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Something New in Motor Coaching

Whilst browsing through some vintage guide books, I came across this curious vintage advertisement. It's advertising something called the "Silent Guide" which boasts itself to be ...

A novel invention coupled with specially prepared itineraries for imparting and retaining information in a particular and pleasing manner about the many places of interest you may either visit or pass en route on your favourite motor coach tours.

I have tried to find some more information about this device, but have not managed to find anything at all. The perfect solution for not wanting to show one's ignorance of not knowing something, whilst at the same time not wanting to ask anyone.

Vintage advertisement, c.1922

    

More vintage magazines and vintage postcards can be found on my web site