Southend Pier signalling

IN the 1960s I was assistant to the CS&T locking fitter based at Ipswich, and we were requested to attend the Southend Pier Railway to test the signal frames for their annual test on a Saturday night after the pier had closed. This was usually done by the Stratford fitters, but on this day they were otherwise engaged.

The two of us arrived at Southend Victoria station at about 9pm and were taken by taxi to a large hotel overlooking the pier and given a room to wait in. A council official said our meals were provided and we would be picked up after midnight. My governor, Harold, wasn’t too pleased about this and said that if he had known the procedure beforehand he would have worn civvy clothes and not overalls (which was our normal practice) and gone to play bingo on the seafront for a couple of hours. But instead we watched TV in the lounge after a meal.

Sometime after midnight we were taken by a railtruck to the two immaculately-kept signalboxes for the tests, which took about an hour or so. The tests went without a hitch and we returned to the hotel. After a few hours kip, we had breakfast and were ferried back to Victoria station by a pier official.

I enjoyed the experience, as it was somewhat different to our daily routine, but Harold bemoaned the fact that he could have got a few bingo games in as well!

Ray Wade Trimley St Mary, Suffolk

I LIVED in Southend-on-Sea until I was 18, so much enjoyed the article (August issue) on the Pier Railway, but I have a query which others may be able to resolve.

This concerns the ‘toast rack’ carriages which preceded the AC vehicles: I have

a distinct memory of boarding those carriages, and of a porter hooking up chains on the platform side before departure (to deter people from climbing out while in motion). On the nonplatform side, the chains would already be in place. Passengers unhooked these chains on arrival at an end station.

Can anyone tell me whether I am suffering from false memory?

Chris Taylor

Swanage