Talk:Rail signaller

Discussion Held at Signalman (Rail)

Agree with the source template. However I know bugger all about trains. Any train fans who know there stuff please update this page. But I am currently going through the links to the old signalman page, and pointing them here. Renski 15:23, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Deletion

Agreed, the article is very short. It was a single sentance moved from signalman. A lot of other articles refer to this page. I think this page should remain until someone with the right background can come along and add to the content. Renski 15:45, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

I've added a request for help on the Talk:Railway_signalling page in order to get something here. If that fails, I'll write a few basic sentaces myself. Renski 15:56, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Removed the speedy deletion marker, I've added a little more information up to the minimum of three sentances for a stub. But again, someone else needs to work on this. Renski 16:16, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Article title

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Not too happy about the article's title in the masculine; I'll transfer it to a page with a more general title. Jonfun 16:14, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

"Signalman" is gender-neutral. The ending "-man" in this kind of word means "human" and there are plenty of female signalmen happy to be referred to as such. "Signaller" is a dreadful word introduced to the British rail industry by Railtrack as a pseudo-appeasement to the PC mob when the previous word was fine. Furthermore, the subject of this article is relevant to other countries. I don't think you should have moved this article without discussing it first. Signalhead 17:13, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Jonfun's rename without consultaion was perfectly inline with the be bold policy. (The fact that he did not actually move the article has now been fixed). I give a weak vote for "signaller" and will muddy the waters by suggesting the horrible "signalperson". -- RHaworth 21:02, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Restore to Signalman urgently. WP is supposed to use article titles that reflect common usage, and is certainly not to be used for trying to correct so-called 'politically incorrect' titles. Signalmen have been known by this title for the last 150+ years (in the UK and Commonwealth at least). I'm making a bit of a generalisation, but I would suspect that the vast majority of UK rail enthusiasts (and probably the population in general) would not associate the word 'signaller' with railways. The word is also consistent with the long-term usage of other names such as Postman, Fireman, Milkman, Dustman, Fisherman, Huntsman, Chairman, etc

Check out the entry at FreeDictionary, the entry at Wiktionary (which exactly supports my proposal) and the short story The Signal-Man written by Charles Dickens in 1866.

(I have no complaint with Jonfun for being bold, but in this case the move was inappropriate and the proposal should have been discussed first.)

EdJogg 23:26, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Restore to Signalman, following current usage. Our policy is not to promote change in usage however desirable. Andrewa 09:28, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

• Oppose. Signaller better sounding than Signalman. – Axman (☏) 08:28, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

My apologies to AxSkov, but "better sounding" is not a valid argument in a move request. This article has been renamed from signaller (rail) to signalman (rail) as the result of a move request. --Stemonitis 18:48, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Signaller On Site

I am a signaller currently working for Network Rail in the UK. I have added a section to the main page titled "Duties Today". Feel free to edit or even delete if you wish if you feel I am treading on someones toes. I am willing to add or give advice on any aspect of my work. Also, just want to add that the company itself (Network Rail) calls its employees signallers and not signalman or signalwoman. Times are changing and the past 150+ years are irrelevant. However, this fact I feel should show in the History section. Michaelduly 17:32, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

For the record I am another signaller currently working for Network Rail in the UK. I was last called "Bobby" two days ago. Ianmurray5 (talk) 20:00, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

White collar and blue collar

This edit lamenting the demise of "The old railway, which was operated almost solely by blue collar workers and front-line managers such as station masters" rings true, but "rings true" cuts no ice as a Wikipedia reliable source. Tagged {{who?}} and {{cn}}. --Old Moonraker (talk) 14:07, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

That whole section sounds like a POV essay 62.252.63.179 (talk) 13:34, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

Signallers

There seems to be a bit of a gap which misses-out the 'golden age' of 'levers-and-bells' signalling and jumps straight to 'Signallers Today'. I am a passed signaller on a preserved steam railway, so I will insert a new section called 'Signalling - Historical' soon, which will deal with a little of the everyday 'nitty-gritty' of block working. 5.81.27.83 (talk) 19:49, 27 August 2015 (UTC)

Merge suggestions: "Switchman" -> "Signalman" and "Signalman" -> "Train dispatcher"

The stub article "Switchman" should be merged with Signalman, their job description varies slightly and its often used interchangeably. Neoking (talk) 16:02, 8 March 2016 (UTC)

Agree, good idea. But there is another pending merge proposal: "Signalman" -> "Train dispatcher" Taylor 49 (talk) 10:48, 8 August 2018 (UTC)