The LNER Encyclopedia

I'm sorry to announce that my Dad died in his sleep late in the evening on the 25th November 2014, which just happened to be Mum and Dad's 70th Wedding anniversary. I will post the funeral arrangements as soon as I have them. Derek Revell (son)

Very sorry to hear of the passing of your father and my condolences to you and your family.

I knew your father briefly back in the 1970s when he worked Welwyn Garden City s/box after the NX panel was installed in the box in late 1973 and before i left the box in March of 1974. I was a 15-16 year old telegraph lad at the box at the time and recall working several shifts with him in the box in late 1973 & early 1974 before i left the box, i never met him again.

Roy was a Hitchin relief signalman for many years (i believe going back to the 1950s) and usually worked boxes such as Stevenage north, Hitchin south, Hitchin Yard, Cambridge Junction, Three Counties and the boxes down the Cambridge branch such as Letchworth, Baldock & Royston so WGC was a bit further south than usual for him i guess.

41 years ago when i met Roy on several occasions back in 1973/74 i remember him as a genial sort of bloke fairly tall'ish but not to tall with a mop of short'ish black hair and wearing glasses with usually a bright smile on his face, ah yes i can still see him now in my minds eye all these years later...

All the best to you and your family and sorry to hear of the sad news.

Mickey.

That's sad news indeed. Had some fun working with your dad back in the 70s, I can picture and hear him now

My condolences to all of you


Frank Cheevers

Hello All,

Dad's funeral arrangements are as follows, 12:00pm Thursday 18th December at Stopsley Crematorium, Luton, Beds LU2 8DD.

The funeral service will be lighthearted and non denominational, as anyone who knew my Dad will know he had a great sense of humour, so no long faces please.

After the service there will be nibbles and drinks at 40 Whitehill Road, Hitchin, Herts SG4 9HP, which all will be welome.

Thanks to those gentlemen (Mickey and Frank) who sent their condolences.

I've spent a couple of days sorting through Dad's effects, as you can guess he had a vast amount of Railway related books, and that was just in his bedroom, I've not had the courage to venture into the Attic as yet.

I would be nice to see anyone from the Railway, as dad was nearly 92, born 26th January 1923, a lot of his peers have passed away before him.

If you need to contact me, please visit http://www.phutney.com for my telephone number and direct email contact details.

Kind regards to All

Derek G. Revell

A railwayman who i believe knew Roy and was a former LMR signalman off the st Pancras area during the 1960s & 1970s and who later on was a Operations Manager around the North London line on & off during the 1980s & 1990s but who has since been retired since the late 1990s was a fella by the name of Dave Littlechild.

I am fairly sure Dave told me he knew Roy during the late 1970s when both him and Roy were connected with the st Pancras-Bedford electrification project.

The last time i recall seeing Dave was in the late 1990s on the North London line just prior to him finishing up but i've never heard anything of him since then??.

Hi Derek, I'm very sorry to hear your news. As you will remember I interviewed your father last year but sadly the sound file corrupted. Fortunately one of my friends managed this week to get it back so I will make sure that you receive a copy. Greg

I'm so sorry I missed seeing this at the time Derek.

Through signalmen known to me over the last 45-odd years, I had known your Dad's name amongst other reliefmen such as Stan Colbert, Charlie Cooper, Vaughan Bloom, Norman Greenwood, etc., over all this time, but had never met him until seeing him, with you, several months ago at one of three 'boxes' in a certain garden somewhere between Hitchin and Baldock.
My sincere condolences to the whole family.

StevieG wrote:I'm so sorry I missed seeing this at the time Derek.

Through signalmen known to me over the last 45-odd years, I had known your Dad's name amongst other reliefmen such as Stan Colbert, Charlie Cooper, Vaughan Bloom, Norman Greenwood, etc.

Stan Colbert was relief-signalman and also a local LDC man (Local Departmental Committee) a small'ish round sorta bloke with a bald head Stan gets a mention into the official accident report into a high speed derailment due to a broken rail at Hatfield in January 1966 Stan was on duty in Hatfield No.1 box at the time of the derailment although no blame is attached to him for the accident.

Charlie Cooper was also a relief-signalman around the Hatfield area and was a kindly sorta of bloke in his 50s in the early 1970s who spoke with a Hertfordshire accent and when not working a box spent many hours doing gardening work on the flower beds at WGC station.

Vaughan Bloom i didn't know him but remember his name being mentioned once or twice i believe he was a Hitchin relief-signalman?.

Norman Greenwood a pipe smoking bloke and another relief-signalman who usually wore a flat cap and went around the boxes with a rucksack slung over his shoulder.

Hatfield No.3 box formerly Micky

StevieG wrote: " .... Through signalmen known to me over the last 45-odd years, I had known your Dad's name amongst other reliefmen such as Stan Colbert, Charlie Cooper, Vaughan Bloom, Norman Greenwood, etc., .... "

.... I also meant to include Stan Crouch amongst these [ referred to by some as 'Cruncho', (but I couldn't think of his (proper) name at the time) ].

StevieG wrote:

StevieG wrote: " .... Through signalmen known to me over the last 45-odd years, I had known your Dad's name amongst other reliefmen such as Stan Colbert, Charlie Cooper, Vaughan Bloom, Norman Greenwood, etc., .... "

.... I also meant to include Stan Crouch amongst these [ referred to by some as 'Cruncho', (but I couldn't think of his (proper) name at the time) ].

Stan Crouch a Hitchin relief-signalman along with several other relief-signalmen around in the late 1960s & early 1970s including P.J.Cleverley, Mo Cantor, Fred 'Robbo' Robinson, Dave Wotton, Bill Taylor, Dave Tilbury & Barry Jones (Barry came on this forum several months ago but has since disappeared again?).

The above named blokes usually worked some or all the boxes between Marshmoor & Cambridge Junction (Hitchin) with several including Roy working several boxes north of Hitchin to Sandy as well as the 3 G.N. boxes on the Cambridge branch.

Hatfield No.1 box wrote:

StevieG wrote:

StevieG wrote: " .... Through signalmen known to me over the last 45-odd years, I had known your Dad's name amongst other reliefmen such as Stan Colbert, Charlie Cooper, Vaughan Bloom, Norman Greenwood, etc., .... "

.... I also meant to include Stan Crouch amongst these [ referred to by some as 'Cruncho', (but I couldn't think of his (proper) name at the time) ].

Stan Crouch a Hitchin relief-signalman along with several other relief-signalmen around in the late 1960s & early 1970s including P.J.Cleverley, Mo Cantor, Fred 'Robbo' Robinson, Dave Wotton, Bill Taylor, Dave Tilbury & Barry Jones (Barry came on this forum several months ago but has since disappeared again?).

The above named blokes usually worked some or all the boxes between Marshmoor & Cambridge Junction (Hitchin) with several including Roy working several boxes north of Hitchin to Sandy as well as the 3 G.N. boxes on the Cambridge branch.

Thanks for the extra name reminders, Hatfield 1.
[ P.S., for 'Wotton', read "Wootton".]

Hi All,

Thanks very much for all your kind words regarding my Dad's passing, especially all the names, I recognised quite a few, as my Dad was always talking about his work colleagues.

If the Gentlemen who did the recording with my Dad about a year or so would let me have a copy, I'll post it on my web site.

My Dad had a massive collection of Railway related books, and Railway magazines, unfortunately these might end up in the skip, as my Sister is in charge of the house clearing operations as I'm still fully employed, and my job takes me away from home constantly, although I'm about for the next couple of weeks, and I'll retrieve them from the attic, and put them safe in the Garage.

So if anyone is interested in these please let me know.

All the best Derek Revell

Just a quick update from Roy Revell's Son, Derek.

It's almost 2 1/2 years since Dad passed away, quite a few things have happen since then, Mum (Renee) just couldn't manage to look after herself and the big house in Whitehill Road, so Sue and I thought it best that she went into a Care Home, she has her own room and has made lots of friends in the home.

I got made redundant from my Service Engineers job on the 6th January 2017, I was working in Spain (Pamplona) at the time, which was a little bit of a problem, knowing I'd have to finance my trip back to the UK myself, as the company was based in Sydney, Australia, and had put itself into Voluntary Receivership, which means I don't receive any redundancy payment from them, on a positive note I officially retire this August, so all's not lost.

If anyone was following this thread previously, I'd asked that the Gentleman (Greg Dash) who conducted an recorded interview with Dad in early January 2012 to contact me, he did and let me have the recording, I've now found the time to make these available on my web site URL www.phutney.com

The direct link to the page is http://www.phutney.com/Dad's%20Interview.html

I tested this link to make sure it worked, but let me know if it doesn't work, and I'll correct it.

The files are downloadable in three formats MP3 should work with Apple and Windows, and AIFF is Apple only format. and WAV files are like the real recording, and should work on all formats, please let me know if you require a CD-ROM and I'll send you one FOC (Free Of Charge)

All the best

Derek Revell

Hi Derek, I have sent you a pm.

Mickey

Hi Mickey,

Thanks for your PM reply, unfortunately I cannot reply via a PM as I haven't been on any discussion Forum's or the like, so I don't have permission to reply to you, if you would like no know more about the 1958 Report, I can fill you in with my Dad's version, my private email address is derekrevell@aol.com, all the best Derek.