"Flyer Bell"
 

Has anybody ever heard of the "Flyer Bell" In the mid 1960's it was rung at Carnforth railway station to alert "Train Spotters" of the imminent arrival of a fast train.
Whenever the "Flyer Bell" rang, the train spotters would appear from all over the place, to watch a fast train going through.

I've never heard of that before Alan. Sounds like a nice gesture from the railway staff though. Oh for the days when an interest in railways was welcomed by the authorities.

I don't want to sound like a killjoy but was the bell really rung for the benefit of trainspotters?
I have visited a number of stations where an electric bell rang shortly before each "non-stopper" and although convenient for spotters I always assumed it was simply a warning to waiting passengers and railway staff.

We used to wait for the "double pegs" to go up. The home and the distant, to know when an express was coming. We used to call them "clangers". Still no idea why 50 years later.
The only time I can recall a bell on the station ringing was when a stopping train was coming. I suppose that was to notify the passengers in the waiting room and the porters, who used to appear out of the woodwork.
Ahh, happy days!
Paul.

There is a writeup at http://home.clara.net/gw0hqd/mems/mems.htm about the 'Flyer Bell' and some other very good storys about Carnforth.

Hi Syd,
Great site, thanks for that.
I seem to have missed the thread a little bit because my post about the bell and the "clangers" was not about Carnforth, but my local atation in the East Midlands.
Sorry for any confusion.
Paul.

Thanks for the link Syd. Great.

Best wishes,

John.

Here is another good site for those of you who like to have a look at world trains:-
http://www.phantasrail.com/index.htm
Scrol down to find all the countrys covered

Another great site, Thanks Syd.

Think I'm going to have to start a new section in my favourites called "Syd's!"

Best wishes,

John.