In case this needs explanation, some single lines in the UK use a token system. The stop sign reads "Obtain token and permission to proceed". The driver (engineer) goes to a cabinet and obtains a token instrument, not unlike a large key which - if extracted from the instrument machine - proves that he is the only one holding a token for that section. The token machine itself may hold numerous tokens, as would one at the opposite end of the single line, but clever gubbins only allows one out at a time (and even cleverer gubbins allows a group of tokens to be extracted on a special instrument and removed to the opposite end of the line should an imbalance occur). The permission itself, if not granted by the token itself as would appear the case here, is granted by the signaller (dispatcher).
Henry Kisor Member # 4776
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Clever gubbins? What does that mean in real money?
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Here is the Wall Street Journal article which appeared Yesterday that Mr. Kisor notes:
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Geoff, needs an explanation is an understatement. I read British police procedurals constantly and thought I had UK slang and idioms down pat. But you got me with the gubbins. My spell checker hates it too!
Sometimes one doesn't know that something is a particularly British expression!
George Harris Member # 2077
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The Americans and the English are divided by a common language. Developments since the divide are particularly loaded with them. Railroads, Automobiles, and such.
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