Driver and shunter clothes in 70-80 period

[PenrithBeacon]

I have two BR blue 08 shunters which I want to populate with a driver and shunter.

Am I right in thinking that during this period these men would still be wearing steam era denim but with the addition of the hi-viz vest of the period?

Regards

[russ p]

There wasn't that much HV around in the 70s with train crew

The shunter would possibly have a blue bib and brace and dustcoat and the driver the 70s/80s blue uniform which has lots of combinations

See some of the pictures in the human side of the railway thread, not the preservation ones

[The Johnster]

Traincrew, including guards, were issued with hi-vis waistcoats for use when walking on the line in the course of the duty, but they mostly stayed stuffed in the guard's satchel or driver's bag.  I would have only worn mine if I was walking back to protect a train; they were not required on the various 'official walking routes' which were alongside rather than on the line, and on jobs like the early morning Chepstow dmu turn where you had to walk a little way along the SWML to operate the ground frame for the shunt at Chepstow.  You would just throw it on over your jacket if you though it was necessary.  Per way or S & T staff had the full kit and wore it, but I'm not sure that shunters were issued with it.  

 

The shunter's big/brace and dust coat were cotton, not denim, and a dark blue when new; they faded quite a bit after a few washes.  Hats varied and could include steam era.  Don't forget his heavy duty rubber gloves, either worn or sticking out of the dustcoat pocket, a dark maroon colour.  Dr Marten's shoes with steel toecaps and non-slip soles, available by paybill deduction from the stores, were pretty much universal.  Drivers wore the issued 1970s serge blue uniform with arrows of indecision badges, though some men from depots not under the scrutiny of management from places like Cardiff Docks signing on point (since we are talking about 08s) might very things a bit, again particularly in regard to hats.  Older men might sport company badges and ties, but it was considered very wrong to wear a company badge unless you'd actually been employed by that company (ties were ok and most of us sported GW ones on the WR)!

 

For bad weather there was a choice between the heavy woollen 'greatcoat' in black or a 'Gannex' raincoat as favoured by Harold Wilson; I went for the latter and found it to be phenomenally waterproof, but heavy.  How heavy a greatcoat would have been if it got soaking was another thing altogether!

 

The hi-viz was orange in those days, not the modern yellow colour which would look very wrong!

Edited August 13, 2017 by The Johnster

[PenrithBeacon]

I've looked through 'The Human Side of the Railway' thread, most helpful, thanks.

Regards

[Mike Storey]

Also remember that the hi-viz orange bibs (called yellow vests at the time, despite being orange, as the same nomenclature for "yellow" colour light signal aspects) in most of that decade did not have reflective strips, and were much shorter than the hi-viz waistcoats worn later. They were also usually filthy with grease, as washing was problematic and they faded very quickly. Small reflective strips did start to appear later in the decade, and we were supposed to hand in our old bibs for the new ones, but many of us kept them for when riding our bikes. (I nearly got a form 1 for that, but when it was pointed out that the bib I was wearing was no longer official workwear and would have been scrapped, it was quickly dropped....). It is a problem trying to find 00 figures that look right for this period, but modification of the later variety by addition of paint over the bottom half of modern yellow vests, and perhaps over most or all of the modern reflective strips, and a streak or three of black and a pale wash over the lot, gives you a half decent representation. The hardest problem is that most are wearing hard hats, hard to disguise, but possible with patience. I would post an example, but mine are all boxed up at the moment.

 

As an aside, where I was on the SR, many of the older train crew and shunters/number takers, still wore flat, peaked twill cloth caps (sometimes old grease caps) rather than the official pillbox hats. Definitely no hard hats in sight, apart from the orange bump hats still in their polythene bags in a dusty corner of the mess room. They might come out if it was raining hard, but they were terrible to keep on if your head was not perfectly upright at all times. The interiors were improved later to allow adjustment.

[HillsideDepot]

Five years later than the period in the original question, but I think the top two shots in Dave F's photos post today pretty much fit the bill.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/85326-dave-fs-photos-ongoing-more-added-12th-august/?p=2818831

 

Edited for correct link

Edited August 13, 2017 by HillsideDepot

[roythebus]

In the 1970 and to the late 80s loco crew almost NEVER wore HV stuff. We were offered hi vis raincoats, but almost to a man all preferred the dark blue. when asked "why" by management, the answer was "so the foreman can't see us going home (or words to that effect) early."

 

Shunters started wearing hivis quite early on more for safety , but their stuff got very dirty very quickly.

 

On the southern and at kings Cross, loco crew wore basically what they felt like. My driver at KX used to wear either "chef's trousers" or golf trousers, I followed suit!  On the Southern it was usually uniform jacket in winter, "something casual" in summer. Mine was usually a "Ride the Drain Train" T shirt and maroon trousers with a BR dust jacket.

[Roy Langridge]

The hi-viz was orange in those days, not the modern yellow colour which would look very wrong!

Railway hiviz for lineside / p-way remains orange. The plethora of other colours is generally restricted to customer facing roles at stations / on train.

 

Roy

Edited August 13, 2017 by Roy Langridge

[28XX]

snip! Per way or S & T staff had the full kit and wore it, but I'm not sure that shunters were issued with it.

 

Snip!

The P-Way and S&T were issued with the short "mini-vest", gloves and boots by payroll deduction, but nothing more in the way of ppe. Company coats and jackets were still dark grey, in the summer the old lags wore old tatty shirt jacket and trousers, probably from Oxfam. We trainees wore t-shirts and jeans. There was a custom, frowned on by the supervisors, to wear the mini-vest around the waist so you could sit on rails, sleepers whatever and keep some of the filth off your own clothes.

[The Johnster]

Having been in on the traincrew game early in the hi-viz era, it must be said that even the limited and often dirty orange gear that those on and around the running lines wore in the early 70s must have saved very many lives.  The visibility from a loco perhaps half a mile away on a gloomy or misty day was very effective, and locomen still remarked on it in those days as it was a new thing to them.  

 

It worked, and well!