Wagons standing in coal merchants' sidings

[SED Freightman]

Regarding the earlier question of what happend to Goods Agents / Clerks, from what I remember on the South Eastern Division at around 1980 all our freight facilities and TOPS Offices were under the control of the local Station Managers, and I suspect the TOPS Clerks or local manager / shunter dealt with any residual paperwork although the advent of CTT (Consigned Through Tops) had eliminated a lot of paperwork and wagon labelling with the principal exception of continental traffic.  There were still dedicated freight clerks at Ashford West Yd (Joyce ?), Plumstead Full Loads (Ben Johnson) and Rochester Goods, while in addition to TOPS Clerks at Dover there were also Shipping Clerks who dealt with the import and export documentation.

[Oldddudders]

Certainly by the time I arrived - not necessarily willingly - at Grove Park in late 1975, the TOPS office at Hither Green  was the least of the management team’s worries. Round the clock supervisors and a decent set of clerks meant it ticked over nicely. A distinct lack of traffic may have been a clue to the lack of drama. My skoolmate, OTOH, who had worked for IBM in the late ‘60s, was bemused by the antiquated kit in use for TOPS. 

 

Prior to TOPS, my flatmate Simon had worked at Norwood Yard in the CRO - Central Reservation Office. This was clearly a less-techie system of ensuring BR had some idea of what was going where, if not of what was lying around unused.........

[montyburns56]

Hassocks Station in the 1950s