Jump to content
 

The human side of the railway...


Recommended Posts

On 05/04/2021 at 13:25, DIRTY DIESEL said:

21/2/81 40086 Cardiff/Holyhead Ruggex. 
My source can name four of the the assembled motley crew, but I will keep it confidential due to ‘Crimes to fashion..’;)

 

oh by the way Wales beat Ireland 9-8..

 

Stu

 

 

Yup.  I can name about half a dozen of those including one who normally works about a "coach length" from me in non covid times. 

I see Wellie (David Rollason) there who is no longer with us of course. His funeral service was one of the most surreal I have ever attended.  All us cranks were upstairs in the gallery whilst Dave's family were downstairs.  They had no idea there would be so many of us !!! 

Edited by Covkid
Correction
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Bon Accord said:

 

It wasn't just outsiders who took a dim view of the railway.

As a youngster (and already a committed enthusiast) when thinking about possible careers I was warned off BR in no uncertain terms by my maternal Grandfather because he thought there was no future in it, which perhaps was no great surprise considering he'd had to transfer no less than 4 times to keep his job in the face of closures.

He'd started in 1925 with the LNER and finally retired in '74.

 

Completely true. I got "displaced" three times up to privatisation, but I always found another job - hard not to, really!

 

But it was also very looked down upon of you were thought to be enthusiastic (or, an enthusiast), in the front line. I had a supervisor (Derek) at Cannon Street, who was one of the most pro-active "managers" I ever met in my c.40 year career, partly due to the utter uselessness of the Station Manager. But his constant retort, when challenged about whether he cared, was "I'm only here for the money." 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
1 hour ago, Mike Storey said:

 

Completely true. I got "displaced" three times up to privatisation, but I always found another job - hard not to, really!

 

But it was also very looked down upon of you were thought to be enthusiastic (or, an enthusiast), in the front line. I had a supervisor (Derek) at Cannon Street, who was one of the most pro-active "managers" I ever met in my c.40 year career, partly due to the utter uselessness of the Station Manager. But his constant retort, when challenged about whether he cared, was "I'm only here for the money." 

"Best" by some margin. Was Curly Baxter a Cannon man?

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

"Best" by some margin. Was Curly Baxter a Cannon man?

 

I know the name - was he a Guard's Regulator? If so, they (or at least the job) got moved into Beckenham about a year or so after I got there.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I don't think so, but am struggling to think where I worked with him. It might have been in the new LB powerbox, where he would have been as temporary as I was, but I have a feeling he'd been a Cannon supervisor. We had Percy there, too, so that doesn't make sense, although may have helped Cannon....

  • Like 1
  • Funny 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 11/04/2021 at 20:51, Mike Storey said:

 

In a strange way, yes. In the 1970's and 80's particularly, in the UK, you did not mention that you worked for the railways in any non-railway social setting. It was part defensive, in that derision might ensue, or some idiot would grab you to berate the state of the nation, or ask about aspects of which you had no idea, but expect an answer. (My mother-in-law still expected me to know the times of trains, and the cost, off by heart, between Ramsgate and Canterbury, when I had long ago left for the Eastern, or even when I worked for the 2012 Olympics!)

 

But the other reason was that you could not "pull" if a girl thought you worked in a dead end job...... Fortunately, the current Mrs Storey also worked for a part of the railways, so she knew what she was getting.

 

But as for either not mixing with the great unwashed, or deliberately avoiding them, no, I do not believe it was like France at all. There, for a start, if you worked for SNCF, you were seen as akin to a doctor - I know, I nearly married a girl, from near Pau, in SW France; she did not love me (as I found out) but her family certainly thought I was a great catch! I found, in France, that there were so many railway peeps in particular locations, that there was no need to venture outside that group. In the UK, that privilege had ceased many moons earlier, given the job reductions that had occurred since the 1950's.


Ha, so I’m not the only one who needs to memorise the whole GBTT and have an answer straight away...


There was a time under Railtrack you wouldn’t wear anything with Railtrack on it (when going for briefings etc) as we would get abuse. 

 

I was told many times to “Get under the wires if you want to keep your job...”, but I’m still here in the same box (via a few others) 39 years later. 

 

I now work next to people who can do the Times crossword in 2 minutes flat with daft amount of qualifications and memories the rule book backwards while in Signaling School but then lack common sense when the job goes pairshaped, although there are one or two exceptions every so often thankfully...

  • Like 2
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

A couple of pics of LTSR crew...My driving instructor Brian Hunt, Traction Inspector Andy Gee, Jim (spleen-head) Scott, MP12 training at Iford with Nick Gash under the left umbrella, Rodders, Shaun Stamp and the March Boys ("Don't put your hands near their mouths!"), the "Barge" messroom at Fen.st. with the train capts., me, Ian Dronsfield (the road-runner) and Sean Stamp at York with D200 and me and Shane (Ha Ha) Cox on the cushions to East Ham.

 

 

 

 

20210414_144913.jpg

20210414_145206.jpg

20210414_144856.jpg

20210414_145017.jpg

20210414_144931.jpg

20210414_145234.jpg

20210414_145214.jpg

Edited by 33C
added detail
  • Like 15
  • Funny 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
8 hours ago, Rugd1022 said:

Photographer unknown : Kingsbury in the late '70s or early '80s....

 

193766261_47358KingsburyIronbridgetripBSorSYmen.jpg.9a870aea688c8135148449c9575a09da.jpg

 

Photo by Craig Dunn : Durham in 1982....

 

2094796437_47435DURHAMc.1982CraigDunn.jpg.ea55e4d53ab00ccd5017ff1692499eab.jpg

 

Photo by Richard Glenister : Reading in 1987....

 

1817612383_47536RG1987RichardGlenister.jpg.0645e705bb4cb9e24431b752cf3540bf.jpg

 

 

The first pic.; when was Michael Caine on the railways?

 

  • Like 1
  • Funny 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

There is little on here from the maintenance leg, so here are a couple of guys carrying out maintenance on a CTM in the seventies. More to follow if I can find them.

 

20150617221439_05.jpg.c8a57c01a285c4fcd918ecba803ae65b.jpg

 

Edited by 96701
  • Like 7
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Playing with the then brand new 75t Healey Mills breakdown crane to start learning how to look after it. It turned out that 4 foot long arms with three elbows would have come in handy.........

 

1814429247_75tcrane1.jpg.56a8679c6e750d73955777e8e83b995b.jpg

 

 

458416749_75tCrane2.jpg.63b316cfc19e4feeb4050ef8fe9481b7.jpg

 

 

Of course, it has to be put away afterwards.

2057922782_75tCrane3.jpg.70e755a559e9f799af668e2a9da56b67.jpg

 

Edited by 96701
  • Like 17
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 15/04/2021 at 01:51, 33C said:

A couple of pics of LTSR crew...My driving instructor Brian Hunt, Traction Inspector Andy Gee, Jim (spleen-head) Scott, MP12 training at Iford with Nick Gash under the left umbrella, Rodders, Shaun Stamp and the March Boys ("Don't put your hands near their mouths!"), the "Barge" messroom at Fen.st. with the train capts., me, Ian Dronsfield (the road-runner) and Sean Stamp at York with D200 and me and Shane (Ha Ha) Cox on the cushions to East Ham.20210414_144913.jpg.5fa8de2c8fc6bbc2ca304af3549fd7e9.jpg

 

 

 

 

The first pic.; when was Hywel Bennett on the railways?

  • Funny 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
On 12/04/2021 at 18:37, Oldddudders said:

"Best" by some margin. Was Curly Baxter a Cannon man?

I've just discovered this forum and I'm sure Curly was one of the regulators in the box at London Bridge. I also worked with the "Best" supervisor at both Cannon Street and later at London Bridge.     Mr Storey, did you work at Charing Cross?

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
1 hour ago, smarshy said:

I've just discovered this forum and I'm sure Curly was one of the regulators in the box at London Bridge. I also worked with the "Best" supervisor at both Cannon Street and later at London Bridge.     Mr Storey, did you work at Charing Cross?

Yes, Curly was in the back row at London Bridge when I was there April-July 1976. I just had a feeling he had been at Cannon. Several of us were sent in for the start-up of the new box, but thankfully weren't needed for long. Area Manager Jack Jennings had picked some of his star players - and me - to be the bulwark against teething troubles. Eddie Creighton went back to Beckenham Control about the same time I went back to Grove Park, and Charlie Key went back to Charing Cross. Derek Best ended up in Control, too, I think. 

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...