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The human side of the railway...


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On 03/06/2020 at 14:42, LMS2968 said:

At Edge Hill, many of the sidings were on a curve, and as many trains were vans the brake van was out of the line of sight due to vans on the adjacent road. Drivers would therefore allow the guard time to walk back to his van and then start off on the assumption that he was safely inside it. Many considered five to ten seconds adequate to cover the distance.

Radyr Quarry was like this; although the curve was left handed, the view of the van from the loco was blocked by coal wagons on the adjacent roads, especially if they were 21ton hoppers.  And the clearance between the roads was a bit restricted as well; I used to hang around by the shunters' cabin where they could see me almost to Danescourt. and get on there.  You could get aboard a van fairly easily up to about 20mph, give the tip, and hang on to something for the snatch when the driver opened her up...

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On 03/06/2020 at 12:47, russ p said:

 

I was wondering if it was that BTF film that follows a freight from Bristol to the Midlands 

No, that was definitely later and as seen in the link the brakevan in that film was a BR  standard van.

 

It should be noted that except on the LNER  (where they were abolished in the early 1930s) Fully Fitted freight trains carried side lamps until - as far as I can trace - 1950.

 

On 03/06/2020 at 13:39, The Johnster said:

 

Our guard is giving the 'tip', to confirm he is safely aboard the van and ready for the train to pick up speed, with the correct white light, not green, from his handlamp.  The driver, or fireman if the line of sight is on the other side of the train, returns the signal with his lamp, or uses the loco's whistle to acknowledge it, not a popular move at 3am in a residential area...

The 'yes i'm here following behind you' handsignal from the Guard seems to have officially been dropped when the Rule Book was reissued in 1972 - prior to that it had been an arm held above the head (i.e the same as the ready to start signal) although usually it was a waved rolled up newspaper and at night etc a green handsignal waved slowly from side to side.  This disappeared in the 1972 Rule Book (although possibly not immediately with the new issue - I don't have a full set of reissued pages unfortunately?) and at night as mentioned above the usual thing was for the Guard to show a white light towards the loco.

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I was taught in the University College of College West Box Campus, shortly before Charlie McArthy knocked it down with an 08, that the right away tip was given with a handsignal (augmenting it with a newspaper being permissible and advised) or a white light at night or FFS, tunnel etc. on goods trains. On passenger trains, it was a green flag waved side to side, or at night etc., a green light.  In all other circumstances a green light meant to do what the motion of the light instructed,  but slowly.  White is right (away), Red is wrong, green is slowly go along.  This dates from the very early days when white was the accepted clear signal at night when the first fixed signals were used.

 

On a dmu (we didn't have emus at Canton) you used the bell, with the bell code as printed on the notice by the push button, but reverted to the passenger train rules if the bell was not working.  There was also an intercom between the guard's compartment and the cabs, but this was very rarely used.

 

We were told to follow the goods rules when working in the back cab of a loco, but the drivers never looked out as they were supposed to and you used the fire alarm test bell in the same way as on a dmu.  The driver responded with the bell, or a tap on the rear horn.  The tip, in the form appropriate to the train, was also given to indicate to the driver that the rear of his train was clear of a speed restriction, though again many drivers ignored it and made up their own mind.  On single manned jobs where there was a right hand curve or other obstruction to their sight line they had to guesstimate it anyway.  

 

Where the train is of the same length every day and with permanent restrictions they knew the clearing points anyway, but freight trains could vary in length and there were temporary restrictions as well; I always thought it a poor show when the driver applied power before the end of these.  We had a few speed merchants who thought the restrictions only applied to the loco, not the train, who would then complain about the unfairness of being caught out by a radar gun.  I was not sympathetic to this attitude...

 

A particular black spot for this behaviour was Maindee East Jc in Newport; IIRC it carried a 20mph PROS for the Hereford road.  If a train had run through High St on the up relief and was routed to the Hereford Road, the driver may have felt under pressure to clear the up and down South Wales mains as rapidly as possible, and I have had some 'interesting' rides in vans through the UR-UM crossovers on the river bridge and this junction.

 

There were grey areas; what colour light do you give the right away with at night on a class 4 parcels train wholly formed of passenger rated stock, or an unheated ecs where you rode on the loco?  Nobody bothered much about this; we used the fire test bell.

Edited by The Johnster
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On 27/03/2018 at 18:17, martin_wynne said:

Colwich (1986) remembered: https://web.archive.org/web/20110719230906/http://icstafford.icnetwork.co.uk/news/localnews/tm_objectid=17745200&method=full&siteid=87875&headline=village-remembers-horrific-train-crash--name_page.html

 

from which:

 

As a mark of respect to train driver, Eric Goode, the only person to die in the accident, one Colwich man created a garden of remembrance near the spot where he was killed. Alf Taylor, who worked on the railways for 33 years, planted a selection of beautiful 'Remember Me' roses and tended to the area until his death in 1997. But after that the patch fell into disrepair. But in 2006 a team of around eight railway enthusiasts from the Haywoods Permanent Way got to work restoring the garden to its former glory and planting more 'Remember Me' roses at the site. There is also a bench dedicated to Alf, and his widow has been given a key to the garden so she can go there to reflect. Hugh West, an HPW member who helped do the groundwork on the rail-side garden, said: "It was originally planted by Alf, one of our members, who was a keen gardener - his father taught him. He felt it was only right to do something to remember that railway driver. The garden is as near to the spot where the engine stopped as possible."

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colwich_rail_crash


I know I’m a couple of years late to comment on this but it showed up as a link when I was researching this sad event. My interest stems from the fact that I lived in the adjoining village of Little Haywood at the time. Our church was opened to passengers from the trains where warmth and refreshments were provided. So many good hearted folk arrived with kettles that it blew the circuit! 
A few months later, many of us enjoyed a free trip by rail to London as a thank you from BR for our support. 
The memorial garden is now well maintained and the plaques to honour Eric Goode and Alf Taylor have recently been cleaned and polished by a friend of mine who is a member of the Permanent Way Society, as may be seen in this photograph.

1194CF4E-E4FF-4D55-B5AB-06D4A5553B4E.jpeg

Edited by Ashcombe
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1 hour ago, Ashcombe said:


I know I’m a couple of years late to comment on this but it showed up as a link when I was researching this sad event. My interest stems from the fact that I lived in the adjoining village of Little Haywood at the time. Our church was opened to passengers from the trains where warmth and refreshments were provided. So many good hearted folk arrived with kettles that it blew the circuit! 
A few months later, many of us enjoyed a free trip by rail to London as a thank you from BR for our support. 
The memorial garden is now well maintained and the plaques to honour Eric Goode and Alf Taylor have recently been cleaned and polished by a friend of mine who is a member of the Permanent Way Society, as may be seen in this photograph.

 

 

I occasionally go to things at Colwich Abbey (although the community are on the point of moving out and downsizing), and always walk down to the memorial garden. It is, as you say, well maintained.

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Class 47 1575 (later 47.455) at Sheffield Midland, date unknown - the engine seemed to be a bit of a 'pet' loco for Tinsley as I have images of it heading specials (presuming for the depot staff) to various locations.

 

 

Footplate Staff.jpg

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23 minutes ago, SP Steve said:

Class 47 1575 (later 47.455) at Sheffield Midland, date unknown - the engine seemed to be a bit of a 'pet' loco for Tinsley as I have images of it heading specials (presuming for the depot staff) to various locations.

 

 

Footplate Staff.jpg

 

 

Platform 5 .  Sheffield crew.

Driver Ken Wood aka spit the dog .

S/man Mick Slone  aka halfer.

 

Pete

 

 

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2 hours ago, cb900f said:

 

 

Platform 5 .  Sheffield crew.

Driver Ken Wood aka spit the dog .

S/man Mick Slone  aka halfer.

 

Pete

 

 

 

Evening Pete,  when did those lads finish 

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Evening Russ,

 

I trust you are well. Good question as I left Sheffield in 86 to try and instruct you Thornaby  lads.

 

I would hazard a guess at around year 2000 for Ken and around 2010 for Mick.

 

Pete

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24 minutes ago, cb900f said:

Evening Russ,

 

I trust you are well. Good question as I left Sheffield in 86 to try and instruct you Thornaby  lads.

 

I would hazard a guess at around year 2000 for Ken and around 2010 for Mick.

 

Pete

 

Hi Pete,  not too bad thanks apart from gout

 

They were on a while then 

 

You obviously did a decent job of instructing us lads as five out of the six of us you taught are still on the railway 

Hope you are keeping well

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14 hours ago, cb900f said:

 

 

Platform 5 .  Sheffield crew.

Driver Ken Wood aka spit the dog .

S/man Mick Slone  aka halfer.

 

Pete

 

 

 

Many thanks for the names Pete, it's always nice to know their names and history.

 

If you have any contact details for them then feel free to either pass on the image or let me know and I will get copies for them.

 

I have some pictures of my dad at work (he was a guard at Springs Branch) and it's nice to remember him in his work guise.

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I had posted this image a good while back asking if anyone could put a name to the face - since found out via another site that it is Lee Jewell (aka Six Million Dollar Man).

 

The image was taken on the last day of operations at Bristol Bath Road depot.

 

 

Lee Jewell Bath Rd Supervisor.jpg

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Her Majesty paying the lowly people of Wigan a visit (I seem to recall she was heading for the staff shop at Heinz or something like that).

 

Must be one of the few occasions she managed to cop what she'd had for haulage.

 

 

Royal Train 2004.jpg

Edited by SP Steve
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On 07/06/2020 at 11:08, Ashcombe said:


I know I’m a couple of years late to comment on this but it showed up as a link when I was researching this sad event. My interest stems from the fact that I lived in the adjoining village of Little Haywood at the time. Our church was opened to passengers from the trains where warmth and refreshments were provided. So many good hearted folk arrived with kettles that it blew the circuit! 
A few months later, many of us enjoyed a free trip by rail to London as a thank you from BR for our support. 
The memorial garden is now well maintained and the plaques to honour Eric Goode and Alf Taylor have recently been cleaned and polished by a friend of mine who is a member of the Permanent Way Society, as may be seen in this photograph.

1194CF4E-E4FF-4D55-B5AB-06D4A5553B4E.jpeg

This was posted on Facebook today by a friend who is a member of the Haywood Permanent Way Society and relates to the mention of Alf Taylor in my original comment:-

 

Mrs Edna Taylor has asked me to send this post out on the Colwich and Little Haywood Facebook group:

"To everyone concerned who has sent me a card, messages, presents, and flowers for my 95th Birthday. Thank you. These were very much appreciated. Love from Edna".

This photo of Edna was taken on the afternoon of her recent birthday. The Colwich Memorial Garden was created by Edna's late husband Alf. This was following the 1986 Colwich Railway crash in which Driver Eric Goode sadly lost his life. Alf created and tended the garden until he passed away in 1997. The Memorial Garden now serves as a Memorial to both Driver Goode and to Alf.

The garden has recently had a 'spruce up' both ready for the summer, and also to commemorate Edna's special birthday.

The Colwich Memorial Garden will be featured as part of The Open Gardens Visual Open Day.“

CB265945-8845-4EDB-A51B-AB5A19BE92E8.jpeg

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Photo by Ben Darby Reading General, two young whippersnappers take in the sight and sound the twelve car lash up of the two ex-LMR Blue Pullman sets on what is most likely the morning Up Bristol Pullman, probably taken in 1967....

 

 

 

 

BP READING GENERAL BGDY.jpg

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