A working on the railway

[Guest Phil]

I hesitate posting this, but it's a shout for those of us who combine the both, ie work on a railway as a hobby. I've spent nearly 21 years on the Mid Hants Railway (the Watercress Line), all in the Loco dept. I'm a steam driver there, and get to go on some big toys. The work is akin to working on the real railway, obviously our safety concerns are the same, the rule book is based totally on the ex-BR rule book etc. We have to do a PTS and as a driver I have much the same responsibilities as those on the 'proper railway'. There are some differences obviously, one of which is we break it we have to mend it. In the main it's a good hobby though.

 

 

Pleased to hear you'll be playing with some of your old toys again at some point in the future - "Swanage" and 76017.

 

Lucky you Phil

[Craig Watson]

Started in 1992 as a bookmarker (Signalbox lad) when I was 16, when I turned 18 I went through the signalling school then worked a couple of boxes in the Falkirk area (Larbert triangle), after a few years I moved into Motherwell PSB then after about 3 years I moved into my current job as a Mobile Operaions Manager which I've now done for nearly 10 years.

 

My current duties involve carrying out various inspections and responding to faults as they occur, the only downside is having to attend fatalities

 

I also occasionally cover the shift managers desk in Motherwell PSB which is the line of career i'm looking to follow over the next few years!

 

Cheers

 

Craig

[5944]

The hardest part is probably writing "NO FAULT FOUND" in the repair book

 

I work at Hornsey as a train maintainer. I did a 4 year apprenticeship and passed out in June, and I wish I'd known about the job before I went to university and ended up in ??15000 worth of debt!

 

The drivers usually phone up the maintenance supervisor to report a fault, then put a vague description in the repair book in the cab. A lot of the time the faults are repairable, but sometimes you do get stupid ones. The best one I saw was "B end cab smells of pxss" was met with the response "It would do, your colleagues use the washer bottle as a urinal". "No fault found" is a common reply, as is "Unable to replicate fault in shed" when referring to problems occuring at high speed.

 

There was one driver who booked a unit for poor brakes, so we had check it. All brake pressures checked OK, so the unit was checked out in the yard. "Look, it's taking longer to stop than it should do". "Yes, it will do considering it's a down gradient along here and it's chucking it down with rain". The unit was checked in the opposite direction and funnily the brakes were working well.

[big jim]

I've worked on the railway since 2001 when i started as a guard, did 6 months of that then got onto a driving course so have been driving (on my own) since 2003, been quite lucky as during the time with the companies i've worked for i've had quite a variety of traction and route knowlage, have signed units (142, 150, 153, 156, 158, 175) and locos, (20, 37, 47, 56, 66), i still sign 37, 47 and 66's

 

the end of the day its just a day job to me but i know what i do is of great interest to non railway workers, what seems like hum drum day to day work to me is fascinating to someone else who doesn't get to see the railway day in day out

 

i've had a few good jobs while i've been driving which break the mundane day to day stuff including being the first to take the (then drs branded) Mk3's from oxley to kingmoor with a pair of 60mph max class 20's, being the first person to drive fastline's 66's on the mainline when i "delivered them" from gresty bridge to derby and doncaster, worked the rhtt for 2 seasons with top and tail 37's, done test runs with 56311 when it first came back mainline

 

i've driven locos belonging to drs, freightliner, hanson, riviera, fastline, gbrf, as well as fnw and arriva units and i have signed/sign, carlisle to rugby on the wcml, leicester to chesterfield on the mml and over to doncaster on the ecml as well as places such as holyhead, machynlleth, manchester, liverpool, birmingham and everywhere in between so i have got around a fair bit in the last few years

 

thats the good side, the down side is stuff like having to get up at say 3am to do a 11 hour shift then drive home, for example i am in work new years eve/day til 00:30 (delivering coal to ironbridge p/s) problems on the line can be a pain in the bum but in all its a good job and i can think of a lot worse things to do to earn my wage

[Clagmeister]

Oh well here goes.

 

Driver of 10 years with First North Western and now DRS. 12D workington man first of all followed by a move to 12A. Now sign 20,33,37,47,57,and 66. Class 1 passenger driver working a number of Stobart Pullmans before they were pulled. Currently going mad working the Workington-Maryport shuttles.

 

I sign Carlisle-Crewe, Carlisle-Skipton, Hellifield-Preston, Carnforth-Settle Jnc, Carnforth-Carlisle via Barrow, Carlisle-Kilmarnock, Carlisle-Hunterston incl Glas Central, Carlisle-Torness incl Waverley. Carlisle-Newcastle-Hartlepool-Billingham-Darlington-Northallerton, Heysham, Barrow Docks, Workington Docks, Sellafield, Northwich, Runcorn-Ditton, Sandbach.

 

Best bit Snow ploughing over the Midland at 2am on 37229, getting stuck at Blea Moor, going for a brew with the bobby and getting warm by his stove and then helping the pw dig the points out of 2ft of snow.

 

So why I have to do modelling as well god only knows.

 

cheerio

 

Claggy

[DIRTY DIESEL]

Have been working on the railway for nearly 34 years, 29 of them as a Signalman/Relief Signaller on the North Wales Coast.

 

 

RELIEF SIGNALMAN

 

www.alanroberts771.fotopic.net

 

Yes, but not in the Junction for the passed 4 years!!!! DAR who?

[Judge Dread]

Straight from school, summer 1959, I ran all the way, to join the Signal & Telegraph department as it was then. Forty four and a half hours a week including Saturday mornings. I was an apprentice electrical installer on the princely sum of ??3:14:0p per week.

I enjoyed every moment of my service and was heartbroken when I realised in 1964 that I would never earn enough to get married on and so I left. I had worked my way up to the dizzy heights of Asst. Tech. Class 3 with a long going substitution to Asst. Tech. Class 1.

I did rally my comrades on only one occasion to be interested in their surroundings. They just said, ???This is a job, nothing more, nothing less!??? We were at Bempton, north of Bridlington, motorising the Up distant to provide a longer braking distance for trains descending towards Bridlington. Every day the down mid day parcels train was still steam worked, usually a D49 and sometimes a B16. The former would struggle to clear the top of the bank and my interest in its progress was noticed by my fellow gang members. It got to be placing of bets as to which type of loco would appear and if a D49, they would cheer as it passed by much to the amusement of the driver.

Here??™s a snap of me (on the right) in my final service days about to leave Paragon yard to walk down to the Hessle Road junction, inspecting trackside equipment. Please note my cut down great coat, which was considered very fashionable to those days.

[Gary H]

Ive worked on the railway since 1995, (second time around) although we are in very dark, dark days thanks to the politics that I obviously cant go into here. Wether Im still on the railway this time next year I honestly cannot say and time will tell.

[yellowvanman]

B.R. Youth Training Scheme 1986, Junior Railman Bournemouth 1987 then Brock. till 1991 Then Eastleigh Trainman `D`...and onto driver in 1997...we`ve been through all the changes in company names ..Trainload freight , Mainline ect then EWS now DB schenker..same job different livery..

 

 

[Southernman46]

Woking Track Maintenance Engineer via a circuitous 29 year route via traffic - Electification - Railtrack Contracts (wasn't that a mad 6 years for the railway) - NR Operations - NR Track Section Manager Clapham Jn

 

Just keeping a moving target

 

 

And today it's my birthday, I'm on annual leave, not on-call, but have had a broken rail at Weybridge and still got called !!!

 

Sometimes it's a pain !!

[yellowvanman]

Happy birthday Southernman46...thats railway work for yer..keep up the good work..I`ll give you a toot and a wave ( If I knew what you looked like!)..don`t say you`re the one in the orange jacket..

[brian daniels]

Southernman46 will be the one with a camera in his hand

 

I have been on the footplate since 1974 at Didcot then redundent in 83, moved to OOC for 6 months then moved to St Pancras untill 85. Moved to Oxford untill 87 and been back at Didcot since then. Over the years we have signed 08, 09, 25, 31, 33, 37, 45, 47, 50, 56, 58, 60, 66, 317 and DMU's (proper mechanical ones!) I have also worked on class 35 and 52.

[Southernman46]

Happy birthday Southernman46...thats railway work for yer..keep up the good work..I`ll give you a toot and a wave ( If I knew what you looked like!)..don`t say you`re the one in the orange jacket..

 

 

Merci Gents !!

 

 

That's a very impressive list of traction Brian :icon_clap:

 

 

The NR animal in question has the following characteristics......

 

 

Usually seen as a solitary hunter - often armed with yellow trackgauge / measuring wheel / large sheaf of paperwork.

 

Or if in group - has foot on rail in "I'm in charge" pose :icon_rolleyes:

 

Normally retreats to safety of cess even if quarry is on the fast line or approaching from behind. :icon_thumbsup2:

 

Distinguishing marks include trousers tucked in boots in the accepted "I'm an Engineer" fashion. :icon_redface:

 

Often acknowledges prey close up with a cheery " we're all railwaymen - with real jobs" attitude. :icon_wave:

 

Camera normally only visible to approaching freight trains. :icon_smile:

 

 

Sm46 :icon_cool:

[Gary H]

And today it's my birthday, I'm on annual leave, not on-call, but have had a broken rail at Weybridge and still got called !!!

 

Sometimes it's a pain !!

Thats what you get if you give them your private number! When I finish on-call, the work phone goes off pronto!

[Boris]

I suppose I could own up to being a signaller, and begin heavily involved in the restoration of awd freight vehicles and have occasionally been known to paint and letter them.