signalmaintainer Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 I'm looking for information about the typical uniform and colors for British Railways station staff in the 1950s. I'm hoping someone can point me to a reliable source for photos or drawings. Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted December 10, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 10, 2011 Nothing as helpful as a link or pics, but my recollection of railway staff uniforms in those days, as in later years, is of everyone on the station being in very dark colours - somewhere between a very, very dark navy blue and black. Jackets and trousers. Waistcoats much in evidence - all railway-issue watches were pocket fob-watches, and a waistcoat pocket held one admirably. Long rubberised mackintoshes and long great-coats. Polished black leather footware. Flat caps with a peak having a badge denoting grade. White shirts with tie. Signalmen and guards had similar uniforms, drivers did not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Agree with Ian. Waistcoats = Vests in US parlance. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted December 10, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 10, 2011 Usually black, with silver or black buttons. Don't forget the big overcoats, worn by some staff for most of the year it seemed. There were also a few special uniforms, at the Stephenson Place entrance to the footbridge at Birmingham New St there was a man who had a long maroon coat and peaked hat. I think part of his job was escorting passengers between the platforms and Queens Hotel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted December 10, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 10, 2011 Definitely black - the standard issue mac (they were made by a company in South Wales) was black and I have somewhere a final BR steam issue footplateman's serge jacket which is black. Some of us of course had pinstripe suits (and bowler hats) but that was a bit later than the period you're interested in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mallard60022 Posted December 10, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 10, 2011 Depending on your location you can check this out by visiting (say) The Bluebell or similar 'period' run heritage railway where many staff wear 'authentic' gear. P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
signalmaintainer Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Thanks, everyone, for the replies. They're a great help! I can forge ahead confidently as I paint my station staff figures. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Footplatemen also a mid blue dust coat, a summer weight jacket. I wore under the thick black jacket on cold nights. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 The uniforms I have are definitely very dark dark blue to black lambswool. Footage from The Ladykillers shows blue shirts seem to have been the norm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micknich2003 Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Attached a few pictures showing '50/60's style uniform. A rough "Shoddy" material, almost black with silver buttons, shirts etc were not then issued. I still have a waistcoat and overcoat. Best Wishes, Mick Nicholson. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Paul, Not station staff but in the October 2011 edition of Back Track magazine (some Barnes and Noble stores stock this) on p.594 there is a photo of a "Relaying Gang" slewing assembled track to a new alignment (at night). Out of ten or so guys four appear to be wearing what used to be called "lounge" suits! No safety gear or protective clothing at all. Undated but from hair styles seems to be mid-fifties to early sixties. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Check out the colour album of your favourite railway, plenty of inspiration in there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2011 Check out the colour album of your favourite railway, plenty of inspiration in there. Are there really colour albums of much of the UK's railways in the 1950s? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Yes, though admittedly, most photos were taken in the early 60s. However, uniforms didn't change much between 1959 - 1961. Check out this Western Region shot. http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswissernie/5740118123/in/set-72157626765324734 I saw a GW signalman's hat at Abbey Foregate box in 1978! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2011 However, uniforms didn't change much between 1959 - 1961. That's certainly true. I think the real change came in the late '60s, with restructuring of the CONGOTT (Conciliation Grades Other Than Trainmen - phew) staff, and new uniforms featuring a different style, and a new shape hat, more like a kepi. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2011 Definitely black - the standard issue mac (they were made by a company in South Wales) was black and I have somewhere a final BR steam issue footplateman's serge jacket which is black. Some of us of course had pinstripe suits (and bowler hats) but that was a bit later than the period you're interested in. Mike, One presumes the bowler was in use when you were driving a desk and not a 37 up to Aberbargoed. Regards Richard edited for punctuation!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2011 Definitely black - the standard issue mac (they were made by a company in South Wales) was black and I have somewhere a final BR steam issue footplateman's serge jacket which is black. Some of us of course had pinstripe suits (and bowler hats) but that was a bit later than the period you're interested in. Don't forget the Gannex mac! By the time I was in local management, the bowler had gone, at least for the grade I had attained. Station staff used to refer to those who wore them as "flourgraders" in recognition of a contemporary tv advert for finer flour, featuring a chap in a bowler. I had a kepi with scrambled egg all over it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornish Triang Paul Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Maybe abit later, and just to complete BR's history, when did station staff change to the purple/black stripe and white and when was the change to blue with "railman" red and "chargeman" blue which lasted up to sectorisation ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2011 Maybe abit later, and just to complete BR's history, when did station staff change to the purple/black stripe and white and when was the change to blue with "railman" red and "chargeman" blue which lasted up to sectorisation ? I think that was the one I identified in #15. About 1968, I think Porter, Leading Porter and Senior Porter etc all disappeared to become Railman, Leading Railman, Senior Railman, then Chargeman, while Inspectors became Supervisors in 5 different bands from A (lowest) to E (highest). A typical Assistant Station Manager might be a Supervisor B or C in grade, with his Station Manager boss typically being a Supervisor D or Management Staff range 1 (where overtime was no longer payable). Signalmen and clerical staff also had a restructuring at the same time. I think Workshop staff also did, but am not conversant with their conditions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete2210 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I think that was the one I identified in #15. About 1968, I think Porter, Leading Porter and Senior Porter etc all disappeared to become Railman, Leading Railman, Senior Railman, then Chargeman, while Inspectors became Supervisors in 5 different bands from A (lowest) to E (highest). A typical Assistant Station Manager might be a Supervisor B or C in grade, with his Station Manager boss typically being a Supervisor D or Management Staff range 1 (where overtime was no longer payable). Signalmen and clerical staff also had a restructuring at the same time. I think Workshop staff also did, but am not conversant with their conditions. Going back to the long rubber macs Ian, you didn'half get a belt off them when the rain ran off the back straight onto the juice rail! Pete Williams Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted December 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 12, 2011 Mike, One presumes the bowler was in use when you were driving a desk and not a 37 up to Aberbargoed. Regards Richard edited for punctuation!! I didn't get my bowler until I came back to England - had one of this fancy modern 'kepi' style things with lashings of gold braid while still in The Principality. Someone pinched my bowler c.1980 and although they were still officially uniform headgear with the 'flourgrader' suits they were not being issued due to the cost so it was never replaced - I couldn't even swing a new one for 'Royal family (members of) greeting' And the Gannex macs that Ian mentioned were awful things - far too hot - and they seemed to disappear from the Clothing Catalogue fairly quickly (although that was probably on grounds of cost rather than wearer comfort); I just carried on with my old black mac (which I only chucked out when I 'outgrew' it - laterally). The new Grade structure for SC 'C' grades (i.e Porters & Signalmen etc) came in in 1968 after about a year of discussions and a major regrading and review exercise - and that saw the abolition of all sorts of old grades and job titles such as 'Carriage Foreman' (road variety of carriage that is) and 'Horse Porter' together with the loss of the Porter-Signalman grade. Basically as far as Signalmen were concerned there was little change apart from a bit of grade telescoping (e.g. the bottom two grades Class 4 & Class 3 were combined) but that was counter balanced by the inclusion of numerous '+xxx shillings per week' additions for top grade panel signalbox men as there weren't enough grades to cover the differences! The clerical and supervisory changes came in 1969 if I remember rightly and were again basically telescoping to reduce the number of grades and the Management Staff (MS)grades mentioned by Ian were done a little later but again it was basically telescoping to reduce the number of grades down to 5 although the salary scale overlaps were also changed in order to save money on promotional increments. And of course at that time staff in the MS ranges were not paid overtime (which could be rather expensive on promotion when you'd be making a nice living with plenty of Sunday work in a supervisory grade). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium keefer Posted December 13, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 13, 2011 can't lay my hands on it at the mo', but in brian haresnape's 'a journey by design' there's a bit (possibly chapter) concerning uniforms ISTR pages from the post-1965 'coporate image manual' showing drawings of dashing types in their new uniforms generally the transition from the traditional sombre uniform into the more modern,possibly artificial-fibred BR corporate look EDIT: found a set on flickr: http://www.flickr.co...157627338416980 check the rest of the sets, 4 vols. of the corporate identity manual and various other interesting stuff regarding the 60s/70s 'modernisation' of britain: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallacehenning/sets/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micknich2003 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Attached a typical '50's to mid '60's signalman. Mick Nicholson. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted December 16, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 16, 2011 Had one of those waistcoats. Gave the signalman a packet of Park Drive for it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
signalmaintainer Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 Thanks for that one, Mick! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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