Covkid Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 (edited) 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 April 12, 2021 by Covkid Correction 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted April 12, 2021 Share Posted April 12, 2021 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." 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted April 12, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 12, 2021 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? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 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. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted April 13, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 13, 2021 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.... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIRTY DIESEL Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 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... 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium keefer Posted April 13, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 13, 2021 And a class 125 DMU too 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
33C Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 (edited) My railway career 1988 up to late 90's....and i'm still wearing the rails out! Edited June 23, 2023 by 33C add letter 17 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
33C Posted April 15, 2021 Share Posted April 15, 2021 (edited) 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. Edited June 23, 2023 by 33C added detail 15 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted April 15, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 15, 2021 On 13/04/2021 at 17:33, keefer said: And a class 125 DMU too And with different shaped buffers as well.... Andy G 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted April 27, 2021 Author Share Posted April 27, 2021 Photographer unknown : Kingsbury in the late '70s or early '80s.... Photo by Craig Dunn : Durham in 1982.... Photo by Richard Glenister : Reading in 1987.... 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
62613 Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 8 hours ago, Rugd1022 said: Photographer unknown : Kingsbury in the late '70s or early '80s.... Photo by Craig Dunn : Durham in 1982.... Photo by Richard Glenister : Reading in 1987.... The first pic.; when was Michael Caine on the railways? 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Pilotman Posted April 27, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27, 2021 (edited) 18 minutes ago, 62613 said: The first pic.; when was Michael Caine on the railways? Late 70s. Not a lot of people know that. Edited April 27, 2021 by Western Aviator 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 96701 Posted April 27, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27, 2021 (edited) 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. Edited April 18, 2022 by 96701 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 96701 Posted April 27, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27, 2021 (edited) Is this 04 going to be able to fettle this Swinden Quarry branch? Another blast from past. Edited April 18, 2022 by 96701 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 96701 Posted April 27, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 27, 2021 (edited) 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......... Of course, it has to be put away afterwards. Edited April 18, 2022 by 96701 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Rugd1022 Posted April 29, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted April 29, 2021 Photographer unknown, but what a corker.... 30 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
swampy Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 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. The first pic.; when was Hywel Bennett on the railways? 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jbqfc Posted April 29, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 29, 2021 some from open days past John 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodenhead Posted April 29, 2021 Share Posted April 29, 2021 What a difference 8 years made at Crewe - Fixing in large numbers to scrapping in large numbers, but at least still building at the time. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Pilotman Posted April 29, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 29, 2021 On 15/04/2021 at 00:29, 33C said: My railway career 1988 up to late 90's....and i'm still wearing the rails out! I didn’t know Peter Beardsley was a train driver. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted May 12, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 12, 2021 (edited) As Scotland's only woman freight train driver, Heather Waugh was already a pioneer. Then a tragedy from her past inspired her to take on a new mission - getting men to talk about their mental health. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-57060971 Edited May 12, 2021 by phil-b259 8 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classsix T Posted May 13, 2021 Share Posted May 13, 2021 Show and compare with Nidge's Post earlier, FL orange army at Ipswich this afternoon: C6T. 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smarshy Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 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? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted June 26, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 26, 2021 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. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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