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A Nod To Brent - a friendly thread, filled with frivolity, cream teas and pasties. Longing for the happy days in the South Hams 1947.

gwrrob

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Guest 7007GreatWestern

Guest 7007GreatWestern

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Even into the 1960s, and perhaps beyond, BR relied on lodging turns. In some locations, they even provided purpose-built accomodation, such as the block on the opposite side of the overbridge to Banbury station. In other places, lodging was with the families of other railwaymen; more than one driver or fireman ended up married to another railwayman's daughter, who they'd first met on a lodging turn.

 

 

Hi Mr. Fat Controller,

 

My belief that "Double Home" crews had to stay in lodging houses comes from what I've read in numerous Enginemen's memoirs, most notably Harold Gasson with his trilogy of reminiscences of footplate life.

 

These memoirs were from the pre-nationalisation era, so maybe provision improved over time particularly as lodging turns became less common?

 

The picture painted in their anecdotes is not a particularly appetising one. Its was not unknown to get into a lodging house bed to find it still snugly warm from the bloke who had recently vacated it! There is a story (I think Harold Gasson) of a landlady's prized pet cat taking an excessive interest in the contents of the lodging enginemen's breakfast plates - presumably the sausages! The enginemen in question, being basically polite and considerate souls did not feel they could complain to the landlady such was her strong attachment to the creature. Their solution was to wait for her to become momentarily distracted, at which point their plan swung into action. One deftly applied a dab of the breakfast mustard using the butter knife to the cat's rear end while the other raise the adjacent window enabling the proverbial "scalded cat" to make a hasty exit! 

 

I'm no snob, but the idea using that knife to spread my 'Thick Cut Seville' doesn't bear thinking about.....

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Fat Controller

Fat Controller

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Hi Mr. Fat Controller,

 

My belief that "Double Home" crews had to stay in lodging houses comes from what I've read in numerous Enginemen's memoirs, most notably Harold Gasson with his trilogy of reminiscences of footplate life.

 

These memoirs were from the pre-nationalisation era, so maybe provision improved over time particularly as lodging turns became less common?

 

The picture painted in their anecdotes is not a particularly appetising one. Its was not unknown to get into a lodging house bed to find it still snugly warm from the bloke who had recently vacated it! There is a story (I think Harold Gasson) of a landlady's prized pet cat taking an excessive interest in the contents of the lodging enginemen's breakfast plates - presumably the sausages! The enginemen in question, being basically polite and considerate souls did not feel they could complain to the landlady such was her strong attachment to the creature. Their solution was to wait for her to become momentarily distracted, at which point their plan swung into action. One deftly applied a dab of the breakfast mustard using the butter knife to the cat's rear end while the other raise the adjacent window enabling the proverbial "scalded cat" to make a hasty exit! 

 

I'm no snob, but the idea using that knife to spread my 'Thick Cut Seville' doesn't bear thinking about.....

If there was an insistence on lodging houses, I can imagine it was for a couple of reasons, the railways being quite paternalistic. Firstly, if the lodgings were run by the wife/widow of a company servant, then it would be a useful bit of income for them. Secondly, if the lodgings were at least vaguely homely, there might be less risk of an evening spent in the pub. Some train crew did end up literally becoming 'family'; one of my retired drivers married the daughter of the house after being lodged in the same digs for many months when working to Gateshead. In this case, the lodgings were run by the local ASLEF Branch Secretary.

With the closure of Banbury yard, the dormitory there was sold off, and became a private hostel of dubious reputation. When doing a few months work in Banbury in the late 1970s, there were moves made to lodge us there, but wiser counsels prevailed.

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Guest 7007GreatWestern

Guest 7007GreatWestern

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If there was an insistence on lodging houses, I can imagine it was for a couple of reasons, the railways being quite paternalistic. Firstly, if the lodgings were run by the wife/widow of a company servant, then it would be a useful bit of income for them. Secondly, if the lodgings were at least vaguely homely, there might be less risk of an evening spent in the pub. Some train crew did end up literally becoming 'family'; one of my retired drivers married the daughter of the house after being lodged in the same digs for many months when working to Gateshead. In this case, the lodgings were run by the local ASLEF Branch Secretary.

With the closure of Banbury yard, the dormitory there was sold off, and became a private hostel of dubious reputation. When doing a few months work in Banbury in the late 1970s, there were moves made to lodge us there, but wiser counsels prevailed.

 

I'll apologise to Rob in advance for taking ANTB off into yet another spectacular tangent, and anyone else who finds the following uninteresting.....

 

 

Regarding "Double Home" workings on the Great Western, the following is a summary of memories from "Behind the Steam" by former GWR engineman Bill Morgan. (an excellent read and highly recommended).

 

Double home turns were such a common part of working life that it was more or less assumed that when you were promoted to Fireman you would send away for a "Grimsby Box". These were distinctive domed boxes manufactured from a Grimsby Ironmonger and Tinsmith called Hildreds. Indeed , if you didn't acquire one of these it was assumed you weren't taking your railway career seriously. In the case of the ever resourceful Mr. Morgan he didn't pay for his with cash but with three months supply of rabbit! As a Neyland engineman (West Wales) his double homes involved staying away in Swansea, Llandeilo, Severn Tunnel or Gloucester.

 

Regarding the "services" provided by landladies Mr. Morgan says the following and I will quote precisely:-

 

"Our double home lodgings were ruled over by our respective landladies, who provided the comforts of home, to a greater or lesser degree, according to their respective ages, personalities and inclinations." I'll leave you to draw you own conclusions on what those comforts of home may have been.......

 

Returning to the famed Grimsby Box, you may be wondering what went in it. In the case of Mr. Morgan he took "cheese and brawn sandwiches to eat on the way, a cold roast rabbit leg for supper at my lodgings, a loaf of bead and a jar of butter to cut my own sandwiches for the return run and two thick rashers of salty fat bacon and an egg for my landlady to cook for my breakfast the following morning." He also took with him a former scotch whisky bottle filled with cold tea and a raw onion in his pocket "just in case I fancied it". Mr. Morgan doesn't say why it was necessary to take his own food for breakfast at the Lodging.

 

I hope these insights into a way of life long gone and now almost entirely forgotten are of interest to someone. ;-)

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St Enodoc

St Enodoc

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The Finchings appear to have thought that the number board shows the speed of the loco and are amazed............................................................... :derisive:  :tender:  :read:  :sclerosis:

Ar$£

Ha ha -  the first time I took my late Mum for a ride in my MG she said that it felt as though we were going much faster than thirty. I didn't have the heart to try to explain that she was looking at the tachometer not the speedo, so I told her that it just seemed like that because we were nearer the ground...

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The Stationmaster

The Stationmaster

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Even into the 1960s, and perhaps beyond, BR relied on lodging turns. In some locations, they even provided purpose-built accomodation, such as the block on the opposite side of the overbridge to Banbury station. In other places, lodging was with the families of other railwaymen; more than one driver or fireman ended up married to another railwayman's daughter, who they'd first met on a lodging turn.

SNCF still use them; 'foyers' (lodgings) are a feature of depots, marshalling yards and busy stations. The best are like student lodgings at the beginning of the Autumn Term, and the worst like the same lodgings nine months later..

Not only do SNCF still use them, but they use them on relatively short runs; ones I've heard of include a Dunkerque driver working a Le Bourget to Lille Deliverance turn, then lodging (60 km from home) before working to Dunkerque in the morning

 

BR double home working generally disappeared with the end of steam - but reappeared with first Eurostar and then at least one other operator (Virgin Cross Country) and Cross Country might well still have lodging turns.

 

In many cases, as already noted, crews used private landladies for overnight accommodation and one reason for those was the general shortage of decent hostels (in many places the 'hoste' was simply a row of old coaches parked in a siding as - for example at Westbury.  However post-war the GWR in particular built a number of completely new hostels and while the Didcot premises (which still survive although in non-railway, non-domicilatory, use) were concrete sectional buildings proper brickbuilt examples, often with excellent canteen facilities (I regularly used to lunch in the Reading canteen at one time) were built at a number of places and a number still survive although no longer in railway ownership.  Apart from overnight accommodation most of the hostels were primarily used as longer term digs by men moving for promotion or whatever - a common sitiation at depots such as Old Oak where many men came simply to get their firing job and register a First Preference move to get home when a vacancy arose.

 

However some enginemen on double home turns still preferred to lodge with landladies - often because of their long term association with the railway (e.g widows) and sometimes because they really were good lodges and were cheaper than the railway hostels therefore money could be pocketed or spent on beer.

 

Lodging was certainly not unpopular with many Old Oak men - no doubt because it was associated with Mileage Payments! - and the same could be said to my knowledge of some Kings Cross Top Shed lodging/double home turns which could be very remunerative indeed.    SNCF lodging, mentioned by Brian ('Fat Controller') could lead to some very unusual goings on, for example Lille was (still is?) a depot with numerous lodging turns and while Lyon makes a  lot of sense Dunkerque or Brussels does not and it wasn't at all unusual to see SNCF Lille Drivers supposed to be lodging in Brussels being collected from their appointed lodging (a hotel in this instance) in the family car to driven home for the night and presumably brought back the following morning.  And as for lodging in Poperinghe - which one Lille turn used - the mind boggles.

 

Incidentally nowadays in Britain lodging is normally in reasonable quality hotels - and anyone who has seen the likes of the foyer at the Gare du Nord in Paris will understand why British crews can be so fussy (Eurostar crews refused point blank to stay there).  And on another minor point SNCF foyers and staff canteens no longer dispense a free litre of wine to enginemen to take off to work although that practice didn't end with dieselisation.

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Northroader

Northroader

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I'll apologise to Rob in advance for taking ANTB off into yet another spectacular tangent, and anyone else who finds the following uninteresting.....

 

 

Regarding "Double Home" workings on the Great Western, the following is a summary of memories from "Behind the Steam" by former GWR engineman Bill Morgan. (an excellent read and highly recommended).

Mr. Morgan doesn't say why it was necessary to take his own food for breakfast at the Lodging.

 

I hope these insights into a way of life long gone and now almost entirely forgotten are of interest to someone. ;-)

If he's talking about ww2 and post war years, food was rationed and to get any you had to produce a personal ration book, and coupons, whole or part had to be removed at the shop for each item bought, such as bacon or eggs. It would be difficult for a landlady to provide any food without having the ration book. You could go to a "British Restuarant" in most towns where you could get simple meals without using coupons. Edited by Northroader
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brianusa

brianusa

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<<The Lodge for Laira in the 50s/60s was a sort of Prefab building on the north side of the main line, opposite the Laira Up Sidings where the Auto Trailers used to be placed. The track into the Depot from the road that served that Lodge was how we got in a lot of the time as it was opposite the Coaling Plant 'ramp' and about 400 yards from the Foreman's Office! I can remember the smell of that shed on a hot summer's afternoon to this day.................................such memories.>>

 

Phil, don't know if you knew that these also served as the local railwaymens social club also.  My Dad, being a keen snooker player took me with him and the best part for me were all the old name and number plates which covered the walls.  I often wondered what happened to them - must be worth a fortune these days!

 

Brian.

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gwrrob

gwrrob

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Yes, I'd like the N Class on a local goods please.

 

The lamp code is for an all stations stopper ,unfortunately.

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