I’m afraid it’s back to home transport for this blog, but it’s important as it relates to future blogs coming up shortly. You may be aware from my days as a Fireman/Secondman that I purchased a Honda C90 a small motorcycle but reliable. Well during m...

I've held back on transmitting my BLOGS in relation to action taken by Admin of the Group "The Last Living Employees of British Rail and British Railways" who deleted BLOG 17 as being a SCAM. I have served over 50 years on the Railway. F...

I spent about two years as my Technicians Assistant on the branch lines. I learned a tremendous amount during this period. He was a well respected Railwayman and I’d like to tell you a little bit about him and my experiences with him during this peri...

I made it known of my desire to learn railway signalling technology. I read and read basic electricity and magnetism books and worked every shift that became available the most common being the Saturday afternoon late shift. Shifts became more regula...

It was about 6 months into my work in the mechanical gang when I was asked to cover a shift as Technician. They must have been pretty short of staff at the time and I was probably last in the line to be asked. Although it was a Technicians roll it wa...

Working in the mechanical gang was a mixture of hard labour and an easy life. Digging a hole for a new signal, especially if you met rock, was hard work. Other times though you may be hanging around whilst the Blacksmith and Striker worked on shaping...

I left the Motive Power and worked in a factory for 6 months before returning to work on the Railway in the S&T Department. I don’t wish to bore you with my 6 months in the factory but there was incident I would like to tell you about. My job inv...

I was lucky really. The last 3 years of steam provided a mixed work environment. One week you may be on a steam shift. Blue overalls, physical exertion, coal, grease, oil and sweat. The next week you maybe Secondman wearing a light green jacket, clea...

Driving an unfitted train or partially unfitted was an art. For those of you who are unsure about what is meant by “unfitted” it means that the only brakes on the train are those on the locomotive and the Guards brake at the end of the train. Additio...

Work at Tonbridge was very sociable, but socialising didn’t always stop at work. Do you remember the Driver with the big Players Navy beard? He invited me to his house to celebrate the New Year. I can’t remember how old I was then. I was either 16 or...

To make life easier I needed transport to get me to and from work at any time of the day or night. A motor bike was the obvious choice, being able to ride up to 250cc on my own as a learner. I was also a bit of a “Rocker” with black leather jacket an...

If you held an Appointed position of Driver or Fireman/Secondman you had a working roster which detailed your shifts. I think it was over a 13 week period. This allowed you to plan your life around the roster. Unless you were on a “rest day relief” s...

Where were you when the 9/11 twin towers were bombed?A similar question was asked in my early days on the railway. “Where were you when John Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas? I was on the footplate of a Standard Tank engine in the Depot at Tunbridge W...

A bit of a country lad this Driver. Close to retirement he still ferreted rabbits. I remember one trip with him when we struck a pheasant between stations on a Tonbridge to Redhill run. On the way back he stopped the train, picked up the pheasant and...

Drivers may come in all shape and sizes but the majority come with strong personalities, superb communication and often involve themselves in pranks and humour. Losing my Driver on my steam debut was just the start. I was young and vulnerable. Was I ...