White City Training Centre

Speaking as someone who spent a lot of time at the WCTC in his early career I would say the "military" atmosphere made the place "feel" like somewhere you should be learning in.
Instructors were addressed as "Sir" or "Guv" and discipline was fairly rigid.
Ashfield House by comparison is a soleless coroprate "office block" that most real railwaymen hate going to.
I for one would like to see things return to the WCTC style of training as we might have a chance of turning out people who can actually do the job properly and have some pride in the job.
Qualities sadly lacking in most Ashfield House trained drones!

Yes the newbies would often tell us about the antics of the common room. Until they'd become like the rest of the established instructors they would still mix with us "peasants" ( along with other descriptions ) as the instructors used to call us guards and motormen wannabees.

One morning I got to Liverpool St and there was a WCTC instructor going in to, well, instruct. I heard him say to a colleague "It's packed back there, let's ride with the peasant" I was not too pleased and made my feelings known. The way the learning is done nowadays is not as good as it was back then, for me at least, but there has to be respect all around, so in many respects << pun, these days it's better.

Even though I learnt them over thirty years ago, I can still remember the airflows. That's how good learning by rote for me was...................

I recall that donkey jacket. It had nylon, instead of leather shoulder patches.

Train staff uniform is now mix n match. You can go all headmastery or pikey casual. I prefer the latter - Fleece, shorts, polo with collar turned up, comb-over held down with Polygrip and BIG boots to complete that Denis the Menace look. Stuff the lot with radio, books, sweeties etc.......

My DTSM the other day was dressed up in his brand new suit uniform, name tag n all. As I stood there looking like a sack of spuds I said "Where you goin' then? A frigging wedding?"

I've noticed all the depot staff are wearing hi vi stuff to extreme. The lot - jackets, strides, T shirts, hankies............ They look nearly as orange as Katie Price. I like their little "bump" hats though. Nearly as small as a stupid Olly Murs snap-brim..............

You have a strange fascination with Olly Murs!

Can't say I've noticed. Why, have I mentioned this individual before?

Since I've never attended Ashfield House for a promotional course I don't have any particular negative vibes about the place. Certainly the lifts and isolated staircases are too inadequate for the number of people in the building, and I shall never use the top floor canteen again following its recent downgrading from a 'restaurant' to 'bistro' menu-status. Was it true that there was once a licensed bar for p-way staff on site? In any case despite all the money spent on the mock station - platform/train/supervisor's office/model railway etc etc, I hear the whole place is being closed down and sold off. I wonder if there's any spare room above Lambeth North station, methinks? Though it's more likely training will be moved to Pier Walk or somewhere equally inaccessible.

***Can't say I've noticed. Why, have I mentioned this individual before?***

dictionary.reference.com/browse/irony

Although we have strayed off-topic from one RTC to another, I'm not sure the presence of a internal telephone exchange would save Ashfield House if a suitable buyer could be found. Remember there was also such a facility at Telstar House, until one night...

Firstly, there's more pictures of WCTC from 1985 here:
www.flickr.com/photos/41949024@N04/sets/72157622398500341/


I take pride in my job – I always have done. What I don't like is some bloke, who obviously went through WCTC and did a good decade on the trains and has now become senior manager on the training side of things, coming into my classroom and giving the most demoralising and condescending introductory welcome to the train operating role ever. No wonder you end up with drones – if you end up sitting in on the soul-destroying, self-righteous BS speech we had, you'd be the same.

On Tuesday, we were expected to sit through three-and-a-half hours of EDI. Three-and-a-half hours. This did not bode well with any of us, and I ran out of biscuits (that I'd been stashing underneath my name plate thing on the desk) halfway through. I don't blame the trainer – he is frightfully enthusiastic, though for a teacher, I do honestly pity the material that he has to deliver to us. The man didn't even expect to be teaching us – he usually does stock training and drew the short straw this time around, much to his annoyance, but thankfully, he doesn't take that out on us.

Training is 12 weeks now. You are EXPECTED to cram rules, regs, train equipment, stock, road training and what have you in that 12 weeks. The unions came in during their session to harp on about how you ask for more training if you need it, the senior manager stands there and shakes his head (he believes that it can be done in 12 weeks, and has thus tailored the course to reflect that). Today was our day out with an I/O, but the annoying thing is that the I/Os we were assigned will not be the ones for our road training – something that has annoyed me profusely because I actually like this guy's methodical way of teaching. How can you expect any consistency in a trainee's performance if you're sending them here, there and everywhere with different instructors who all have different ways of doing things?

And why, for the love of Darwin, are they teaching us about the S stock, harping on about how great it is and how better it is than everything else, even though NONE of us are being assigned to a line that has or will have the S stock in the next 18 months? We only have 12 weeks training; why waste it on information that is of no use to the lines that we are being assigned to? ARGGH.

Some people might not like us newbies any more than I don't like walking into Acton Town messroom and having some old bloke slag us trainees off whilst we're still in the room (which happened to me yesterday), but for the love of Darwin, cut us some slack and moan at the people worth moaning at, rather than moaning at colleagues who aren't going to be able to do naff all about how we're being trained.


Don't get me started on the 8th floor. I walked in there on Monday thinking I'd be able able to get a fry-up, and all that was in there was a shed-load of disused space and a small coffee shop thing. I'd hardly called that a 'bistro'. At least the nice lady behind the counter makes nice leaves and hearts using the milk froth when you buy a hot drink.

It's chicken burgers all-week round up there as well for lunch. Or a jacket potato. Which is plain. Because you have to buy the filling separately.

I don't see how they'd be able to get anything into Pier Walk unless it was going to be solely classroom based or they refurbish part of one floor. I know Crossrail bods have been in the process of moving out – there are certainly less of them up there now the last time I was there.

There is quite a difference! Telstar House exchange served predominantly Telstar House and believe it or not 10A Wood Lane. When Telstar House went up in smoke the building was more or less already empty AFAIR (the last time I had any dealings there was in 1995 when I was seconded to the Crossrail team) and 10A Wood Lane had already disappeared following transfer of power staff to SPL and relocation of stores to Acton Works.
Ashfield House exchange serves not only Ashfield House and the Lillie Bridge complex but also the whole of the Earls Court complex and Pelham Street offices via remote LIMs as well as stations on the District and Piccadlilly lines and is also a main interconnection point to the PSTN.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that..........The old WCTC is no more and what's left of it is a sandwich filling between the concrete box sidings and a Burger King. Hovering angelic like over the old Westinghouse room is HMVs...........Instead of through the front doors and turn left for the stinky gent's bog. Then into the canteen for a hard tasteless tooth enamel chipping Gryphon tea cake served up by some miserable bint with an attitude. Its now up the escalator straight on and turn right for CD/DVD/Blu Ray heaven..................A massive improvement don't you think?

Wood Lane always used to be a dump. That walk from White City station to the military academy was always a muddy army obstacle course as that road was in a constant state of being dug up. The WCTC barracks itself was in front of the old WC depot, full of rats and the smell of pee. And that eye-sore car repair business underneath the arches - No not Albert Square, Wood Lane. Then, in front of the learning facility, rotting decrepit houses. Now.............

..........As someone who regularly goes there for work and pleasure I find the improvement/transformation amazing. Clean, spacious, trendy, lots to do, buy and see, great selection of eateries and no digging up and getting mud all over my trainers/shoes/flip-flops/tootsies. And no rats that I've seen, or pee smells underneath.............Can't wait for Stratford to open..................

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I think you're describing much of West London there, just about everything either side of the Westway fits the description.

I didn't mind the depot at all, I worked in it, around and under it, in the old cable subway from the disused boiler house and generating station and from the running tunnel via the old pump house and under the shunters cabin. Back then the only part of the area which I regarded as an eyesore was the old condemned exhibition centre.

Mmm! Sounds like more corporate beeper centex to me! LUL has been full of such initiatives for years but none of it will ever make the incompetent competent, the thoughtless thoughtful or the blue eyed brigade less so.
The company is awash with acronyms and abbreviations and quite often they are all that some recall from training sessions which are often no more useful than chocolate teapots as they often patronise the many and placate the few.
There's nothing wrong with instilling discipline, tolerance and respect for others but why the need to hide it under a TLA.