towerman
My status is now now widower
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Post by towerman on Oct 9, 2015 13:13:08 GMT
Any old staff on here remember the days before the Health & Safety Act changed everything.No safety footwear,no hi vis clothing,no radios,no CCTV,no fire alarms at stations.Can remember a couple of instances at Hainault & Ruislip Depots which proved fatal,at Ruislip a car examiner slipped off the front of a train & was electricuted & at Hainault a trainee examiner was running to catch a train out of the depot,slipped & fell across the live rail with the same result as the Ruislip incident.There was also a couple of incidents which didn't have such bad outcomes,at Hainault Depot,after the Legionaires Disease scare someone decided to check the water tank on the roof and found it full of dead pigeons & at Ruislip Depot the canteen was shut by Hillingdon Council for food preparation infractions.
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Post by spsmiler on Oct 9, 2015 21:48:03 GMT
Yikes! You make a good case for elf and dafety rules!
I'm not staff but remember being invited to cross the live tracks at Olympia to take photos of a railtour train. I was surprised that such would be allowed, but since it was so I took advantage of the possibility. I've never taken such large or careful steps as when crossing the live rails.
Talking of live rails.... in circa 1980 I discovered a rusty rails siding of a French third rail electric railway and thinking that it was for a closed (disused) system thought about standing on the third rail "because I expected it to be safe to do so". But a "what if" thought made me think twice and later in the day I saw some third rail trains departing a station.
Simon
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Ben
fotopic... whats that?
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Post by Ben on Oct 9, 2015 21:49:40 GMT
"someone decided to check the water tank on the roof and found it full of dead pigeons"
Fred Dibnah got some nasty scalp disease once because his cap fell into a stagnant pool of water containing dead pidgeons. Apparently theyre dangerous even after death!
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Post by revupminster on Oct 9, 2015 22:10:36 GMT
As a booking office apprentice on Sundays would walk up the track, we did not have hivi's or even a uniform, between Whitechapel and Shoreditch to do the weekly account proof books. It was eerie walking the track as you could hear trains even though the current was off on Sundays. With another apprentice we climbed up a signal ladder at Shoreditch.
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Post by theblackferret on Oct 9, 2015 22:19:49 GMT
Any old staff on here remember the days before the Health & Safety Act changed- after the Legionaires Disease scare someone decided to check the water tank on the roof and found it full of dead pigeons Used to be a regular occurrence at most LCC blocks of flats-the Peabody-style estates in South London, built in the 1930's, bit of a shame, because the pidgies were the only wildlife 'allowed'! Well, they could have deterred the woodies by cutting the trees down, but short of removing the roof from the top-floor, they couldn't keep the pidgies out. I won't say what came out of the taps with water to prompt carcass clearance, but deeply unpleasant, especially to the 5-yo me. The 3-bedroom flat(one box bedroom/2nd sitting room) whence I lived until just past my 6th birthday is in the £300,000+ bracket now. Wonder if the block still has a communal water-tank? |
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Ben
fotopic... whats that?
Posts: 4,282
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Post by Ben on Oct 9, 2015 23:00:34 GMT
Q8 told a lot of stories on here back when the forum was new. Having trouble finding them now though - the boards have all changed names for a start! Did he share many with you, towerman? |
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Post by Chris W on Oct 10, 2015 7:47:55 GMT
Q8 told a lot of stories on here back when the forum was new. Having trouble finding them now though - the boards have all changed names for a start! Did he share many with you, towerman? I'm not sure where they can be found on the forum now myself... remember that Dave suffered from ' clicky finger syndrome' at one stage and many early threads were lost... However fear not... I have access to them.... and when time allows.... I'll get them on the main site  |
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Post by silverfoxcc on Oct 11, 2015 22:11:02 GMT
Although not staff, i realy enjoy tales from long served LT staff. hope you can find them. looking forward to reading anything like that
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towerman
My status is now now widower
Posts: 2,970
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Post by towerman on Oct 16, 2015 12:12:27 GMT
Remember back in 75 the whole Central Line service was suspended one Friday,by midday nothing was running,due to a defective posi rail at Liverpool St.Nearly every train had at least one cracked posi shoebeam.The workshop staff at Ruislip & Hainault were laughing,they got a Saturday & Sunday in on overtime to replace them.BTW with lots of reforming of good units there was some sort service back on by the evening peak.Lucky it was before train radios were fitted making most units single ended.
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towerman
My status is now now widower
Posts: 2,970
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Post by towerman on Oct 23, 2015 11:24:21 GMT
It used to be said that you would have to kill somebody to be sacked from LT.Here's a couple of examples,the cleaning chargehand at Hainault on being told that he wasn't getting Saturday overtime put a chair across his foreman's head.Despite going to court & being found guilty of assault he was just tranferred to the advertising department(bill posting).Depot Foreman at Stonebridge Pk came into work the worse for wear,had an argument with the tower shunter,went up to the tower & practically hung him out of the window threatening to drop him.He was just transferred to Ruislip Depot at the same grade.Just thought of another one,chargehand examiner at Northumberland Pk Depot went on holiday,got in trouble with the police(believe it was in Devon)& got banged up for 3 months.His job was held open for him.
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towerman
My status is now now widower
Posts: 2,970
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Post by towerman on Oct 23, 2015 11:30:14 GMT
Another one from pre Health & Safety days.The heater fuses on 62TS were under the solebar but the Depot Foreman wouldn't shunt a train over a pit just for that you had to change fuses in the yard & if it was on the posi rail side you put a rubber mat over the rail and laid on that.Can also remember trimming up a frayed posi pigtal on 42S at Hainault the only precaution I took was to paddle up the posi shoes,happy days.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 19:49:32 GMT
Yeah - it was sure an Iron Rice Bowl Culture at LT, where you had a job for life.
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Post by theblackferret on Oct 23, 2015 20:47:44 GMT
It used to be said that you would have to kill somebody to be sacked from LT.Here's a couple of examples,the cleaning chargehand at Hainault on being told that he wasn't getting Saturday overtime put a chair across his foreman's head.Despite going to court & being found guilty of assault he was just tranferred to the advertising department(bill posting).Depot Foreman at Stonebridge Pk came into work the worse for wear,had an argument with the tower shunter,went up to the tower & practically hung him out of the window threatening to drop him.He was just transferred to Ruislip Depot at the same grade.Just thought of another one,chargehand examiner at Northumberland Pk Depot went on holiday,got in trouble with the police(believe it was in Devon)& got banged up for 3 months.His job was held open for him. Remember playing a friendly football match v Eastchurch nick in 1972. We got beat 15-0 & their centre-forward got 10 (I was the centre-half supposed to be marking him, btw!). Found out afterwards it was Chelsea's Tommy Baldwin, doing 6 months for clocking a policeman when D & D. And back he went into Chelsea's first team 2 days after release!! |
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Post by orienteer on Oct 24, 2015 15:35:49 GMT
Recall going on a tour of Neasden depot in the 1980s (the colour-coded tube prototypes were there), being led over live track, and simply warned not to step on the rails!
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towerman
My status is now now widower
Posts: 2,970
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Post by towerman on Nov 20, 2015 13:43:36 GMT
Always had a bee in my bonnet about the differences in pay between ATOs & car examiners when the line opened.All you needed to get on the Victoria Line as a Motorman was at least 25 years seniority & your pay went up around £10 a week,a huge jump in those days,to work on the ATO equipment on 67TS we had to pass an interview on conventional stock,attend a 4 week course at White City Training Centre & then sit an exam.If you got through all this you were then rewarded with the princely rise of 10/- per week!
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Post by spsmiler on Nov 20, 2015 22:41:00 GMT
I was talking earlier today with a lady who is in her 90's. Knowing that I have an interest in trains she started to tell me how she recalls hand-operated sliding door trains on the Circle Line and that these had running boards as well.
She told me that often she would jump on the running boards as the train was starting to leave a station and slide the door open to board the train.
Normally this worked well, but there was the one time when the door was a bit stiff and for a brief second (or two) as the train nearer the tunnel mouth she thought that she might be about to become a goner. However in the end she managed to get the door to open.
Simon (who recalls doing the same thing in the 1980s at Stratford with BR slam door trains)
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Post by Deleted on Nov 21, 2015 18:54:38 GMT
I was talking earlier today with a lady who is in her 90's. Knowing that I have an interest in trains she started to tell me how she recalls hand-operated sliding door trains on the Circle Line and that these had running boards as well. She told me that often she would jump on the running boards as the train was starting to leave a station and slide the door open to board the train. Normally this worked well, but there was the one time when the door was a bit stiff and for a brief second (or two) as the train nearer the tunnel mouth she thought that she might be about to become a goner. However in the end she managed to get the door to open. Simon (who recalls doing the same thing in the 1980s at Stratford with BR slam door trains) Their used to be a guard on the Central line who used to give the bell to his driver from the platform and as the train started moving used to run on to it. I was expecting to hear about a time when he'd missed it and was left behind but never did. |
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Post by superteacher on Nov 21, 2015 21:06:16 GMT
I was talking earlier today with a lady who is in her 90's. Knowing that I have an interest in trains she started to tell me how she recalls hand-operated sliding door trains on the Circle Line and that these had running boards as well. She told me that often she would jump on the running boards as the train was starting to leave a station and slide the door open to board the train. Normally this worked well, but there was the one time when the door was a bit stiff and for a brief second (or two) as the train nearer the tunnel mouth she thought that she might be about to become a goner. However in the end she managed to get the door to open. Simon (who recalls doing the same thing in the 1980s at Stratford with BR slam door trains) Their used to be a guard on the Central line who used to give the bell to his driver from the platform and as the train started moving used to run on to it. I was expecting to hear about a time when he'd missed it and was left behind but never did. Utter madness! I'm assuming you weren't his driver! |
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Post by John Tuthill on Nov 21, 2015 21:14:56 GMT
Their used to be a guard on the Central line who used to give the bell to his driver from the platform and as the train started moving used to run on to it. I was expecting to hear about a time when he'd missed it and was left behind but never did. Utter madness! I'm assuming you weren't his driver! One of the reasons that the O&P stocks had a curve to the bottom of the side panels. |
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towerman
My status is now now widower
Posts: 2,970
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Post by towerman on Nov 27, 2015 11:35:56 GMT
Remember working Christmas Day back in the 70s at Northumberland Pk.7am start had to walk from Walthamstow Shernhall St to Northumberland Pk starting out just after 5am,got in about five to seven,the guy in the gatehouse,a Jamaican called Mr Punch,called me in and poured me a large scotch and wished me a merry Christmas.Happy days.
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