Could well have been Stevie i believe he was a tall'ish fella and he had sharp facial features i recall also a feeling that he was of west Indian descent rather then pure African descent?.
I think he was a relatively junior driver in no.5 link and i may well have acted as his secondman on a diagram one day no more but i do recall seeing this picture of him dressed up in full African tribal robes sitting at the driving controls of a Brush type 4 loco.
*** CORRECTION It has come back to me now i actually recall seeing him working on a diagram wearing these African tribal robes one day, yes it's coming back to me now and i believe it was somewhere around FERME PARK or HORNSEY back in either 1974 or 75 and he was driving a Brush type 4 loco ***
Last edited by Mickey on Sat Dec 24, 2011 11:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Yes Stevie i reckon that was the fella Joe Gunter, funny i can still picture his face pretty clearly even though i'd only seen him on a relatively few number of occasions around Kings Cross and i havn't seen him since 1975!.
I guess that when he was a driver in no.5 driver's link at the Cross in 1974/75 he may have been on the job for around 8-10 years by then so i would say that he probably came on the job sometime around the 1965/66 time as a secondman?.
Hello Micky, the name Jackson springs to my mind.
I started at King's Cross in Jan 1962 and didn't pass for driving until November 1973, so any regular driver in No. 5 link around that time would have started in the mid 50's. There was a coloured top link fireman in 1962 who's regular mate was George Cook, but his name has slipped my mind. He blew in for a couple of days in that year and afforded me my first mainline firing trips on an A.4. He could well be the chap you're thinking of.
I went in front of the examining inspector, a chap called Jack Mitchell who was based at York and had a fearsome reputation. We started at 10.00 on that November day & I finally emerged (successful) at 18.00 with my head swimming. Another candidate also started the examination with me, but was sent packing at lunchtime for not coming up to scratch. His name was Brian Cacoullis and I lost track of him after that and often wondered if he stayed or left the job
In the 1980s there was a friendly black KX driver called John who I'd imagine at that time would have been in his 40s. I had many a cab ride with him and he had a very good singing voice. I can't recall his surname.
Joe Gunter has been mentioned in these dispatches, but the other Driver that some of you are trying to remember is Wilf McTaggart who had a good singing voice. Both characters in their own way, sad to say they are no longer with us, both called to the top link.
Glad to hear that Joe Gunter wasn't as bad as I thought he was.
Let me explain.
I was sent as secondman one night to Hornsey Yard for shunting the Bounds Green stock movements. It wasn't my booked job and lets face it a 350hp diesel wasn't exactly rooted to the spot through not having a secondman!
But when I arrived Joe Gunter did his nut, saying that he'd not been able to do anything without me being there, where had I been and Lord knows what else!
I promptly refused to work with him any more and hastily made my way back to the Cross.
Needless to say I was in front of Mr Billings the next day, to receive my punishment, but can't for the life of me recall what it was. My next couple of turns with Joe, on "1Shunt" if I recall, were spent very frostily without a word being said, except where necessary for the job.
It was soon after this that I went up for my Driving Test and had to face the dreaded Jack Mitchell. Sadly, I wasn't as genned up as Hermit109 as I failed miserably, though not badly enough to be sent home early! I eventually took my test again,(and passed),this time with Allan Richardson, a real gent, if ever there was.
The one thing that I always remember about the S.O.P at the Cross was how the West indian guy's, when they played dominoes, always used to slam them down on the table, hard enough almost, for the table to break in half!
John C wrote: " Hi all,
Glad to hear that Joe Gunter wasn't as bad as I thought he was. .... "
" .... John C. "
When I wrote -
StevieG wrote: " No idea if it's the same chap, but from when I was around Fins.Pk. and in KX box from '77 well into the '80s at least, there was a tall slim upright chap with a distinctive clipped and clear way of speaking, who always spoke, (and sounded as he if he would have gone about his work), in a very proper way : .... " " .... - One Driver J. Gunter of KX. "
- sounds to me like my guess could've been right then ; perhaps he stuck rigidly to 'rules' - (Should the 08 have officially been double-manned in order to do any work?).
Bit of a strange one this, if I remember rightly, Bounds Green Shunt, (BG Yard-Palace Gates-Roundtrees & Wood Green sand yard,) required a secondman, Hornsey, CS, required a secondman, as did Ashburton yard, Holloway CS, No 1 & 2 shunt BUT, Kings Cross goods yard never seemed to have one !!! and they 3 or 4 on the go most of the time.
I cannot remember what was the requirement for Ferme Park down CS, or who was responsible for shunting in the 'Waterworks' CS, I know I shunted in there in the very early 70's with a Brush 2.
Referring back to Hermit109's piece "............Another candidate also started the examination with me, but was sent packing at lunchtime for not coming up to scratch. His name was Brian Cacoullis and I lost track of him after that and often wondered if he stayed or left the job" ....... didn't he go by the nickname of Coco Pops?
Hermit 109 mentiones the name of Brian Cacoullis or coco pops as he was called, Brian left the railway some years ago but still comes to the Hatfield Reunions on occasions, the last time i saw him was in May 2010 at Hatfield.
Someone else mentioned a West Indian by the name of John who also had a good singing voice, the name of John Mitchell, also known as "Mitch" comes to mind,quite a character who referred to himself as "a good old cockney". He left the railway on ill health grounds during the 1970s.
Happy New Year everyone,
Thinking about Jack Mitchell the dreaded travelling examining inspector reminded me of a story regarding the first two candidates to face him at the 'Cross soon after he was appointed into the job. Not knowing what to expect, the candidates presented themselves at the appointed time only to find that he hadn't yet arrived. They were shown into the examination room and told in order to create a good impression they ought to be studying their rule books when he arrived.
When Jack Mitchell walked into the room and saw them studying, he grabbed the books, threw them into the corner and said "If you don't know the rule book by now, you shouldn't be here". Thus started the legend and when he failed our star mutual improvement quiz member (no names mentioned) his reputation was set in stone.
Which brings another name to mind, anyone remember Tony (or Tom as Greggy called him) Blaxhill, who used to organise various tours to places of interest like coal mines and such like and got the King's Cross quiz team together. Wonder what happened to him?
I do know there is one photo with a split headcode class 40 there, because I remember being rather shocked at seeing such a Lancashire biased creature that far south.
Edited - couldn't wait for the 25th, so here is the link to a split headcode 40 photo. This is even more unusual as it seems to be about to help a 31 with a Cleethorpes train.
