B.R. stores and other railway tales

[Trestrol]

I forgot about cream cleanser and bleach, does the bleach still come in 2.5ltr bottles? What do you think of the quality of the blue rolls?

[Mickey]

I forgot about cream cleanser and bleach, does the bleach still come in 2.5ltr bottles? What do you think of the quality of the blue rolls?

Yeah i just had a look at the Pine Disinfectant and it's in a 5 Litre container and as for the blue rolls they seem ok although at the moment we havan't got any in the box having to make do with hand towels instead.

Believe it or not they (management) even provide the (few) s/boxes left on the North London lines with tea bags, HUGE CONTAINERS of Nescafe coffee and sugar!!.

It wasn't like that over 40 odd years ago you brought your own tea, sugar & milk to the box.

[Andy W]

G.I.C. was a soap solution rather than a disinfectant. We used it at Hornsey EMU in the carriage washer rather than Exmover (a truly evil substance) for the first ten years and the units used to come up lovely.

Brown lino, green and cream (or battleship grey) walls, all smelling of G.I.C, cigarette smoke and dust. That was what West Side offices at KX was like in the 1970s. The (unbranded) Bronco lav paper used to disappear with monotonous regularity, leaving you to grab a copy of the weekly notice before you went in to read the latest graffiti. The swish of black macs along the corridors and the sounds of the TCS or even the LDC giving some poor driver hell and Ivy Hagland in the parcels putting so many swear words in one sentence, you wouldn't believe it was possible. You heard her through the corridor partition wall!

Now it's a pub, but with, alas, no smell of G.I.C, ciggies and dust.

[PinzaC55]

G.I.C. was a soap solution rather than a disinfectant. We used it at Hornsey EMU in the carriage washer rather than Exmover (a truly evil substance) for the first ten years and the units used to come up lovely.

Brown lino, green and cream (or battleship grey) walls, all smelling of G.I.C, cigarette smoke and dust. That was what West Side offices at KX was like in the 1970s. The (unbranded) Bronco lav paper used to disappear with monotonous regularity, leaving you to grab a copy of the weekly notice before you went in to read the latest graffiti. The swish of black macs along the corridors and the sounds of the TCS or even the LDC giving some poor driver hell and Ivy Hagland in the parcels putting so many swear words in one sentence, you wouldn't believe it was possible. You heard her through the corridor partition wall!

Now it's a pub, but with, alas, no smell of G.I.C, ciggies and dust.

I was a Guard at KX from 1983 to 1989 (DOO) and one of the bizarre things which used to happen at the West Side offices - and I will have to apologise to those of you who are squeamish - was as follows. Half way between the footbridge entrance and the signing on point was a narrow staircase up to the next floor, which was largely disused. Beside the staircase was a table and somebody used to fill milk bottles with urine and these used to stand on the table festering until there were about 4 or 5 till they mysteriously disappeared. There were some strange people at the Cross in the eighties.

[Mickey]

There were some strange people at the Cross in the eighties.

Probably before the 1980s Pinza i was around there between 1970-75 and 'they' were probably around even then.

There use to ba a signalman (no names) that worked at a box that closed 25 years ago (again no names) that demanded 'cold drinking water' on tap (no pun intended) so he use to put a B.R. issued tea-pot in the sink and turn the 'hot water' tap of a gas operated ASCOT water heater 'on' and let the hot water run cold for the rest of his 8hrs shift!!.

Oh yeah i nearly forgot after letting the hot water run cold for 8hrs into a B.R. issued tea-pot he'd place a eating apple into the tea pot which would be left to 'bob' around continuosly??.

And the reason for this 'ritual' he claimed the "water tasted colder" he said??. Go figure??.

The water bill alone for that box must have been off the scale not to mention the Welsh Harp local reservoir must have dropped several inches??.

[PinzaC55]

We used to work the 313's and occasionally you would find buttons and lightbulbs missing from the drivers desk. I travelled pass with one guard and, bold as brass, he unscrewed the plastic part of one of the handles and threw it out of the window! He said the job bored him so when the boredom got too much, something had to go.

[Mickey]

Deleted

[Mickey]

Mentioning of cleaning disinfectant reminds me of a (idiot) signalman at a box back in the 1980s who cleaned the box cushions in hot soapy water for the very first time in about 20 years which contained dirt, grease, sweat & grime, the hot fresh clean water turned as black as ink by the time he'd washed & rinsed them the cushions coming up smelling 'as fresh as a daisy' beautiful.

Then this bloke soaked them in a black disinfectant liquid that had the cushions and the box stinking for the next 3 years!!. Everytime that you came to the box your clothes stunk of this terrible disinfectant smell for days after!!.

[PinzaC55]

Mentioning of cleaning disinfectant reminds me of a (idiot) signalman at a box back in the 1980s who cleaned the box cushions in hot soapy water for the very first time in about 20 years which contained dirt, grease, sweat & grime, the hot fresh clean water turned as black as ink by the time he'd washed & rinsed them the cushions coming up smelling 'as fresh as a daisy' beautiful.

Then this bloke soaked them in a black disinfectant liquid that had the cushions and the box stinking for the next 3 years!!. Everytime that you came to the box your clothes stunk of this terrible disinfectant smell for days after!!.

Sounds like TCP ?

[Mickey]

Deleted

[Trestrol]

Talking of water do you remember the stupid BR plastic water carriers? Green bottoms for drinking water and red for Toilet water. They were useless as after a couple of fills the stupid plastic carry handle would break off. talking of signal box chairs i remember a tale of the old armchair at Seaham signal box(i think). they were going to chuck it so picked it up. the most movement it had had in the past was so the floor could be washed. well out scurried loads of mice who had been living in it!! exit one chair and the rest of the time was spent chasing mice out of the box.

[Mickey]

Yeah i can believe it most of the old s/boxes were or still are mice or rat infested thats where the 'box cat' came in and done his job!!.

It isn't nice being in a box at night hearing the mice scurring about or actually being in the box with you!!.

Those things don't half move!!!.

[Mickey]

Deleted

[PinzaC55]

My abiding memory of Welwyn Garden City and bad weather is when BR in I think the winter of 1983 or 84 decided to change all the gas fired point heaters with brand spanking new electric ones. Unfortunately they didn't test the new ones and like a Biblical plague we got very heavy snow. The new heaters failed and a lot of men made very good money digging the points out by hand

[Mickey]

I was at WGC box by the way back in the early 1970s.

That reminds me of a true story of a box i was at that had a siding connected to the main running line that was hardly ever used.

Anyway sometime back in the late 1980s i turned up at this box to take duty for a late turn and it had been snowing most of the morning and when i walked into the box the bloke on the early turn (yeah the same bloke who had washed the box cushions in disinfectant him!) had been working the points from the siding to the main line while it was snowing but had forgotten to 'swing them' back to the 'normal' and of course they had become quickly 'snowed in' laying in the reversed position!!.

Anyway this bloke says to me sorry about leaving you with a points failure but-

"It's at times like this (snowy weather) that you mite need to use them" and then promptly signed off duty and left the box leaving me with a points failure!!.

I wouldn't mind but nothing was even in the siding??.