The Ramblings of a Railwayman - Chapter 3 'Cleaning Days'

[@crompton33022]

Brilliant. I've just forwarded to my Dad who started at Bournemouth in 1956.

[@davidahugill9614]

The good old days indeed...........When men worked together , and knowledge was passed on by men already doing the job , to young lads straight from school . The photos say it all about the grimy reality and the need for plenty of manpower in the steam era . Brilliant . DAVE H Carnforth.

[@gerrywatson261]

Thank you for telling us about your wonderful life as a Railway man.

[@johnlawless9636]

Thank you for uploading all your memories. Thoroughly enjoying your videos.

[@213twinkle8]

Very well narrated Geoff, memories of the good old boys are so treasured. I so remember your talks at South Side. All the very best Ian T.

[@bianchikat]

one of my favourite depots in my spotting days

[@mickworsfold7373]

Very enjoyable thank you Geoff, nice memories...

[@nigelgarvey2046]

Terrific! This brought back many memories of my childhood and trainspotting days in Guildford during the 1950s and 1960s. And my brother and I got our first bikes from Jackson's too! (His later bike was mine handed down. 😄) My grandad was a railwayman at Guildford before I was born and lost the top of a finger in an accident with a goods wagon. But he'd moved to Exeter and was working at Exmouth Junction by the time I became aware of things. I have it in my mind that the damage in the picture at 12:09 labelled "Parcels Office on Platform 2" was caused by a train going through the buffers on Platform 1. But I'm not sure now. It's not one of the incidents mentioned in Wikipedia's article about the station.

[@geoffburch7959]

Hi Nigel It happened on 18th September 1953. Go to 'The Railway Archive' site - please follow link below: www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=739 Best wishes Geoff

[@nigelgarvey2046]

@@geoffburch7959 Thanks Geoff! I've just been reading the report. What a fascinating read! I love the formality of first paragraph: "1 have the honour to report for the information of the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, in accordance with the Order dated 18th September, 1953 the result of my Inquiry into the buffer-stop collision which occurred at 4.0 pm. on that day at Guildford station in the Southern Region, British Railways." Presumably that was the end of Motorman Sherman's career. :\

[@geoffburch7959]

Hi Nigel, No problem - its an incredible website to search for accidents and incidents and when reading some the latest, it seems that some still don't learn from other's mistakes! The easiest way to search the database I've found is that there is a small [wide search] field in the top right hand corner. Another interesting accident that happened at Guildford was the one on 8th November 1952 (please see link below) www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=739 In my driver training days at Waterloo, I used both of these accidents as examples to students. Best wishes Geoff

[@nigelgarvey2046]

@@geoffburch7959 Another interesting one. Thanks, Geoff! Being familiar with the locations and knowing what a 2-BIL was makes it easy to picture the events described in the report. 🙂 When we were VERY young, my brother and I used to call steam locomotives "chuff-chuffs" and the electric trains "dooga-doogas", after the sound of their air pumps. 😊 By the way, the eventID in the URL for this second report should be 738, not 739. Thanks again and best wishes.

[@richardmessenger9474]

Fascinating...how can you remember all the names...great pictures...👍👍

[@mervynyoung6071]

Nail in the boot - Ouch! Good stories in this part Geoff ....

[@kevincollis2632]

Excellent

[@dhorne1962]

outstanding

[@raschidabdullah5086]

Geoff, Very interesting and well worth listening to. I enjoyed it very much. all the best, Raschid

[@johncourtneidge]

Thank-you!

[@RS-xo7rd]

Wonderful. I was stuck in school at his age, more's the pity

[@stephenrice4554]

Very interesting . Great video 👍🇬🇧

[@safetyamsv3515]

Enjoyed enormously, thank you for the stories

[@London1064]

Superb story