My 50 Years as a Southern Railwayman

by P J Shannon

  During the early part of this year, Dennis Thompson, Operation Manager Waterloo, died at a very young age. He had been suffering from cancer and had put up a brave fight for some months. It was a very sad occasion. The funeral was held in his home town in Kent and a lot of his old friends attended, such as Ernie King, Tom Howell, Barry Cornick and a host of signalmen from the Waterloo area.

  Clare Kitcher was appointed to the job and spent some time getting to know the areas before taking up the position. I remember we issued her with Driving Cab Pass No 03917 so that she could learn the Waterloo to Windsor line.

  As with all things, the patch settled down to a norm with a few points and barrier failures to deal with, but all the time I was fully informed about any problems and delays that were caused due to them, so I was always prepared for the next Movements Manager’s meeting and able to justify any delays. This really stemmed from the first week that I took up the Regulators’ cause, and it worked well for us.

  Mixed Experiences

  So now six months into the job I had another Performance Review with Jim Turner, our Movements Manager at Waterloo.

  It read,

  ‘Pat is a steady reliable Manager who quietly goes about his job. He is much liked and dedicated. He has put into place good systems and monitors accordingly. He is a good sound Manager who knows his job well, but at times he does not necessarily express openly his own views. He has a tendency to accept remits without input or challenge. Pat does not appear to have any particular ambition, but seems able and content in doing the job in hand. Time, confidence and enlightenment may change his mind. His objectives are to safety audit and monitor systems to achieve continued improvement for optimum result of 100%, and to manage his MOMs to achieve this result. To instil and continue better relationships and operating environment within the Feltham Signal Box via stronger management. To recruit train and generally improve quality of operating standards to ensure Hidden recommendations met on time, rated 3 up from 2 last year, good result.’

  It was around this time that it was reported by the Panel that an 8 car unit had become uncoupled at Staines Depot. The procedure was for a 4 car unit to come out of service at Staines, proceed into the depot and couple up to another 4 car making up an 8 car for the rush hour at Waterloo. I telephoned the Motive Power Inspector, Stan Stonestreet, who was at Staines at the time to investigate and to take some photographs of the damage to the unit. I had at least expected the jumper leads and brake pipes to be damaged, but to my surprise Stan reported no damage to the unit, so after a lengthy conversation with him as to the pros and con of the incident, we agreed that if the reporting was true, then it was impossible to have no damage. My next step was to relieve the driver and guard at Waterloo and the shunter and have them report to my office for an explanation. This was done by Stan and he informed me that he would make his way to Feltham to attend the hearing. Within an hour or so the culprits were in my office explaining what had happened.

  I saw the driver first, and his explanation was that they arrived in the depot with a 4 car then coupled up to the other 4 car to make it up to an 8 car for the rush hour and when they exited the yard he realised that he had only 4 cars and reported to the signalman that the units had split and proceeded to Waterloo with a 4 car unit. When asked if he was certain that they had coupled up the units, he declared that he was 100% sure. When asked why the front unit had not stopped immediately, or why there was no damage to either unit, he had no explanation, so he was asked to go outside and wait while we questioned the guard.

  His story was much the same as the driver, and he was adamant that this was correct and that the units were coupled up properly, so outside he went to wait while we questioned the shunter who agreed with the other two.

  I then asked the driver and guard to come back into the room and I asked them if the sequence of events was accurate to which they all agreed. I went on to explain to them that I was a career railwayman who started as a Junior Porter in 1956 and had come up through the ranks, involved in coupling, shunting, signing off full load trains etc. and had a very good idea what had happened, so I was giving them a last chance to say if they were certain of the sequence of events. They all replied that they were. I then went on to explain my interpretation of the events, and suggested that they had entered the depot, moved the front unit on to the rear unit, got off the unit, gone to the shunters’ cabin and had a cup of tea, took a bit too long and hastily got back on the unit, forgetting to couple up with the rear one and sped out of the depot. I suggested that they then suddenly remembered that they had only a 4 car unit and reported to the signalman that the units had broken away. I gave them a final chance to retract their first statement and agree that what I had suggested was correct, and that I would be willing to deal with the matter there and then. To my horror they all remained adamant that they were telling the truth. I warned that it left me with no alternative but to hold an inquiry into the incident the next day, and I now required each of them to sit down and write up their report into the incident. When they had finished their reports they were to submit them to me, and were to report back to my office at 10.00am.

  The necessary arrangements had to be made with the TCS and SM to cover their respective duties the next day, so I was left to prepare the paperwork for the case. Promptly at 10.00am the trio arrived with their Rep who they had arranged the previous evening, so we went into the rigmarole of interviewing them all again in front of their Rep, only to establish that they were still remaining faithful to their original stories. However, their Rep was no fool and soon realised that they were telling lies, and asked for an adjournment for about 10 minutes. On his return, he stated that they may have made a bit of an error and that perhaps they didn’t couple up the train after all and had made a genuine mistake. I explained to the Rep that I was not amused to be lied to and that I had given them the opportunity to admit to it, so that we could all get on with the business of running the railway. I told each one of them that I was not here to serve at their convenience and would give the driver, guard and shunter 1 day’s suspension with loss of pay, not for the alleged incident but for lying to me over it. They all accepted the punishment without question and left my office to get on with their jobs. I felt that although I was livid about being lied to, I had been very fair in the punishment that I had meted out to them. Arrangements were then made to deduct the payment from their wages in the guise of an unpaid day’s leave.

  Another incident reported was a S.P.A.D. when engineering work was taking place in the Twickenham area. The limits for the possession were set from Twickenham to F167 signal at Whitton Junction. The spoil train leaving the work was authorised to pass F167 at danger, but must have misunderstood the instructions and passed the next signal, F177 at Feltham Junction, at danger. Luckily the points were set in the correct position so there was no run through, so the incident was concluded as driver error.

  It is imprinted on my memory that in 1992, all the Managers decided that they would have a jolly to France to see some of the SNCF trains and I was left as the only Manager on Network SouthEast. Late in the week I was asked if I would be prepared to do a little job that consisted of gauging the new train on the Waterloo & City Line. Most people know that the Waterloo & City line is an underground link between the Southern terminus and Bank, which has always been part of the Southern Region. It was opened in 1898 and it was the second to be brought into use in London to be electrically operated. It seems that as long ago as 1865 plans were in progress to construct a tube line under the Thames to link Waterloo and the north eastern end of Whitehall, principally to protect passengers from exposure to the elements on Thames Bridge.

  On the Sunday morning I was up bright and early and off to Staines on my motor cycle to catch an early train. I arrived at Waterloo, then went down the Drain to have an early look at the job, and was met by another excellent railwayman, Supervisor Terry Murphy, who had worked down the Drain for some years. As I had known him for some c
onsiderable time he greeted me as an old friend. I explained that I was there because all the other Managers had gone off on a jolly and left the gauging of the train down to me, and that I needed him to show me around before the possession was taken.

  So off we went to explore. Just beyond the platform at Waterloo was a small depot containing about seven roads lit by, at best, a dim, inadequate light. Most roads contained the new stock which we had to use to gauge the tunnel width. After about half an hour looking around I decided that I would like to have a look at the signal box, which was in the form of a little panel that controlled the depot and all the lines to and from Bank. I found nothing that I could not handle with the help of Terry. At about 10.00am we managed to get the possession set up and started running the stock through the tunnel. After each complete journey, we had to change over units. This process carried on for most of the day with little time for us to have a cup of tea and a sandwich. At around 4.30pm the engineers declared that all the trains were the right gauge to pass through the tunnel and decided to call it a day, leaving all the units stabled up in the depot for the next day’s service. I thanked Terry and the signalman for all their assistance, gave up the possession and made my way up to the surface to catch the train home.

  The next morning I arrived at the Area Manager’s Office and made out my report of the previous day’s work. They were all fairly concerned now as to how the job went, but I was not overjoyed at being landed with the job when they had not seemed that much bothered before, so I played it out a bit before telling them that it went off very well.

  In May 1992 I had been in the job for 13 months and my Performance Review for that period was taken by David Gould who was now Audit & Performance Manager at Waterloo. It went something like this –

  ‘Pat is a very hard working and enthusiastic Manager who will work all hours to ensure that the job gets done. As a hands-on Manager, he is well respected by his staff which helps him to perform almost anything when he puts his mind to it. However Pat is a person who does not push himself forward which can be misconstrued as being a good team member (which he is) instead of a team leader. Pat would never let his team down both to management or his own staff. His objectives set are:

  To take ownership of the Windsor Line performance, set up systems and monitoring procedures to improve performance by 3% for 1992/93.

  To ensure that all operating staff under your control remain within budget which include MOMs and AMIs and show a 5% improvement on budgets.

  To ensure that all audits carried out within the Feltham Area are achieved.

  To set standards that will improve the overall South West Lines resulting progressively towards a 5% real improvement.

  Carry out monthly briefings with all staff on operating matters as directed which should include safety messages, including rules changes, performances and budgets.

  To achieve Hidden 18 progressively for all operating staff by October 1992.’

  The next important job came when I was asked by our Area Manager to prepare a team for a special train that would be used to transport HRH Prince Charles from Hampton to London. This occasion would take place in about a week’s time at the end of the Hampton Court Flower Show. The train was timed to run after the normal service had finished so as not to interfere with the ordinary running of the timetable.

  As usual the timing of the train would be arranged by Special Traffic and when I was given the details I would select my team for the job. Who could I trust to whom I could give such an important job? As for my traffic team, it was not a problem as any one of my MOMs was more than capable of carrying out the job of ensuring that the train was on time and that the right carriage stopped in the correct position on the platform at Hampton, so that all that HRH had to do was to get out of his car through the gate and board the train. It left me with the question of who would I get to escort HRH from his car to the train and thence to his compartment. I needed a person with a lot of tact, a bubbly personality, much respected by their colleagues, a person who would carry out this duty with real panache giving every consideration to detail. I had just the right person in mind - our young Station Manager at Richmond, Becci Croft-Griggs. So without further ado I decided to pay her a surprise visit and ask her if she would be prepared to do the job for me. Needless to say, when I spoke to her in her office explaining what I wanted her to do, she was over the moon at the suggestion that I had chosen her over some much more senior members of staff. I explained that I knew from my experience of undertaking some of her training that she was the right person for the job. She did not need much encouragement to agree to do it.

  A meeting between me and the AM ensued to explain and enlighten him on the team that I had hand-picked for this special job. The staffing arrangements were to be with him at the helm, me as Operations Manager, Stan as Traction Inspector, L C as MOM and Becci Croft-Griggs as HRH escort officer. After much deliberation, and to my relief, he said that he thought that I had made a good balanced choice and was very much in favour of it. As soon as possible I arranged a late night meeting with all concerned at Hampton to sort out any problems that might arise, such as phones, marking on the platform for the position of entry to the coach, and the need to run the engine round at Shepperton. All these questions had to be discussed and answered before we called it a night and headed off for home.

  The day before the special train was due, we received the Special Traffic Notice and the usual practice was to issue it to all concerned as late as possible on the day to preserve secrecy and security. So during the day it was my task to deliver the notices and obtain a promise from all to keep it secret and not divulge any part of the notice to anybody until the special train had departed, and furthermore that the notices would be returned to me so that I could return them to Special Traffic Department.

  So on the night in question we all descended on Hampton with time to spare, just as the final service train was departing, and set about our rehearsal of the previous visit of testing phones, marking the platform entrance and waited for the train to pass us to Shepperton for the engine to run round. It seemed quite a long time before the barrier gates were lowered and the train passed towards Shepperton. We all knew it would take about half an hour for the engine to run round and return to Hampton. Pretty much when we had expected, the barriers were lowered, the train entered the platform and stopped as near as possible to our markings. I had a quick word with the guard and then it was a simple matter of shunting the train back a little to our marked spot. Then we just had to wait for the Royal party to arrive.

  Soon the first royal escort police car arrived and special branch officers spoke to us to check that all was well and that we had everything under control, then a thorough check of the station ensued and when they were satisfied that all was well the other car with Prince Charles arrived. Becci, as rehearsed, was out in a flash and escorted him on to the platform where we had formed a line across the platform. With a quick thank you to all of us, he was escorted into the carriage and seated. As soon as Becci disembarked, the train guard was given the tip that all platform work was completed and he exhibited a green hand signal to the driver and the train departed. The AM and I were more than happy with the professionalism shown by all concerned and said so. As we were in contact with Feltham Panel, all we had to do was to wait until the train had passed off our patch. When it reached Clapham Junction, it was a relief to all of us that we had done a good job, and it only remained for me to collect the STN forms and send them back to their department the next day.

  Also in May, I attended a two day interview skills workshop at London Bridge, presumably to fill in the gaps in my interviewing techniques. Whether I required these extra skills is debatable, as I had done quite a lot of interviewing for staff vacancies in the past, but why complain about a couple of days off with pay and a certificate at the end of it to add to my other qualifications?

  In late May 1992 I was covering Twickenham rugby, and Becci had suggested I took
Holly along for the experience to which I reluctantly agreed. We arrived at Twickenham at about 09.00am and I introduced her to the staff and we made ourselves comfortable in the spare office, with cups of tea for us and lemonade for Holly. It was evident from the start that Becci and Holly got on like a house on fire, so when the immediate rush was over at about 1.00pm, it came as no surprise when Becci asked if she could take Holly on a little excursion into town for something to eat, as they were getting on so well. So off they went, whilst I and the other staff mopped up the stragglers and settled down with a cup of tea to wait until the match was over and the return started. When Becci and Holly came back later that afternoon, Holly was proudly wearing an England rugby scarf that Becci had bought her. This was going to be her pride and joy for the foreseeable future and nobody was going to be able to make her part with it. The rest of the day went off without incident. Late that evening when it was time for Holly and me to say our farewells, she thanked Becci for a lovely day, and we made for home. I think by the time we got there, my eardrums were just about to give out after her continual jabbering about her scarf and her brilliant day with Becci and her staff at Twickenham. Finally we got home and it was her mother’s turn to hear all about her day out at the rugby.

  June 1992 saw me back again at Ascot for the races, with my formidable experienced team. We had no real problems except that an excursion from the Midlands had failed to change over the gas cylinders while it was being cleaned out at Wimbledon Park for the return journey. When the train got to Ascot it was soon realised that this task had not been undertaken and that unless I could do something there would be no hot food served on its return journey. Some very quick conversations ensued with the crew, signalman and buffet staff to solve the predicament, and arrangements were made for me to shunt the stock forward to where there was a break in the live rail, to accommodate the unlocking of the recess in the underframe of the carriage, take out the old cylinders and replace them with the new ones. This had all to be done without delaying the ordinary service. But luckily I knew my way around the shunting limits at Ascot and within a few minutes the job was done. The buffet staff were so grateful for our assistance that they gave me a small box of champagne to share among the staff, which I did, but not before signing off time of course!