Guards now & then

[jon0844]

On top of everything BestWestern said, in no particular order I carry my raincoat (issue), spare torch, spare batteries for all my torches, needle & thread, spare buttons for jacket & shirt, flask/cup (in cold weather I keep it filled), knife/fork/spoon, plastic bowl, tea&coffee making, cuppa soup, paracetamol, sticking plasters, cable ties, gloves (leather & protective), pens, magic marker, USB charger with cable for blackberry, headphones (my phone turns into radio, it came in useful during 7/7 bombings and a fortnight later to keep up with news on-train), route maps, two bottles of water (one for me, one for somebody else), insulating tape, screwdriver & bits, scissors, pliers, mints, mars bar (for emergency use!), book to read when sitting, spit kit (for gathering evidence if anyone spits at/on us), spare T-key, train keys & whistle. Oh, and my lunch will be in there as well.

I think that's all. My bag weighs approx 14kg, by the way (most of which is my lunch!)

That's ridiculous! If there's one thing the Internet has taught me about guards, it's that they only need a newspaper and a place to rest their feet.

 

[Flamingo]

That's ridiculous! If there's one thing the Internet has taught me about guards, it's that they only need a newspaper and a place to rest their feet.

One thing I don't routinely carry is a newspaper! It's too much extra weight

 

[Monty]

One thing I don't routinely carry is a newspaper! It's too much extra weight

Plus you can always find a newspaper in the course of your duties anyway.

 

[Flamingo]

It's what First Class is for...

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I remember one of the "old & bold" telling me about the brakevan stove, and it "glowing red up the flue to the roof", when I said that didn't sound very safe he replied (with some indignation) "It was perfectly safe, sure everything was covered in asbestos"!

Used an old bogie SR brakevan (75mph air braked) on car trains to deter vandals in the West Midlands back in the day , - to show willing I went out one evening on a nippy day , on leaving Washwood Heath I foraged some coal and got the stove going. Filled it to the top once lit.

After about 10 miles , we were driven out onto the veranda due to the intense heat , - and it was still overwarm when we got into Crewe (no vandal attacks by the way) - very impressed with the coal and the stove ! Must have been some very old loco coal lying around.

 

[cjp]

I was a freight guard mostly, too long ago to remember everything, but 2 flags,a tin of detonators, Working timetables,mashcan, a Bardic lamp attached to the satchel (bag) and wait for it, a Fairy liquid bottle full of paraffin.
This was to top up the 3 tail lamps on the brakevan if needed and also you could squirt the paraffin on the ashes of the stove to help relight the fire and get the brakevan warm again.

I believe freight guards are now to be found in the back cab of diesels but

way back when you were a freight guard

was it not very lonely or boring being dragged along for mile after mile at the back of a long train in your little van?

No passengers to pester you just chattering coal trucks or whatever with no tickets to check or announcements to make - just keep an occassional eye out for wayward wagons?

 

[Welshman]

Dick Fawcett's book "Ganger, Guard and Signalman" gives a good insight into the working life of the traditional freight guard on the S&C Railway.

It's probably OUP now, but was published by Bradford Barton,1981, ISBN 05153 397 3, and may be found in bookshops or on Amazon.

 

[RichmondCommu]

I believe freight guards are now to be found in the back cab of diesels but

way back when you were a freight guard

was it not very lonely or boring being dragged along for mile after mile at the back of a long train in your little van?

No passengers to pester you just chattering coal trucks or whatever with no tickets to check or announcements to make - just keep an occassional eye out for wayward wagons?

Back in the late 70's when I was a teenager this was my dream job! Leaning on the veranda smoking a fag watching the world go by and a nice warm stove in winter. Some how I ended up in corporate law

And yes Dick Fawcett's book is a lovely read. Even my wife, who has no real interest in railways enjoyed reading it. I think that says it all!

 

[38Cto15E]

It was in the early 70s when I was a guard, on nearly all freight ('I' comes before 'E' except after 'C')???trains, but the odd footex, holiday special, Royal train once and also a train load of Yorkshire ladies once as well.

Once I was Red inked on to a Top link job, a Royal mail train about 3 am Saturday morning departure, after going around the pubs on a Friday night with the lads, then to the Palais de Danse, a bag of chips (no Kebabs much then) quick change of clothes, and sign on.

The brake vans in Winter were a wonderful place to be if you were relieving another guard, but awful before they were warm inside. Sometimes I had to go to a siding at 2-00am, walk the length of the train to the brake van, freezing cold, maybe no or little coal etc That is why I carried the paraffin, a quick squirt of that on the ashes, a bit of coal and a bit of luck you could start warming the van up.
Once I lost my full mashcan off the stove when the driver braked a bit too quickly on a loose coupled freight, Class 8, I heard the death rattle of the buffers touching up the length of the train and the can went flying, I had to hold on to the brake handle or else I would have joined it.