A typical pway day

[TheSlash]

Well i reckon HR2 must feel lonely recalling old railway stories, so lets try and put across a typical day for me, we'll take today for example.

The day starts at 06:50 with the alarm going off, i turn on the telly, BBC1, just in time for the local news and traffic. Nothing interesting there, so telly goes off again. Today is overtime so i wonder if i can really be bothered, then i remember the only way i moved the overtime day to today was by promising to work it :tongue2:
So i get out of bed and stare into the wardrobe at a selection of clothes... only 1 clean pair of work jeans, hmmm!!
I quickly get dressed and makle my way downstairs. The previous day i had found a very interesting piece of railway equipment lying by the roadside miles from the railway and brought it home, leaving it in the back garden. The mother woman has since carried this through the house and thrown it out the front door. She gets called a name and given instructions on what i recommend she does, as i carry the treasure back through the house to the back garden again.
I walk back through the house and pass my chav of a brother who makes some silly noise off of Little Britain. As it's monday morning, i am not really in the mood for him, so he's told to shut up before i do him some damage, with another silly remark he disappears into the depths of the house.
Then it's into the key cupboard for the car keys. I jump into the car and turn the key to ignition on and wait for the stero to come on, once this boots up, i shunt through tracks on Thin Lizzy's "Live and Dangerous" until i find something suitable, then i crank the volume right up, wind down my window and open the sun roof, that should aggreviate the neighbours.
I fire the car up and let it run for a minute, , then it's time for launch, with a bit of wheel spin from cold tyres, i shoot off down the road towards work, remembering i have to pick my mate up along the way.
After getting stuck at some temporary lights, i stop at Cosham station to pick my mate up and then it's back to full power i as head towards the motorway. We chat about the weekend and stuff as the car screams up the steep motorway hill in 4th. We discuss how many crap drivers use this bit of road and i finally change into 5th gear at the summit.
Turning off the the motorway, i head along the dual carriageway into Fareham, as i am a few minutes late and in the mood for some fun, a quick check reveals no mobile police camera units in all the usual spots, so floor the gas pedal and hit 80mph over the 40mph A27 flyover, got to be done when the chance arises!!
A few minutes later i pull into works carpark, a car parked outside the messroom immediatly tells me who the early turn MOM {Mobile Operations Manager} is and i adjust my driving to suit. I swap my trainers for safety boots and grab my HV before locking the car up. Then i go round the building and into the messroom the long way, so i don't have to talk to the MOM, diplomacy isn't one of my things for a Monday morning.
I rinse my cup out, put a tea bag in it and then add hot water. While thats brewing, i get the keys to the van, i always like to check straight away that it's working, so i unlock it, then start it up and let it run for a few minutes. Next up is a paper and some munchies. So i head across the track and through the station, to the station shop. This is a real loathe of mine as the service is crap. I buy a copy of the Sun {for the crossword and double Sudoku} and a Twirl bar before heading back to the messroom.
By now everybody else bar one person has arrived. The room is fairly quiet and abit depressing, so i decide the first game of cards of the day is in order.
3 of us play cards and as per usual DJ 8-0 is the first person to lose at Knock out trumps. This is followed by all the usual bad loser insults about cheating etc, me and my mate laugh this off and play on until he wins.
The last member of the gang walks in, complaining that his car has broken and he had to get the train in at the last minute
The ganger walks in with a brief of the days work, this is met with a hostile reception when he says we'll be doing maintenance on another gangs section, a gang well known for laziness.
A 2nd game of cards, this time rigged against DJ 8-0 for earlier remarks. I win and we all pile out of the messroom into the van for HQ.
Arriving at HQ, we chat with a few blokes we know and off load our gear from the weekend, then help unload the communal flatbed.
Next up is a trip to Totton coal yard for 'chipping', a fine stone used to pack the track. Several bags are loaded onto the rear of the van and sly comments are made about weight limits towards me, but i'm confident of the weight being loaded on and state that it's no where near it's weight limit yet, putting the numbers into perspective, also that the figures quoted were based on 8 people being onboard, we only had 6, besides, the van behaves better with more weight onboard.
Next stop is South junction for a morning of packing of lifting and packing....
Part 2 to follow

 

[Coxster]

6 in the van, 5 of which will be working in part 2

 

[HR2]

6 in the van, 5 of which will be working in part 2

I wonder WHO is the odd man out?

 

[Coxster]

I wonder WHO is the odd man out?

The one who's location is set to "Sat on a block"

 

[TheSlash]

Part 2 then,

We arrive at South junction, the TC goes off to find the 'slacks' whilst everybody else gets tools and equipment off the van. It's noted that one of our blue hatters does nothing but the jackman's job - carrying the jack and jacking the rail up.
We wander down to the site and start digging out the beds and the blue hatter on the jack lights a cigarette and begins cruising other people’s efforts, so he is offered a go on the shovel and promptly shuts up. Slash decides he is feeling energetic and digs the holes for the jack, making sure they are not quite big enough for the jack to go in, then he tells the jackman to stick the jack in and start taking it up. Obviously the jack doesn't fit the hole and the jackman loses his rag trying to get it under the rail, not helped by the Slash taking the **** out of him "A decent jackman would have gotten that in there"
Finally the jackman gets the jack under the rail and TheSlash supervises the lift whilst the TC eyes the rail in. It's a big lift and it takes around a minute for the jackman to pump the jack up high enough, just in time for the lookout to call everybody out for a train, meaning the jack has to be let down, TheSlash makes a comment to the jackman about the speed of which he was pumping the jack and asking if he'll be done before Christmas. TheSlash then turns his attention to playing his shovel like a 6 string guitar while the train goes past.
Finally the train goes by and we can get back to work. TheSlash resumes standing over the jackman making comments about his work quality. As the jack goes up, TheSlash notices that the sleepers being lifted by the rail have rotted through and the screws holding the rail base plate onto the sleeper have nothing to bite against and so the sleepers aren't being lifted, TheSlash blames the jackman's quality of work as the source of the problem and then makes a quick exit back to the van for some bars to lift the sleepers with. TheSlash decides he can park the van alot closer to the worksite and goes for a drive around before pulling up next to worksite.
Returning with the bars, TheSlash asks why the jackman hasn't already lifted the sleepers with a shovel, blaming him for a lack of progress before telling him "You're attitude has gotta change"
TheSlash forces a bar under the 1st sleeper and then leans on it to lift the sleeper up. Kev the Bev and the TC begin packing the area under the sleepers while TheSlash, still leaning on the bar, tells the rest of the gang about how he escaped from the looney bin through the unlocked window. The TC tells TheSlash that he has finished with that sleeper and he wants the next one lifted. TheSlash pulls his bar out and sticks it under the next sleeper before stating the jackman could be doing this.
TheSlash looks around the adjacent goods line while leaning on his bar and spots a set of points in a poor state with a few broken and loose bolts. Once the TC has finished packing the other sleeper, TheSlash drifts off to the van to find some S&C bolts so that he can have a play with a set of points, meanwhile the rest of the gang move onto the next dipped joint.
Returning with an assortment of bolts, washers and chogs, TheSlash examines the S&C in more detail and quickly realises it is a Chinesse puzzle that would of been better left alone. Because the gang is now a man down, the jackman has to dig out and do the jack, much to his disgust and TheSlash's enjoyment.
TheSlash spends around 15 minutes replacing and tightening bolts on the S&C before walking up to re-join the gang, just in time to see the jackman digging out a very difficult hole. TheSlash immediately stands over the jackman and begins making comments on his work rate and work quality, as the jackman had done earlier. The jackman loses his cool and uses some foul language to describe TheSlash, but TheSlash is unphased and ups the anti.
Finally, after an eternity, the jackman gets the jack under the rail and starts taking it up, just in time for another train, much to the delight of TheSlash who takes great pleasure in winding it into the jackman.
Whilst waiting for the train to pass, TheSlash teachers another member of the gang how to play the shovel like a 6 string electric guitar, whilst the rest of the gang make scornful remarks about both of us.
The train goes past and TheSlash asks the jackman if he thinks he'll be able to get the jack all the way up before Christmas, let alone the next train.
We pack the slack and check the time, everything is done just in time for lunchtime, and so we pack away the tools onto the van and head off to home, via the scenic route. The scenic route means TheSlash gets to put the van through it's paces, having a good work through the gearbox on the bends and hills of the back roads, but it also means the jackman will be unable to play cards in the back. On the way we decide to try a new row of shops to the ones we normally use.
Arriving at the shops, everybody piles out and into the newsagents and chip shop, except Kev the Bev who says he'll take the van down McDonalds when we get back.
We get back to the depot and immediately deal the first game of cards but in the confusion of everybody unwrapping food, making tea etc, TheSlash ends up with an extra card which he doesn't realise until the last hand, in the meantime DJ 8-0 has 6 out of 7 hands, a record for him and a very controlling position in the game, but a miss deal is declared, meaning the game didn't count, at which point DJ 8-0 throws the cards at TheSlash and the jackman, saying it was a conspiracy against him. TheSlash makes the peace by re dealing the cards, but deals in a way that TheSlash and the jackman can see what cards DJ 8-0 is receiving. Then to complete the cheating, TheSlash and the jackman compare cards but DJ 8-0 still doesn't realise he is being defrauded!!
By now everybody has settled down and we begin the big game of cards that everybody plays in and takes about an hour to play. This goes well until 2/4 of the way through, somebody again receives one card too many and DJ 8-0 again spits his dummy out and refuses to play the rest of the game.
Part 3 to follow

 

[Coxster]

TheSlash then turns his attention to playing his shovel like a 6 string guitar while the train goes past.

Where have I seen that before....? Of course, the thing that matters here is the type of train you performed live to

Anyway...

 

[paul1609]

Hi Slash,
Ive noticed some pw guy playing the shovel before at Cosham Junction so I'll guess that'll be you?
Was looking at your work place whilst changing trains en route to Bournemouth on Saturday, since NR have taken over the portacabins have got much bigger and more luxurious but the track in that part of the world seems to have gone down hill!

 

[TheSlash]

Wouldn't of been me at Cosham junction, we don't come that side of Portchester
Also, our accommodation is seperate to the pre fab building, we are in the concrete buildings at the country end of the platform
As for track quality, it's called doing what you can with the materials and tools available. Alot of it is being relaid with flat bottom CWR next year, so NR are fire fighting it until then.
[EDIT]
Well i can't really add a part 3 to complete this as not alot happened in the afternoon. I'll do another thread about the time DJ8-0 met the ghost of Fareham tunnel 1