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Best and worst days of your railway life,

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TheEdge

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The best was the day I passed out as a mainline driver.

The worst was the day I was in a train crash.
 

306024

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Now there is a difficult question. Fortunately there have been so many more highs than lows but to pick a couple of each here goes.

Lowest point was the aftermath of the Hatfield derailment which lead to the guage corner cracking crisis. As a planner, planning timetables relies on knowing how long it takes to get from A to B. After Hatfield there were so many speed restrictions that timetables and diagrams had to be constantly re-written, only to become obsolete no sooner than the ink had dried as new restrictions appeared or disappeared. A truly awful time for all involved. Not surprisingly being involved in fatalities must be in there, fortunately only two but that is two too many.

High point was no doubt the 2012 Olympics. To see all the planning come together to deliver what was a spectacular success was most satisfying. Being fortunate enough to be able to work with a great team on Stratford station was just a start. Seeing the joy and excitement on the passengers faces, especially on ‘Super Saturday’ will never be forgotten. So many stories, but talking to the parents of one of our Paralympic medal winners just hours after she won a medal was special. The other high has been continuous, and that is simply working with some great people (and the odd character, in some cases very odd).

BR or private? Both have their merits. It saddens me how bureaucratic the industry has become in the private world, which can be a recipe for paralysis. Many tasks take longer to achieve (if at all) simply because there are more cooks in the kitchen. But many other successful schemes we have seen would have been strangled by the treasury at birth under BR.
 

Horizon22

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Having never experienced the BR sector (and in fact many current staff will not have considering it was 25 years ago), I can't comment there.

Best Day: Being involved with the service provision for last year's Marathon. Everything ran smoothly, the competitors were in fantastic spirits and all the plans came together and I recieved praise for my part in it. A real team effort that went excellently and was able to do aspects of the role I love best.

Worst Day: Friday 2nd March 2018 - Beast from The East ruined train services across the South East. I'd already been working extra hours that week, was pretty tired and the service was by mid-afternoon almost non-existent from my station. People had come into London during the day and we just couldn't get many home. Angry passengers left right and centre (although some understood) and it was relentless. Afraid I did snap with a few of them which I haven't done since. Felt rather helpless at times and was caught up in some of the aftermath of the Lewisham strandings.
 

seagull

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Best Day(s): working solo for the first time, whether catering, guard or driver - but undoubtedly the best was the first solo drive (and the most nerve-wracking too!).

Worst Day: someone jumping in front of my train.
 

Journeyman

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Best and worst day was, for me, the same day - July 7th 2005. I was a manager in the London Underground Network Operations Centre at the time, and I was on duty in there when the bombs went off.

From the initial escalating chaos, we had to try and work out what the hell was going on, and make decisions on how to deal with it. My colleague ultimately made the decision to evacuate the whole network, and my initial task was liaison with line controllers to get regular updates on stalled trains, trapped passengers etc.

The police and emergency services used the conference room at the back of the centre for co-ordinating their actions on the ground. I noticed a number written on the bottom corner of a whiteboard that kept going up every time I went in there. It was a horrific moment when I realised it was the body count.

I won't claim I did anything remotely heroic that day, but I'm proud of the small part I played in dealing with the worst incident on London's transport network in many years, and I was commended for my actions. On the day, adrenaline took over and I didn't think too much about what I was doing, until about four o'clock in the afternoon, after my shift. I went and sat in St. James's Park to try and relax before heading home, and the full reality of what I'd just dealt with hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was never happier to see my family than I was that day, and I hugged my kids extra tight.

The days that followed were very stressful because everyone at work was so jumpy - we kept fearing a repeat of it all. A couple of weeks later I had bit of a breakdown at work one day as I was struggling to cope with it, but my manager was very supportive and got me some counselling via the occupational health people. That really helped.

Obviously, it was one of London's darkest days, but the positive response and solidarity shown by everyone involved was a wonderful thing to see. It reminded me that people are decent and strong and caring, and when faced with such monstrous hate, they won't crumble, but they'll rise to the challenge magnificently.
 
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philthetube

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Best day, the day I saw someone walking into a tunnela dn was able to act and save their life.

Worst day, I will answer that after I retire.
 

Gloster

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Best day: starting my first shift as a signalman.

Worst day: dealing with the result of someone putting their head on the running rail. It was worse for one of the PW staff, as it was his father-in-law.

(On a more personal level, the worst day was being told by the regional doctor that my sight had deteriorated so much that I was permanently taken out of the box.)
 

al78

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I'm half expecting someone to say the worst day was when windstorm Dirk struck just before Christmas 2013, right at the time loads of people were travelling for Christmas. A nasty combination of damaging winds, flooding and landslides combined to cause huge disruption to the rail network in southern England. I remember feeling very lucky I was permitted to travel a day earlier, ahead of the storm, with my advance ticket.
 

Journeyman

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Best day: starting my first shift as a signalman.
(On a more personal level, the worst day was being told by the regional doctor that my sight had deteriorated so much that I was permanently taken out of the box.)

That must have been pretty devastating for you. :( Did you get much help or support?
 

43066

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Best and worst day was, for me, the same day - July 7th 2005. I was a manager in the London Underground Network Operations Centre at the time, and I was on duty in there when the bombs went off.

From the initial escalating chaos, we had to try and work out what the hell was going on, and make decisions on how to deal with it. My colleague ultimately made the decision to evacuate the whole network, and my initial task was liaison with line controllers to get regular updates on stalled trains, trapped passengers etc.

The police and emergency services used the conference room at the back of the centre for co-ordinating their actions on the ground. I noticed a number written on the bottom corner of a whiteboard that kept going up every time I went in there. It was a horrific moment when I realised it was the body count.

I won't claim I did anything remotely heroic that day, but I'm proud of the small part I played in dealing with the worst incident on London's transport network in many years, and I was commended for my actions. On the day, adrenaline took over and I didn't think too much about what I was doing, until about four o'clock in the afternoon, after my shift. I went and sat in St. James's Park to try and relax before heading home, and the full reality of what I'd just dealt with hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was never happier to see my family than I was that day, and I hugged my kids extra tight.

The days that followed were very stressful because everyone at work was so jumpy - we kept fearing a repeat of it all. A couple of weeks later I had bit of a breakdown at work one day as I was struggling to cope with it, but my manager was very supportive and got me some counselling via the occupational health people. That really helped.

Obviously, it was one of London's darkest days, but the positive response and solidarity shown by everyone involved was a wonderful thing to see. It reminded me that people are decent and strong and caring, and when faced with such monstrous hate, they won't crumble, but they'll rise to the challenge magnificently.

Many thanks for sharing that. I’m sure we all remember where we were on that day, but you rather more sharply than most.
 

Gloster

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That must have been pretty devastating for you. :( Did you get much help or support?

No, of course not, you just got on with it. If I had asked for a day off, they probably would have let me have one, but you just didn’t ask. Remember, this was in the early eighties and there were still plenty of men around who had seen much worse in the war. There was obviously an element of not showing weakness, but you accepted when you started the job that you might have to deal with such an incident. If you didn’t feel you could, you shouldn’t have applied. In this incident I had only had to approach close enough to be sure that there was no chance of there still being life: three or four yards was close enough. The PW staff (not the son-in-law) had to oversee the removal.

Not a pleasant memory, but I don’t think it has affected me and I have never had nightmares.
 

Journeyman

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Many thanks for sharing that. I’m sure we all remember where we were on that day, but you rather more sharply than most.

Yeah, it certainly won't go away in a hurry, and the memory of it is caught up with the Olympics. There's positivity in there, though. As an attempt to scare and intimidate Londoners, the attack failed completely, and it brought out the best in people. I realise that's scant comfort for the families of the fifty-odd people who died, but it's something.

I sincerely hope I never, ever have a death on my watch again. It affected me very deeply.
 

LowLevel

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Best day - taking a load of disadvantaged kids to the seaside. Having a chat with them while they were doing their colouring in, letting them all have their photos in the drivers seat at the terminus etc was brilliant.

Worst day - I've had a few bad days (some might say I am a jonah but it keeps the job interesting) but only one really haunts me - dealing with a one under involving the train in front of mine, managing it all shift with heavy delays, diversions etc only to find at nearly the end of the shift the deceased was a colleague who I worked with regularly and was fond of.
 

johntea

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Best and worst day was, for me, the same day - July 7th 2005. I was a manager in the London Underground Network Operations Centre at the time, and I was on duty in there when the bombs went off.

From the initial escalating chaos, we had to try and work out what the hell was going on, and make decisions on how to deal with it. My colleague ultimately made the decision to evacuate the whole network, and my initial task was liaison with line controllers to get regular updates on stalled trains, trapped passengers etc.

The police and emergency services used the conference room at the back of the centre for co-ordinating their actions on the ground. I noticed a number written on the bottom corner of a whiteboard that kept going up every time I went in there. It was a horrific moment when I realised it was the body count.

I won't claim I did anything remotely heroic that day, but I'm proud of the small part I played in dealing with the worst incident on London's transport network in many years, and I was commended for my actions. On the day, adrenaline took over and I didn't think too much about what I was doing, until about four o'clock in the afternoon, after my shift. I went and sat in St. James's Park to try and relax before heading home, and the full reality of what I'd just dealt with hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was never happier to see my family than I was that day, and I hugged my kids extra tight.

The days that followed were very stressful because everyone at work was so jumpy - we kept fearing a repeat of it all. A couple of weeks later I had bit of a breakdown at work one day as I was struggling to cope with it, but my manager was very supportive and got me some counselling via the occupational health people. That really helped.

Obviously, it was one of London's darkest days, but the positive response and solidarity shown by everyone involved was a wonderful thing to see. It reminded me that people are decent and strong and caring, and when faced with such monstrous hate, they won't crumble, but they'll rise to the challenge magnificently.

One event I will never forget for the rest of my life is actually July 6th 2005 - London winning the Olympic bid, the parallel between that and the very next day is just...scary to think about

July 21st 2005 must have been awful for you too

I also remember the BBC spookily doing a mock terror attack, and I'm right it is available on YouTube

 

cossie4i

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Best day for me was after several trains had been cautioned at a foot crossing I stopped and talked to the lady that was causing the train’s to be cautioned.
Her son had committed suicide a few weeks earlier and she was trying to pluck up the courage to do the same. We talked about various things, how her family would deal with her also committing suicide and what effect it would have on them etc etc
After about 20 minutes or so she put her arms around me and gave me a cuddle thanking me for listening to her and not judging her. She then left the area.
Worst day was having a fatality.
 

adc82140

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Best and worst day was, for me, the same day - July 7th 2005. I was a manager in the London Underground Network Operations Centre at the time, and I was on duty in there when the bombs went off.

From the initial escalating chaos, we had to try and work out what the hell was going on, and make decisions on how to deal with it. My colleague ultimately made the decision to evacuate the whole network, and my initial task was liaison with line controllers to get regular updates on stalled trains, trapped passengers etc.

The police and emergency services used the conference room at the back of the centre for co-ordinating their actions on the ground. I noticed a number written on the bottom corner of a whiteboard that kept going up every time I went in there. It was a horrific moment when I realised it was the body count.

I won't claim I did anything remotely heroic that day, but I'm proud of the small part I played in dealing with the worst incident on London's transport network in many years, and I was commended for my actions. On the day, adrenaline took over and I didn't think too much about what I was doing, until about four o'clock in the afternoon, after my shift. I went and sat in St. James's Park to try and relax before heading home, and the full reality of what I'd just dealt with hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was never happier to see my family than I was that day, and I hugged my kids extra tight.

The days that followed were very stressful because everyone at work was so jumpy - we kept fearing a repeat of it all. A couple of weeks later I had bit of a breakdown at work one day as I was struggling to cope with it, but my manager was very supportive and got me some counselling via the occupational health people. That really helped.

Obviously, it was one of London's darkest days, but the positive response and solidarity shown by everyone involved was a wonderful thing to see. It reminded me that people are decent and strong and caring, and when faced with such monstrous hate, they won't crumble, but they'll rise to the challenge magnificently.
I just have so much respect for the people who dealt with all the events of that day down at the scene. The Emergency services, railway men and women. I was working at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington that day. We received one polytrauma after another. We rehearsed for such things, but when it happens, you're never quite ready. It was a tough day, but we all agreed that the people who had to go down into those tunnels, the fire service, paramedics, police and of course the transport workers had it much worse than us.
 

Cheshire Scot

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Best day would be 22 years into my career when I finally achieved my ambition of joining a Train Planning team - back in the day train planning it was a bit of closed shop but eventually a contact saw an opportunity to offer me a temporary role from which I never looked back
Second best day would have to be the be the timing of my retirement after a 42 year career in which my various roles had required me to visit places as far north as Thurso, as far west as Arisaig, to Ely in the east and Bridgwater in the south. Two weeks after I retired we were in lockdown and I don't think I would have taken well to either of working from home or commuting in lockdown so in the event my choice of retirement date proved to be inspirational!
My worst experience was around forty one years earlier when I had my only brush with the disciplinary system, earning a 'Verbal Caution' following a minor derailment.
 

Stigy

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Best day: Getting the phone call with a course offer for trainee driver role. It’s a close one though to getting a letter in 2006 offering me my first railway job (after all, that paved the way for my career).

Worst day: Saturday, 30 March 2013 at about 2340hrs. Having a brew in the BTP office where I was based at the time, we were called to a fight on the platform. On arrival we were first on scene to the apparent fight and we were quickly told there was someone on the track. Looked up the track and could see a slumped over body. He was involved in a fight as the train was pulling out of the station and subsequently dragged underneath it. my colleagues and I then found ourselves dealing with a crime scene, as well as distraught friends and other witnesses.

Not a great night, and I found myself conducting a scene log (logging everyone in and out of the station) during the subsequent closer of the station too. I recall also that it was the night the clocks went forward too (well, the 31st was), so my 1am finish (accounting for the clock change) turned in to a 4am finish. It wasn’t the worst day for me as such, but certainly a very dark one for all involved. We worked well as a team, but it’s one of those fatalities that are the worst kind: an accident (ish).
 
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Stuart-h

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Best day for me: Getting work on the rhtt.

Worst day: Would be the covid 19 and a lot of work that i was on had been getting canciled.
 

TSG

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Best day: I've had a lot of great days but maybe top is a track circuit fault that was hard down for about 6 hours. Previous shift on it. Another shift on it to help them. Supervisor went to site to help. Still hard down. I get there and sort it in under 5 minutes.

Worst day: I discovered in instalments that there had been a fatality down the line, then that it was staff, then that it was the other trainee technician from my intake that had had the back of his head knocked off by the running board of an express. He was only at that depot because HR had cocked up the letters and swapped our assignments.
 

dctraindriver

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Best day: Getting the phone call with a course offer for trainee driver role. It’s a close one though to getting a letter in 2006 offering me my first railway job (after all, that paved the way for my career).

Worst day: Saturday, 30 March 2013 at about 2340hrs. Having a brew in the BTP office where I was based at the time, we were called to a fight on the platform. On arrival we were first on scene to the apparent fight and we were quickly told there was someone on the track. Looked up the track and could see a slumped over body. He was involved in a fight as the train was pulling out of the station and subsequently dragged underneath it. my colleagues and I then found ourselves dealing with a crime scene, as well as distraught friends and other witnesses.

Not a great night, and I found myself conducting a scene log (logging everyone in and out of the station) during the subsequent closer of the station too. I recall also that it was the night the clocks went forward too (well, the 31st was), so my 1am finish (accounting for the clock change) turned in to a 4am finish. It wasn’t the worst day for me as such, but certainly a very dark one for all involved. We worked well as a team, but it’s one of those fatalities that are the worst kind: an accident (ish).
I know all about that incident. Friends with the family of the deceased. Horrific.
 

387star

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Best and worst day was, for me, the same day - July 7th 2005. I was a manager in the London Underground Network Operations Centre at the time, and I was on duty in there when the bombs went off.

From the initial escalating chaos, we had to try and work out what the hell was going on, and make decisions on how to deal with it. My colleague ultimately made the decision to evacuate the whole network, and my initial task was liaison with line controllers to get regular updates on stalled trains, trapped passengers etc.

The police and emergency services used the conference room at the back of the centre for co-ordinating their actions on the ground. I noticed a number written on the bottom corner of a whiteboard that kept going up every time I went in there. It was a horrific moment when I realised it was the body count.

I won't claim I did anything remotely heroic that day, but I'm proud of the small part I played in dealing with the worst incident on London's transport network in many years, and I was commended for my actions. On the day, adrenaline took over and I didn't think too much about what I was doing, until about four o'clock in the afternoon, after my shift. I went and sat in St. James's Park to try and relax before heading home, and the full reality of what I'd just dealt with hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was never happier to see my family than I was that day, and I hugged my kids extra tight.

The days that followed were very stressful because everyone at work was so jumpy - we kept fearing a repeat of it all. A couple of weeks later I had bit of a breakdown at work one day as I was struggling to cope with it, but my manager was very supportive and got me some counselling via the occupational health people. That really helped.

Obviously, it was one of London's darkest days, but the positive response and solidarity shown by everyone involved was a wonderful thing to see. It reminded me that people are decent and strong and caring, and when faced with such monstrous hate, they won't crumble, but they'll rise to the challenge magnificently.
Absolute hero
 

ST

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Totally agree with the above post, I am proud to be part of the railway family where selfless, brave, heroic people like this work.
 

Cheshire Scot

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A memorable week was the one where my payslip showed over 100 hours worked. When overtime, Rest Day and Sunday enhanced rates were added this toted up to came to over 140 hours paid. This was as a Guard in the 70's, very much per-Hidden, where shifts of 14, 15, 16 hours were sometimes offered and accepted in order to cover leave/sickness/vacancies. It was very much a case of work, sleep, work but for the individuals involved the rewards more than compensated for overlooking the 12 hours rest requirement and management were grateful to have the work covered.
 

alxndr

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Difficult to choose for both, because there are too many good days and not many bad days. There have been plenty of tough days, but looking back they don't feel all bad as they were also useful experiences to have had.

For best I would have to pick the run through I had to deal with a couple of months after I'd finished my apprenticeship. I thought it was a wind-up when I came in and heard about it. When we got there it quickly became clear that no one was was taking charge, so I did. And when there were hiccups along the way I came up with potential solutions. It was a long, hot twelve hours but we got there. It proved to me that when it comes to it I will step up and get it done. Plus, there is the pleasure in knowing that something has been fixed and put to rights. More or less any of the other "good" faults could replace this though.

Worst would probably be the time that there was a disagreement which ended up turning into an argument largely focused on my lack of eye contact. People had pointed it out once or twice but until then I'd never realised it was something that people put so much importance on. Although it might sound minor, it is the one thing that stopped me from wanting to go in and was still playing on my mind years later, long after the original disagreement was forgotten. It felt as though no matter how good I was at doing the work it didn't matter because of my inability to do that one thing. It wasn't until I discovered that I have ASD that I really stopped fretting about it and realised that it's unreasonable to expect it to be automatic for me like for others.
 

Llanigraham

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BEST
The day I passed out and was able to go onto the roster for my signalbox.

WORST
Nearly at the end of a night shift when, as I pulled a lever for an Up Freight something in my hand snapped and started to hurt like hell. Drove home to sleep leaving a message for my wife to make an urgent appointment with my Doctor for when I woke up. Woke up, rang the LOM to tell him I wouldn't be in that night and why, and then went to see the Dr. Turned out I had torn a ligament in my hand which he could see and feel.
All this was followed by over 6months waiting for an operation, then failing my return to work medical because I now have little strength in my right hand and then months waiting for NR to make a decision about my future, eventually resulting in medical dismissal.
And then there was sueing NR for Industrial Injuries, but I did win that!
 

Gloster

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...months waiting for NR to make a decision about my future, eventually resulting in medical dismissal.
And then there was sueing NR for Industrial Injuries, but I did win that!

When I was taken out of the box in 1986 BR’s local management promptly told me that I would be offered another job; in my case it was only borderline whether I was an industrial injury.

To answer the question in #11 that I didn’t answer (should have read the question): no, I didn’t get any support, for the reasons given in #13.
 

Trackman

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Lewisham
BEST
The day I passed out and was able to go onto the roster for my signalbox.

WORST
Nearly at the end of a night shift when, as I pulled a lever for an Up Freight something in my hand snapped and started to hurt like hell. Drove home to sleep leaving a message for my wife to make an urgent appointment with my Doctor for when I woke up. Woke up, rang the LOM to tell him I wouldn't be in that night and why, and then went to see the Dr. Turned out I had torn a ligament in my hand which he could see and feel.
All this was followed by over 6months waiting for an operation, then failing my return to work medical because I now have little strength in my right hand and then months waiting for NR to make a decision about my future, eventually resulting in medical dismissal.
And then there was sueing NR for Industrial Injuries, but I did win that!

I feel for you with the torn ligaments.
I tore mine in my right arm around 20 years ago, I was in a right state.
In the morning I couldn't even get out of bed and had to use a chair to reach the loo.
My doctor was also a sports injury specialist and even before I sat down he knew it was my arm.
I didn't need a op, but he gave me some gel to rub on my arm. I laughed this off in my head -but it did work!!
I would say it took me about 5 years to get back to normal (this was about 20 years ago)
It'll never be right again, but I still use 15kg dumbbells everyday to help.
 
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