Ok, When I was 15 years old this was in 1996) I used to frequent Derby Road station in Ipswich every Friday afternoon after school and watch the trains pass through. Often enough, the freight traffic would slow right down so I could see the nameplate properly on the side of the engine.
After a while it got a bit boring and I started to travel up and down the line instead of my trainspotting and soon enough the train crews got to know me to such a point they must have been impressed with my knowledge of the line because one day I was invited into the rear cab of a class 153 by the guard and he showed me the various controls of the unit and what they did. I was totally mesmorized by all of this and my thoughts were, "The driver has to use all these controls yet stay focused on the line ahead? wow!!" The guard even let me blow the horn on the train as it began to enter the Felixstowe town section. I went home a very happy person that day.
A couple of weeks later I started my journey from Ipswich station as I had done dozens of times before but in the Felixstowe direction this time. The guard saw me and promised me a cab ride with the driver in the Class 150(This was another guard whom I got to know). When the train left Westerfield the guard quickly ushered me towards the front of the train and into the drivers cab. I seriously had thought all my birthdays and christmases had come at once. I was so thrilled to be in the leading cab while it was moving and, if I remember correctly, the cab was HUGE. You could have put in five Pavarotti's and still have room to get past. The driver was very chatty and was telling me about his job and where else he worked before privatisation. When I told them of my grandad's railway work from porterboy in a rural station of Nottinghamshire to stationmaster of Derby station the guard nearly fainted. He thought I was winding him up as his brother worked there in the 1970's and was a clerk directly under my grandad, not literally though. Apparently, this guy kept getting stick from grandad because of his 'fashionable looks' so I replied that that it definitely sounded like something grandad would have done.
When the Felixstowe train leaves Derby Road station behind, there is one point of interest that you can just see from the train and that is the remains of Orwell station on the right through the trees after the train passes over the A14. When you compare Orwell station from an old photo to a ride in the cab you can definitely see that the track got moved slightly so that the old platforms could be demolished without problems. I did that the wrong way round though. I saw some pictures of Orwell station a few years later and I had to think back to the cab ride and saw the difference that way.
Just before Trimley I had to duck back into the passengers saloon so the signalman couldn't see me and I was allowed back into the cab as it left Trimley. I felt truly honoured to be allowed in the cab on both of those occasions.
Does anyone else have stories of being allowed in the drivers cab/footplate when they where younger?
After a while it got a bit boring and I started to travel up and down the line instead of my trainspotting and soon enough the train crews got to know me to such a point they must have been impressed with my knowledge of the line because one day I was invited into the rear cab of a class 153 by the guard and he showed me the various controls of the unit and what they did. I was totally mesmorized by all of this and my thoughts were, "The driver has to use all these controls yet stay focused on the line ahead? wow!!" The guard even let me blow the horn on the train as it began to enter the Felixstowe town section. I went home a very happy person that day.
A couple of weeks later I started my journey from Ipswich station as I had done dozens of times before but in the Felixstowe direction this time. The guard saw me and promised me a cab ride with the driver in the Class 150(This was another guard whom I got to know). When the train left Westerfield the guard quickly ushered me towards the front of the train and into the drivers cab. I seriously had thought all my birthdays and christmases had come at once. I was so thrilled to be in the leading cab while it was moving and, if I remember correctly, the cab was HUGE. You could have put in five Pavarotti's and still have room to get past. The driver was very chatty and was telling me about his job and where else he worked before privatisation. When I told them of my grandad's railway work from porterboy in a rural station of Nottinghamshire to stationmaster of Derby station the guard nearly fainted. He thought I was winding him up as his brother worked there in the 1970's and was a clerk directly under my grandad, not literally though. Apparently, this guy kept getting stick from grandad because of his 'fashionable looks' so I replied that that it definitely sounded like something grandad would have done.
When the Felixstowe train leaves Derby Road station behind, there is one point of interest that you can just see from the train and that is the remains of Orwell station on the right through the trees after the train passes over the A14. When you compare Orwell station from an old photo to a ride in the cab you can definitely see that the track got moved slightly so that the old platforms could be demolished without problems. I did that the wrong way round though. I saw some pictures of Orwell station a few years later and I had to think back to the cab ride and saw the difference that way.
Just before Trimley I had to duck back into the passengers saloon so the signalman couldn't see me and I was allowed back into the cab as it left Trimley. I felt truly honoured to be allowed in the cab on both of those occasions.
Does anyone else have stories of being allowed in the drivers cab/footplate when they where younger?
Last edited:
