Cabbing (getting into train cabs) in the 1970s

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

First ever cab visit was in September 1984. The local secondary school organised a charter from Trowbridge to York for the day and sold seats to the local primary schools. Family booked en mass and we set off for York. On arrival my grandad took me to say ‘thank you’ to the driver and we were rewarded with a cab visit. Cannot remember what it was, but think it might have been a 37. Would love to find more details of the charter.

Few years later was at Longleat Safari Park when the driver of the narrow gauge railway noticed me taking more than a passing interest in the locos. Got chatting and promptly had a cab ride around the line, much to the amusement of my friends sat in the carriages.

When class 155s replaced Crompton and Mk1s on the Portsmouth- Bristol route in May 1988 my regular train to school was meant to be 4 car rake. First week was chaotic and the train was short formed one morning with subsequent overcrowding. At Avoncliff only the front door is opened (short platform), with the waiting commuters unable to board. The guard opened the door to the cab and asked some of us to move in. I didn’t need asking twice for a cab ride to Bath Spa!

More sobering was a cab ride over in Italy. In the cab of the second loco of a double header when a lady walked in front of the train. Emergency braking, both crew vacated in a hurry, leaving me alone in the cab before I was returned to the carriages with a reminder I had been in the train throughout the journey! Thankfully the lady was not too badly injured and I believe made a full recovery.

In an echo of history repeating itself, I took my nieces (then about 5) to the Moors Valley Country Park. Whilst there they spotted the train and wanted a ride. At the end I suggested they thank the driver, who promptly showed us round the shed.

 

[peteb]

About 30 years ago had an entire day at Foxfield Light Railway near Stoke on Trent. The friend who drove me there was friends with the driver and we got cab rides on the 0-4-0 tank loco all day, one at a time with the driver and fireman. I recall much clambering down to flag train past level crossings.

 

[delt1c]

Interesting, just wondering if the NBL class 21/29s worked that far South back then?

Probably a 26 as have seen picture of them in the area. 21’s and 29’s were usually in the West and Aberdeen areas

 

[Ash Bridge]

Probably a 26 as have seen picture of them in the area. 21’s and 29’s were usually in the West and Aberdeen areas

Ah thanks for that @delt1c

 

[nlogax]

Cabbing is a bit before my time, but I can't help think that those drivers letting kids into their cabs were doing the rail industry a massive favour in building interest for new generations in a career on the railways.

 

[Trackman]

We used to find a 40 at the old Manchester Exchange on pilot duties and zip around vic and up redbank on Saturdays!
Like as a previous posters, it was a case of once on board it would set off without them letting you know!
Once a driver gave me a grand tour around a class 86. Not only how to change ends and how it works, but how to drive it and how brake tests work.
I loved the tales they would tell too and what locos they detested the most.

 

[Sleepy]

In the early 80's I had several DMU cab rides Southminster - Wickford with a friendly Norwich based driver (BR must have had some real traction knowledge issues to send crew that far ?!?)

 

[ChiefPlanner]

My first ever drive - as a student was on 47111 down the headshunt at Canton - an organised visit with a "spare" driver showing us around. Can you imagine that today ?.

At least 3 of the "drivers" ended up working for BR , so some good done. I hope he had a long and enjoyable retirement. No money changed hands.

 

[Cowley]

My first ever drive - as a student was on 47111 down the headshunt at Canton - an organised visit with a "spare" driver showing us around. Can you imagine that today ?.

At least 3 of the "drivers" ended up working for BR , so some good done. I hope he had a long and enjoyable retirement. No money changed hands.

It’s quite interesting that it was 47111, because that particular loco was dumped on the ground at Canton for quite a few years in the latter half of the 80s and at the time it was one of the few class 47s that for some reason wasn’t repaired and put back into service.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Two notable cabrides from the 80s were on 40122 from Whitby to Battersby on the F&W Moors Marauder and on 26038 from Achnasheen to (I think) Plockton. Both cabs of 40122 had several enthusiasts in. On 26038 sadly I wasn't allowed into to stay on to Kyle but en-route we encountered sheep,it was suggested I earn my passage and shoo the sheep onto the cess to the astonishment of several heads out of the front coach.

 

[Manclion]

Cabbing 47 459 as a 14 year old at Birmingham New Street on the way to Paignton during the summer of 1991.
Which the driver asked if I wanted to stay up front all the way to Bristol.
The most memorable part of the holiday!

 

[Bensonby]

I spent a couple of hours in a London Underground cab going up and down the line, this was only in 2013. The driver said he’d ran it past his line manager and it was all OK. It was all arranged in advance. I wonder if things on LU are a bit more lenient?

 

[lordbusiness]

Only ever managed to bag one cab ride in my first foray in the hobby, Cl37 from March MPD to March station (light engine move to Cambridge I think).
My local station (Huntingdon) was difficult to get any cabs- even more so because the two porters (known to us kids as Pegleg and Woodentop) were very anti-spotting and would enforce a no-unaccompanied children rule, even with a platform ticket.
Peterborough was more of a successful cabbing venue- possibly due to longer wait times (loading mailbags?).
I don't recall doing much cabbing on half term/ holiday trips to the capital, although I do seem to remember Paddington and Euston being quite good, don't think we ever tried at the SR termini, EMUs being considered good for numbers but not much else!

 

[hexagon789]

I've been in the cab of Flying Scotsman in ~2004 and I've been in an HST, a 390, a 170 and a 373 cab iirc (all stationary I add). Possibly also a 303 but that was so long ago I don't have personal recollection of it and am going purely on what was the likely traction at the time - it could've been a 314 but there's no way I'll ever know for certain.

So in my case no cab rides, but I have been in cabs, so I take it that counts in a sense?

 

[Bald Rick]

Not in the 70s, but... Pendolinos, HSTs, DVTs, DBSOs (awful), Classes 37, 60, 66, 86, 87, 90; units 315, 317, 321, 360, 377, 379, 387. Probably more. And Caroline.

All through the course of work though, so I guess that doesn’t count

First few times I was like a kid in a sweet shop. The novelty soon wears off.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

It’s quite interesting that it was 47111, because that particular loco was dumped on the ground at Canton for quite a few years in the latter half of the 80s and at the time it was one of the few class 47s that for some reason wasn’t repaired and put back into service.

Poor old 47111 was hit by a DMU at Preston -which had a SPAD , partly due to unauthorized cab visitors as this set was working a football special .........she was stripped of parts and cut up.

"You always remember your first one"

 

[Cowley]

Poor old 47111 was hit by a DMU at Preston -which had a SPAD , partly due to unauthorized cab visitors as this set was working a football special .........she was stripped of parts and cut up.

"You always remember your first one"

Nice bit of extra info there @ChiefPlanner thanks for that.
Interesting that unauthorised cab visitors should come up on this thread...

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Nice bit of extra info there @ChiefPlanner thanks for that.
Interesting that unauthorised cab visitors should come up on this thread...

It was a 2 car special from Carlisle to Preston for some local football outing - the driver , presumably distracted by visitors left the brake handle in the lap position and therefore did not have the necessary 21 inches of vacuum - when he encountered adverse signals , there was no power brake. Handbrakes were not effective.

There were letters in the railway press from the BRB reminding people not to put staff in difficult situations by asking for cab access !.

As the excellent Gerry Fiennes said many years ago - following a SPAD at Fishguard and collision when a newly married couple were being seen off to an accompaniement of detonators* ,it is as well in times of enjoyment for someone to take a keen interest and responsibilty for safety.

(*The FGD auto train left against the signal and collided with an inwards freight train - in the melee of exploding dets , the critical one that the signalman put down , was ignored - no one was killed but the auto train was knocked back a good few yards ,and presumably the honeymoon was somewhat delayed)

 

[Bald Rick]

(*The FGD auto train left against the signal and collided with an inwards freight train - in the melee of exploding dets , the critical one that the signalman put down , was ignored - no one was killed but the auto train was knocked back a good few yards ,and presumably the honeymoon was somewhat delayed)

A rather different type of bang than the happy couple had hoped for that evening.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

A rather different type of bang than the happy couple had hoped for that evening.

Worth reading the accident report for a snapshot of an overly relaxed railway operating regime , how no-one saw anything or admitted to anything - like passing a signal at danger , setting off without a train staff , running through a set of points in reverse and ignoring the signalman's red flag. The Carmarthen DI would have a field day in the aftermath in issuing disciplinaries and so on. The driver , would almost certainly been sacked.

 

[telstarbox]

Presumably cabbing (by enthusiasts) was a rarity once the privatisation era kicked in?

 

[lyndhurst25]

Sheffield to Cleethorpes via Brigg DMU in the late 1970s or early 1980s, full of daytrippers. Any kids in the front coach were invited into the cab and were allowed by the driver to work the horn for level crossings.

 

[Ayrshire Roy]

When I was 9 or 10 I got to drive a Class 26 into the shed (possibly Haymarket) when I was on a depot tour.
The driver just called me over and asked if I wanted to. He showed me what levers to push and in we went.
I probably should of mentioned it to my dad instead of just disappearing and him seeing me in the cab of a moving loco.
Me and my dad also got a full tour of a then brand new class 90 sitting in Glasgow Central.
The 80s and early 90s were good for getting in places.
I also have a picture of a young me in the window of Mauchline signal box.

 

[Watford West]

When i was about 5 or 6 my Dad used to have a coal business. At the time all his coal was brought into his yard by rail. I can well remember what seemed to me at the time a 'massive' diesel locomotive (possibly a class 31 or 25, as it was slab fronted) as I was small (no surprise there) and standing on the ground. The driver invited me up into the cab, and so the marathon climb began! Never forgotten it.
This was in Watford Met station yard, and at the time London Transport were using ex GWR saddle tanks for taking rubbish to Croxley Tip. As Watford Met still had a water tower, the tanks used to come to the station to fill up with water. I could hear them coming and used to run/climb up the great heaps of Dad's coal to get a good look at them. Must be why i'm a lifelong rail enthusiast! happy days

 

[rg177]

Last year I was travelling on a small line outside of Prague (Noutonice to Hostivice) on a single 810 Series unit (bit like a Czech Pacer).

The driver checked my pass and promptly ushered me into the cab for a ride down the line! It was certainly much appreciated.

 

[Ianno87]

Presumably cabbing (by enthusiasts) was a rarity once the privatisation era kicked in?

My last invitation was into the back cab of a 101 departing Rose Hill in 1998. Followed by getting to do the Right Away buzzer from Woodley.

Other recollecrion is a look in the cab of a 150 before departing Manchester Airport in 1994ish. I got to sound the horn.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Presumably cabbing (by enthusiasts) was a rarity once the privatisation era kicked in?

Frankly - well before that in BR days as things were tightened up with laminated cab passes issued very sparingly to staff and so on. Marked as to degrees of competency.

When I worked for NSE on the Crossrail Project -as a gesture of "working together" - I did the LT "track competence and track accustomed courses , plus Protection Master and Train Master etc" - very enjoyable and interesting - and was rewarded with a comprehensive cab pass.

In the privatised era - we did grant formal cab access for good community reasons etc to deserving cases - always with a senior Manager or what we then called "Traction Inspectors" - maybe twice a year or so.

 

[peteb]

Presumably cabbing (by enthusiasts) was a rarity once the privatisation era kicked in?

I think there's so many serious reasons it cannot happen these days, from child protection to health and safety at work, and of course fears about terrorist incidents. These things all existed back in the 60s, 70s and 80s but I think we were collectively less paranoid than we are now. How many kids do you see playing in the street these days, even in quiet cul-de-sacs, let alone wandering down to the station!

 

[Ianno87]

I think there's so many serious reasons it cannot happen these days, from child protection to health and safety at work, and of course fears about terrorist incidents. These things all existed back in the 60s, 70s and 80s but I think we were collectively less paranoid than we are now. How many kids do you see playing in the street these days, even in quiet cul-de-sacs, let alone wandering down to the station!

We're not more paranoid, we're just more aware of things that can and do happen. Or even if there are no such bad intentions, there is plenty of good reason for safeguarding, both for child protection but also to protect adults from false allegations of improper conduct.

 

[peteb]

We're not more paranoid, we're just more aware of things that can and do happen. Or even if there are no such bad intentions, there is plenty of good reason for safeguarding, both for child protection but also to protect adults from false allegations of improper conduct.

Agree there, noone wants to find themselves in that sort of situation. It's an issue for the whole industry including preservation.