• Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

The worst mess rooms.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Bromley boy

Established Member
Joined
18 Jun 2015
Messages
4,609
Like SSP catering outlets on stations? (Pumpkin etc). I wouldn't go in a Spoons later in the day but first thing (when many don't serve alcohol anyway) they're a regular breakfast haunt for railway bods!

For us, a Pumpkin-type place is fine, but going into any establishment that is licensed to serve alcohol for consumption on the premesis, when in uniform, is strictly forbidden.
 
Last edited:
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

tsr

Established Member
Joined
15 Nov 2011
Messages
7,400
Location
Between the parallel lines
Sleaford, Spalding and Skegness deserve a mention.

Sleaford has one room dedicated to the local station maintenance teams collection of Regional Railways signage and obsolete BR station bins, with some chalk boards and a goods ticket from Blankney station before it closed the first time round on the wall plus a poster from the 80s of the Tetley Tea Folk next to it. The seat is (I kid you not) a Victorian bench rescued from the waiting room and a poorly boarded up fireplace lets in all the draughts.

Bar your very last point, I fail to see anything wrong with any of that. :lol:

A rusty tea strainer hung above the sink until recently.

Oxted has the world's finest collection of derelict 1990s cutlery, tasteless mugs used for tasteless liquid, and a BR clock which only works on Tuesdays in February.

You have to use the a key to walk up the platform to the public bog.

At East Croydon, the toilet ceilings may not be looked at, lest they fall upon you.

(At Brighton, you need a map, compass and 3 days' rations.)

Spalding is full of 1970s tables and chairs. A door leads to the derelict station building. There's a cupboard full of weedkiller next to it. The staff toilet is the fairly recently abandoned public gents which is architecturally impressive with a nice skylight but has an unboarded fireplace and is full of shopping trolleys etc.

Did you know that one corner of the gents in the station staff messroom at Guildford is the original source of all the blue roll dispensed throughout the National Network?

Skegness is a windowless room shared with the electrical distribution point in a large cage with utterly undrinkable water.

See also: Victoria.

Does the water at Skegness run through the electrical distribution system?

Rarely if ever are any of them cleaned.

I think you will find that this was covered in the 1884 Restructuring Agreement, page 97.

It does state quite clearly that Britain's railway messrooms will have fresh newspaper (straw in the West Country) relaid every 3 years, and that the cupboards will be fumigated every 15.

This does not apply to those messrooms only used by the drivers of freight trains, where newspaper is swapped for impenetrable amounts of oil.

I'm delighted to hear that London Victoria is still full of miserable and unfriendly 'persons', I assumed that 20 years after last visiting that welcoming snake pit that things would have changed, obviously not

"Can't sit there that's Gatwick Express/South Eastern/South Central/Drivers with over 90 years service" etc etc

Couldn't and can't beat the camaraderie of railway brothers and sisters

You can sit at the table by the vending machine next time (if it's still there - I don't actually visit some of these places terribly often...).

london bridge was bad, haven't been in the new one

Soulless but not unpleasant, now the electrics have (mostly) been fixed and don't torture you with accidental strobe lighting. Ominous signage everywhere. Glass door to the kitchen has only fallen on a driver once. Vending machine will not have your preferred drink, or indeed any. All access doors impenetrable.
 
Last edited:

6Gman

Established Member
Joined
1 May 2012
Messages
8,795
I read somewhere that back in the 60s (?) there was a tradition at Southport that - after insertion in the brew - teabags would be thrown upward until they stuck to the ceiling. From whence they would fall at random.

Allegedly.

(Not sure of the physics.)
 

Steelwheels

Member
Joined
1 Nov 2016
Messages
49
I am surprised you are allowed in licensed premises, I assume you have to hide/remove uniforms?

That would mean that us staff would not be allowed into any Tesco express, Sainsburys local or Aldi etc as these are all licensed now as they sell alcohol ;)
 

dk1

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Oct 2009
Messages
17,844
Location
East Anglia
That would mean that us staff would not be allowed into any Tesco express, Sainsburys local or Aldi etc as these are all licensed now as they sell alcohol ;)

I'd like to see them dare try & enforce that or anything else on me. I'd be watching & enforcing like a flipping hawk.
 

Bromley boy

Established Member
Joined
18 Jun 2015
Messages
4,609
That would mean that us staff would not be allowed into any Tesco express, Sainsburys local or Aldi etc as these are all licensed now as they sell alcohol ;)

They aren't licensed to sell alcohol to be consumed on the premises. That's why we can go into supermarkets, but not a whetherspoons pub or similar.
 

Juniper Driver

Established Member
Joined
17 Jul 2007
Messages
2,108
Location
SWR Metals
That came to mind, and Brock.

Bournemouth (old) was dismal...Don't like Salisbury that much.Southampton.Staines isn't wonderful.

Don't mind Guildford but many of my fellow depot drivers don't like grub there.Woking just about passes.

Brock is like a temporary messroom though,no?
 
Last edited:

BTU

Member
Joined
13 Jan 2016
Messages
250
Ok lets get back on track as I see it the list is as follows:

1 Vic platform 19 ( doubles up as a fishmongers due to bad whiff )
2 Nuneaton
3 Eastleigh
4 East Croydon ( Dump )
5 Victoria by BK ( pure misery )
6 Brighton ( also unfriendly miserable types)
7
8
9
10

We need to fill in the gaps there must be more and I intend on getting to the bottom of it LOL ,
 

physics34

Established Member
Joined
1 Dec 2013
Messages
3,914
East Grinstead gets my vote..lovely when you are eating some grub and you can hear someone in the toliet doing their business

....East Croydon second.
 

HLE

Established Member
Joined
27 Dec 2013
Messages
1,417
Ok lets get back on track as I see it the list is as follows:

1 Vic platform 19 ( doubles up as a fishmongers due to bad whiff )
2 Nuneaton
3 Eastleigh
4 East Croydon ( Dump )
5 Victoria by BK ( pure misery )
6 Brighton ( also unfriendly miserable types)
7
8
9
10

We need to fill in the gaps there must be more and I intend on getting to the bottom of it LOL ,

Nuneaton baffles me - anyone else who's been in there care to comment? Rather than one second hand review which doesn't mention why....
 

link1driver

Member
Joined
21 Sep 2015
Messages
35
Location
Tayside
In Scotland it's just as bad, starting at Glasgow Central, we did experience the can't sit here brigade when Qst was shut, looked ok though, Qst is small, clean and full of friendly folk, Stirling is a disgrace, as is Perth. Edinburgh is soulless, Dundee ok, Aberdeen nice but small, and lastly Inverness is ok.
 

LowLevel

Established Member
Joined
26 Oct 2013
Messages
8,197
Nuneaton baffles me - anyone else who's been in there care to comment? Rather than one second hand review which doesn't mention why....

Hasn't it recently been taken out of use due to being unsafe or something? Dodgy floor or ceiling? All the mainline platform buildings look very tired to me.
 

theageofthetra

On Moderation
Joined
27 May 2012
Messages
3,565
Location
Beckenham
That would mean that us staff would not be allowed into any Tesco express, Sainsburys local or Aldi etc as these are all licensed now as they sell alcohol ;)

Or St Pauls Cathedral- wine served in crypt cafe! In all seriousness it is more to do with public perception.
 

Mutant Lemming

Established Member
Joined
8 Aug 2011
Messages
3,191
Location
London
The old messroom at Queens Park at the South end of the S/B LMR platform was dingy and mouse infested with water running down one of the walls.
One day a group of workmen came to deal with the water running down the walls.
Their solution was to build a wall in front of it to hide the wall with the water running down it.
 
Joined
19 May 2010
Messages
513
Location
West Drayton
Someone might know but the drivers at Cleethorpes seemed to use the refreshment rooms at the end of the platform when I last visited. Seemed like a pretty cushy one :)
 

MartinB1

Member
Joined
10 Jun 2015
Messages
113
I think the messrooms at Waterloo are pretty grim, not helped by there still being a 'top table'. I had a bad experience the first time I went in there and accidentally sat at the Top Table. I personally can't be bothered with that stupidity and avoid the messroom. Costa, Starbucks, and Pure is where I wind down on my breaks :).

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk
 

trc666

Member
Joined
6 Jul 2005
Messages
232
Location
Islington
Speaking of Waterloo - when I was gateline there we shared our messroom with revenue and management kept purposely putting the heating on in there in the summer and claiming it was faulty. Funny how it never seemed to happen in the management office or in the traincrew messrooms!
 

12CSVT

Established Member
Joined
18 Aug 2010
Messages
2,611
I presume everyone who has posted about their dirty / substandard mess rooms has brought it to the attention of their union safety reps ?
 

trc666

Member
Joined
6 Jul 2005
Messages
232
Location
Islington
We did a few times but the union only seemed to be interested in traincrew issues not CSAs
 

ExRes

Established Member
Joined
16 Dec 2012
Messages
6,722
Location
Back in Sussex
I presume everyone who has posted about their dirty / substandard mess rooms has brought it to the attention of their union safety reps ?

A perfectly valid point of course, but where would the safety reps have their breaks if it wasn't in the dirty/substandard mess rooms?
 

tsr

Established Member
Joined
15 Nov 2011
Messages
7,400
Location
Between the parallel lines
East Grinstead gets my vote..lovely when you are eating some grub and you can hear someone in the toliet doing their business

....East Croydon second.

The toilet design is one of the worst things about East Grinstead - that, and the fact that the platform office door opens straight out into the elements, when it would ideally open next to the gateline controls (thereby allowing better monitoring of the late evening "customers", and whomever is moaning at the gateline staff that day).

I still don't think it's too bad, partly on the basis that it hasn't had time to get old and derelict yet, and partly because the cafe (OK, not completely amazing) and Sainsbury's are really quite handy.

Talking of toilets, how have we both managed to omit Streatham Hill?

Or St Pauls Cathedral- wine served in crypt cafe! In all seriousness it is more to do with public perception.

Imagine if St Paul's was a PNB point... "it's really old, very busy, quite cold in places, drivers so senior they're practically dead, no coffee machine, nobody gets to sit at the top table..."

I think the messrooms at Waterloo are pretty grim, not helped by there still being a 'top table'. I had a bad experience the first time I went in there and accidentally sat at the Top Table. I personally can't be bothered with that stupidity and avoid the messroom. Costa, Starbucks, and Pure is where I wind down on my breaks :).

At Selhurst, you're more likely to get a top table in the cafe over the road than in the messroom. (Not that you'd get that in either - suggest a top table there, and you will probably be told to go and have your break in the goldfish bowl, minus your lunch, which someone else will eat.)
 

MartinB1

Member
Joined
10 Jun 2015
Messages
113
The toilet design is one of the worst things about East Grinstead - that, and the fact that the platform office door opens straight out into the elements, when it would ideally open next to the gateline controls (thereby allowing better monitoring of the late evening "customers", and whomever is moaning at the gateline staff that day).

I still don't think it's too bad, partly on the basis that it hasn't had time to get old and derelict yet, and partly because the cafe (OK, not completely amazing) and Sainsbury's are really quite handy.

Talking of toilets, how have we both managed to omit Streatham Hill?



Imagine if St Paul's was a PNB point... "it's really old, very busy, quite cold in places, drivers so senior they're practically dead, no coffee machine, nobody gets to sit at the top table..."



At Selhurst, you're more likely to get a top table in the cafe over the road than in the messroom. (Not that you'd get that in either - suggest a top table there, and you will probably be told to go and have your break in the goldfish bowl, minus your lunch, which someone else will eat.)
Ha, I like the sound of that. Not that I'm interested in doing so but I wonder what it actually takes to graduate to the top table? Are there any other messrooms out there were the resident drivers have adopted this policy?

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk
 

DarloRich

Veteran Member
Joined
12 Oct 2010
Messages
31,114
Location
Fenny Stratford
Don't know you are born you drivers and gaurds with your nudgies and your sky and your pots and your pans- the mess room for many people is a wee behind a bush and butties in the van after a hard day shovelling so you can drive your nice train ;)
 

WA_Driver

Member
Joined
7 Apr 2015
Messages
148
Location
London
I think the messrooms at Waterloo are pretty grim, not helped by there still being a 'top table'. I had a bad experience the first time I went in there and accidentally sat at the Top Table. I personally can't be bothered with that stupidity and avoid the messroom. Costa, Starbucks, and Pure is where I wind down on my breaks :).

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

I agree the messrooms at Waterloo are pretty grim and the way they are treated by other depots is disgusting.....and are very tiny considering the amount of staff we have at Waterloo along with other depots using it as well and can get very cramped.

However, when was the last time you went into the Waterloo messroom? I think you find times have changed. Yes their is a top table but It's not question of stupidity it's just the older drivers having a favourite place to sit and being set in their ways, which your likely to find in most depot messrooms. But the less senior drivers are changing the attitude. If anything it is Wimbledon drivers taking all the chairs to sit around one table. Leaving no room to get to the other tables if you can find a chair.
 

WA_Driver

Member
Joined
7 Apr 2015
Messages
148
Location
London
I agree the messrooms at Waterloo are pretty grim and the way they are treated by other depots is disgusting.....and are very tiny considering the amount of staff we have at Waterloo along with other depots using it as well and can get very cramped.

However, when was the last time you went into the Waterloo messroom? I think you find times have changed. Yes their is a top table but It's not question of stupidity it's just the older drivers having a favourite place to sit and being set in their ways, which your likely to find in most depot messrooms. But the less senior drivers are changing the attitude. If anything it is Wimbledon drivers taking all the chairs to sit around one table. Leaving no room to get to the other tables if you can find a chair.

And I'd like to also add that that attitude from other depots doesn't help.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top