TRIVIA - Things you saw travelling on BR that you don't see today

[yorksrob]

Trains on Saturday evenings.

 

[36270k]

Trains on Saturday evenings.

Fag ends all over the track at terminal stations where the cleaners had swept out the compartments.

 

[30907]

Seeing mention of Pullman Services brought back a memory of myself and my parents in Herne Bay. We had spent our annual holiday in that resort and waiting on the platform for the train back to Victoria?.
In came a Pullman train I can my Mother querying wether this was our train. The man on the platform must have assured my mother that it was as we travelled back to London for the one and only time that we travelled on a Pullman.
Could it been the Thanet Belle?
On checking Wiki it seems it was the Kentish Belle and it must have been Broadstairs as it didn't seem to stop at Herne Bay. It WAS many years ago.

The Belle as a complete train was summer only, and a quick Google confirms that it called at Whitstable and Herne Bay (and for a while at Faversham). It ran twice on peak Saturdays. Wikipedia is incorrect.

In winter a couple of Pullman's ran in ordinary trains which called at all main stations.

 

[Hellzapoppin]

Talking of soap. What was the hand cleaner/ soap from the stores which came in the small plastic bottle ? Was the bottle clear and the soap brown ? I have a recollection it was called Sarole (sic) but not 100% sure. I remember a colleague of mine using it as shampoo. It was the only thing that would shift daily applied Brylcreem.

 

[exsignalman]

- Red and yellow signs for the Travellers Fare buffet on station platforms (red double-arrow logo inside a yellow circle IIRC)

- Nestle chocolate machines bolted to the wall which, half the time, took your money but didn't deliver a chocolate bar.

- And something you'd usually only see when passing through a ticket barrier or looking inside your wallet...... those Handiprinter tickets with the orangey-brown paper stock and purple print of varying degrees of smudginess



Handiprinter Ticket by Roger Marks, on Flickr

I remember the Nestle chocolate machines...my favourite was the mint choc crisp.

 

[exsignalman]

BR Travellers Fare "Quicksnax" microwaveable cheeseburgers.

They weren't too bad either.

 

[yorksrob]

BR Travellers Fare "Quicksnax" microwaveable cheeseburgers.

They weren't too bad either.

Ooh, I liked those !

 

[Ken H]

Has anyone mentioned 'Casey Jones' burger bars?

One thing I miss is sitting behind the driver on a modernisation plan DMU. Then they suddenly had the blinds down all the time. Why was that?

 

[Mag_seven]

Has anyone mentioned 'Casey Jones' burger bars?

I'm sure it was mentioned earlier - if so I would probably have mentioned "The Great Casey With Cheese"!

 

[exsignalman]

Ooh, I liked those !

I know, they were just the thing.
Back in the 1980s there used to be a little portakabin kiosk on plat 11 at Manchester Victoria, located just to left of the ramped subway that lead off to platforms 12 to 16 (& all gone now, lost to the arena).
I seem to remember that this kiosk was painted red & white, was often staffed by a grumpy surly young woman (who was obviously not happy in her work).
If you'd missed a train (& had an hour or so to wait) were hungry & just needed to get some sustenance down your neck then a good old quicksnax cheeseburger & "Maxpax" brew would suffice.

I don't think that they were all that cheap though, I can't remember the actual price of one of these cheeseburgers, but I think that they were something like £2.99 (£2.99 for a microwaveable burger in a cardboard box).

The missus used to work in catering & she's always said that there's a good mark up to be made in food.

I wonder how much Travellers Fare made on quicksnax burgers?

 

[yorksrob]

I know, they were just the thing.
Back in the 1980s there used to be a little portakabin kiosk on plat 11 at Manchester Victoria, located just to left of the ramped subway that lead off to platforms 12 to 16 (& all gone now, lost to the arena).
I seem to remember that this kiosk was painted red & white, was often staffed by a grumpy surly young woman (who was obviously not happy in her work).
If you'd missed a train (& had an hour or so to wait) were hungry & just needed to get some sustenance down your neck then a good old quicksnax cheeseburger & "Maxpax" brew would suffice.

I don't think that they were all that cheap though, I can't remember the actual price of one of these cheeseburgers, but I think that they were something like £2.99 (£2.99 for a microwaveable burger in a cardboard box).

The missus used to work in catering & she's always said that there's a good mark up to be made in food.

I wonder how much Travellers Fare made on quicksnax burgers?

I expect they were fairly pricey. I (or rather my dad) used to get them from the little kiosk on the overbridge at Ashford (Kent) station, although I think you could also get them from the buffets on either of the island platforms.

MacDonalds was far too exotic for Ashford in those days, and the mustard gave the quicksnax burgers a distinct flavour from those available in the Wimpey's (yes, we had two back in the day!).

 

[Ken H]

I expect they were fairly pricey. I (or rather my dad) used to get them from the little kiosk on the overbridge at Ashford (Kent) station, although I think you could also get them from the buffets on either of the island platforms...

Have you been in the little cafe on the platform at Worcester Foregate Street. The trains go past inches away from you, just a pane of glass separating you!

 

[Busaholic]

Tell us please , where from ! - thank you for that.

Bad enough get blocks of proper carbolic soap to use in our local restored signal box ........(no self respecting signalman would have used anything else !) - much as the P Way / Engineers relied on old school Swarfega.

Only just seen this post. At 55 Broadway, as a newbie fresh behind the ears, I was asked by someone if I wanted to sign up for an industrial size quantity of Swarfega (I think TSSA organised this.) As this was the late 60s (man!!) I did wonder what the hell it was, and whether it was strictly legal, but when I saw it was disabused of any exotic intent.

 

[yorksrob]

Have you been in the little cafe on the platform at Worcester Foregate Street. The trains go past inches away from you, just a pane of glass separating you!

I haven't (only been to Shrub Hill once on the thumper).

Looks good - do they do good food ?

 

[Ken H]

I haven't (only been to Shrub Hill once on the thumper).

Looks good - do they do good food ?

cake was good last time i went

 

[yorksrob]

cake was good last time i went

Will try it when I'm there !

 

[Pigeon]

One thing I miss is sitting behind the driver on a modernisation plan DMU. Then they suddenly had the blinds down all the time. Why was that?

You moved, and your local line became the Marylebone line?

They always used to have them down on that line, but everywhere else I remember them staying up right to the end. I used to ride around on rovers just making use of the facility.

 

[exsignalman]

"This is the age of the train" adverts with Jimmy Savile.

Hmmm, there was also a range of posters with ...oh dear .....Gary Glitter ..on them who was advocating the delights of ....'A young persons railcard'...
One of the posters showed a grinning Gary Glitter (with his hand in a jar of face cream).

Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile, Gary Glitter, Roman Polanski – and what it is like to be sexually assaulted as a child | SO IT GOES - John Fleming's blog

STOCK IMAGE, , 10458598, 01A88CA8 , National Railway Museum London UK - Search Stock Photos, Images, Pictures, Photography at Diomedia
'
�For a limited period, we�re offering a Young Persons Railcard to... News Photo | Getty Images

Thankfully the British Rail advertising from the past that really sticks in my mind is the 1970s colour TV advert that had the catchy song & slogan....

'So have a good trip.....have a good trip..by train'

Anyone remember that advert from the mid 1970s?? (I can't find it anywhere).

Oh does anyone remember the colour staff safety posters (roughly A3 size?) made by the . .'Safety Advisory Service'?, often these would have slogans like..

'DRINK!!....it lingers longer than you think'

'Wear your HV vest.....DEATH ISN'T CHOOSY, watch out!, YOU could be next'

Another one I remember was one done where the conductor rail turned into a king cobra, & the caption was something like...

'Watch out.. IT BITES!...keep clear of conductor rails'.

 

[Ken H]

Hmmm, there was also a range of posters with ...oh dear .....Gary Glitter ..on them who was advocating the delights of ....'A young persons railcard'...
One of the posters showed a grinning Gary Glitter (with his hand in a jar of face cream).

Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile, Gary Glitter, Roman Polanski – and what it is like to be sexually assaulted as a child | SO IT GOES - John Fleming's blog

STOCK IMAGE, , 10458598, 01A88CA8 , National Railway Museum London UK - Search Stock Photos, Images, Pictures, Photography at Diomedia
'
�For a limited period, we�re offering a Young Persons Railcard to... News Photo | Getty Images

Thankfully the British Rail advertising from the past that really sticks in my mind is the 1970s colour TV advert that had the catchy song & slogan....

'So have a good trip.....have a good trip..by train'

Anyone remember that advert from the mid 1970s?? (I can't find it anywhere).

Oh does anyone remember the colour staff safety posters (roughly A3 size?) made by the . .'Safety Advisory Service'?, often these would have slogans like..

'DRINK!!....it lingers longer than you think'

'Wear your HV vest.....DEATH ISN'T CHOOSY, watch out!, YOU could be next'

Another one I remember was one done where the conductor rail turned into a king cobra, & the caption was something like...

'Watch out.. IT BITES!...keep clear of conductor rails'.

There was the 'This is the age of the train' TV commercial just when they did an OAP special offer. I think it was alan williams who joked it should be 'This is the train of the aged'

 

[jamesthegill]

On the subject of old BR adverts, I could've sworn that there was a Network SouthEast TV advert that showed all the fun activities that could be had up in London, and culminated with a shot of a child asleep on the train home with the tagline "at the end of the day, it's all been too much" but I can't for the life of me find any record of it online.

 

[PeterC]

The discussion elsewhere about photocards reminded me. The "W" stamp on season tickets issued to women.

Many years ago I remember my girlfriend's father telling her younger sister that she couldn't use her season on a Saturday as the W meant "weekdays only". We both told him he was wrong although I don't think that we convinced him.

 

[Monarch010]

When I was commuting into Cannon Street and Charing Cross during the Sixties, several stations had signs saying "All tickets must be shewn". I'm pretty sure the signs were not that old so I always found the spelling rather quaint.

 

[DavidGrain]

I remember 'All tickets must be shewn'. It used to puzzle me as a schoolboy as I saw it all over the country and I was sure that it should be 'shown'.
This website https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/shewn says that it is the past participle of the verb 'shew'. It is archaic and has been declining in use since 1812

 

[Ken H]

I remember 'All tickets must be shewn'. It used to puzzle me as a schoolboy as I saw it all over the country and I was sure that it should be 'shown'.
This website https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/shewn says that it is the past participle of the verb 'shew'. It is archaic and has been declining in use since 1812

Its like the tale

Platform signs said 'do not alight here'
train stops and people got off
when asked, were told 'We didnt know what it meant'

its like signs on the old Southern that said 'the 1650 to gravesend would be 4 vice 8.' Only rail nuts know what that meant.

or the PA announcing 'fast train approaching, stand clear' - people asked 'fast train to where?'

 

[Why]

Must have been 1977 £2.50 tickets return Paddington to Bristol / Cardiff & Swansea ... to experience Inter City 125 .... no prizes for guessing our prefered destination?!!

4 BIG emu on Victoria - Littlehampton ..... got into the buffet car and always the lovely smell of toast.

 

[krus_aragon]

Its like the tale

Platform signs said 'do not alight here'
train stops and people got off
when asked, were told 'We didnt know what it meant'

Or alternatively, the passengers reply 'it said "do not alight" so I kept my fags and matches in my pocket'.

 

[Busaholic]

When I was commuting into Cannon Street and Charing Cross during the Sixties, several stations had signs saying "All tickets must be shewn". I'm pretty sure the signs were not that old so I always found the spelling rather quaint.

Also on nationalised buses (Tilling/BTC) certainly into the mid 1970s on older type buses which carried them from new.

 

[Busaholic]

Or alternatively, the passengers reply 'it said "do not alight" so I kept my fags and matches in my pocket'.

On the London Underground escalators it was 'dogs must be carried', so one spent ages finding one to carry

 

[vlad]

On the London Underground escalators it was 'dogs must be carried', so one spent ages finding one to carry

"Passengers must cross the line via the footbridge". The problem with putting that sign on both sides of the bridge meant that I kept having to cross and cross back and so missed my train.

I'm at the end of the pier all week.

 

[DavidGrain]

Also on nationalised buses (Tilling/BTC) certainly into the mid 1970s on older type buses which carried them from new.

Talking of buses, a few years ago I travelled on a Stagecoach/Midland Red South bus which had a notice with a large red '?'. It was asking if you had left any of your belongings behind, I don't remember the exact wording. The notice and the shape of the '?' was identical to the notice on the Midland Red buses 70 years ago.