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Working outdoors - railway jobs

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rriley27

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Hello,

Does anyone on this forum have or have held a role on the railway which involves working outdoors?
What can you do to cope with the British weather?
 
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TDK

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Hello,

Does anyone on this forum have or have held a role on the railway which involves working outdoors?
What can you do to cope with the British weather?

The main problem is actually getting to work in the first place when the weather turns dire, if you do get there then it has to be thermals, a hat (not covering the ears) and a hot cup of tomato soup (one of your 5 a day) :idea:
 

Hydro

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Hello,

Does anyone on this forum have or have held a role on the railway which involves working outdoors?
What can you do to cope with the British weather?

Yes.

Layers, a flask of coffee and a steely disposition helps.

A typical winters night shift saw me toting: two pairs of socks (thick over thin), usual fashionable underwear, a long sleeved t-shirt, a sweatshirt or hoodie, fleece, waterproof jacket, tracksuit bottoms tucked into the thick socks, with HV overtrousers over the top of that. Wooly hat plus gloves = toasty warm. If it was windy and wet, a scarf pulled up over the lower face helped. As soon as the hard work started, you could removed layers as required to avoid overheating.

A good thing to do was to keep a waterproof jacket handy when it wasn't raining, we all know how changeable the weather can be. Just keep an eye on the forecast and plan accordingly. Keep a spare fleece and jacket somewhere in case.
 

Beveridges

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Station Despatch which is entirely outdoors, including night shifts, is one of the coldest jobs of the lot. As the job does not really include much moving around (just walking to your next train), you get really cold.
Fuelling and tanking Units can be cold in Winter on nights but its constant lifting of pipes so you get warmed up fast. Again, outdoors 100% of the time, and always at night. The worst part is keeping your hands warm as your touching cold steel while wet if you get covered in toilet water/CET which you often do. Then you have to wear cloth gloves but they get wet and fuel soaks through them to your skin so you have to keep changing them and wear a set of plastic disposable gloves underneath for protection. Other than getting cold hands its not too bad as you dont really feel that cold unless its about minus 7 due to all the lifting and humping pipes around and you can wear a white suit which keeps you warmer still if needed, but unless it is very cold, you can overheat with it on when the hard work really gets going.
 

Mojo

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I got very cold in winter and hot in summer! Short sleeved shirts were essential in summer (uniform of course), and I wore a black fleece and jumper under my uniform coat in winter.
 

blanco

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Hello,

Does anyone on this forum have or have held a role on the railway which involves working outdoors?
What can you do to cope with the British weather?

become a crane controller like me and when you're on a nightshift and it's ****ing/freezing hop in the back of the machine and go to sleep :D problem solved.
 

Dave A

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If anyone's found a way to keep their feet warm while wearing steel toe shoes, I'd love to know!! :D
 

ole man

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We all know that CC are lazy, come on one of my jobs and you will stand by the Crane all night in any weather, i once had a CC who refused to get out of a SRS when a tamper came on the other road and it hit the bottom of the basket, needless to say he sacked himself on the spot.
 

blanco

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We all know that CC are lazy, come on one of my jobs and you will stand by the Crane all night in any weather, i once had a CC who refused to get out of a SRS when a tamper came on the other road and it hit the bottom of the basket, needless to say he sacked himself on the spot.

well, with the way the ORR seem to be going now with regards to cranes and how they're working, you'll be lucky to get a lazy cc to cover any of your jobs when the tickets start to get handed in. it's a thankless task that nobody wants the hassle with anymore.
 

185

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Haha love this thread, I work mostly outdoors in uniform. Company provide wooly hats gloves big thick coat etc, however it's the extra t-shirts that keep me warm. Invested in some big boots last week for the snow too.

Only downside is that our stupid employer's bought jackets without hoods in. We're the rainiest city in the UK too :(
 

9K43

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1 May 2010
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It is a poor Guard/Shunter/Policeman that gets wet.
Thats why a loco has a cab roof and a door to shut.
Just stop where you are till it goes away.
 

Ploughman

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Near where the 3 ridings meet
If anyone's found a way to keep their feet warm while wearing steel toe shoes, I'd love to know!! :D

Work alongside a team of track welders.
When they drop a weld and empty the tray afterwards keep the contents near your feet. Should keep warm for an hour or so. Or at least until they drop the next one.
Its also the fastest known method of boiling a kettle.
 
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