Adam Baldwin interviewed by Ashlynn Hudson-Welburn

Interview with Adam Baldwin recorded by Ashlynn Hudson-Welburn on 1st August 2024 at the National Railway Museum, York. Duration: 2hr 21min 12secs. [Track 01] Introduction; father’s railway jobs, railways in childhood; being gay in 1980s, school bullying, rail commute; parents influence joining railways, 1987, Canterbury Telephone Enquiry Bureau; Great storm of 1987; [00:05:50] denial of own sexual identity, HIV and AIDS crisis; Gillingham Ticket Office 1988-1990; [00:07:15] 1990-1997, International Rail Centre (IRC) London Victoria, training, gay and HIV positive colleague; HIV and AIDS awareness, stigmatisation and ignorance; HIV positive colleague, mentor; [00:13:25] IRC, coming out story, supportive colleagues; [00:18:20] last railway job, British Travel Centre (BTC) Lower Regent street, ticket office, LGBTQ+ colleagues; asserting gay identity 1990s; own gay identity connected to work on railways; [00:21:40] railway in family, relationship with parents; childhood, gender segregated school, train commute, friendships, bullying; [00:29:00] family pressure to work, how he was at 16 yo; relationship with parents, coming out; [00:33:15] friendships, colleagues; moving to York from London; [00:37:16] job at Canterbury, his father’s role, colleagues; his behaviour at 16, denial own identity, putting on a mask/persona; training at Canterbury; [00:45:44] jobs with British Railways (BR); Gillingham, social life, office ambiance, APTIS ticket machine; [00:50:04] IRC recruitment, training; moving to Colchester, purchasing flat, railway worker commuting benefits; why chose IRC job, London entertainment; [00:55:12] social life before coming out, girlfriend; day outing with colleagues to Dunkirk, ferry [00:59:35] denial being gay, commenting how common it can be; [01:01:40] impact of identity/sexuality on experiences/opinions; how he was after coming out; [01:03:10] first days at IRC, socialising; boat trains; shift work, commuting; friendships, diversity, LGBTQ+ colleagues; [01:08:37] IRC, HIV positive friend/colleague, his death; [01:12:45] 1990s HIV and AIDS crisis, comparing current perception of HIV; [01:16:35] how he was before coming out, IRC colleagues impact on how he changed; [01:19:10] coming out story, admitting to himself he was gay, supportive friends; [01:25:11] IRC isolated from other BR department; Boeing 929 Jetfoil and Hoverspeed Sealink; [01:27:50] BTC colleagues, LGBTQ+ community; [01:29:45] after coming out, life in London as an openly gay man, anecdotes; LGBTQ+ newspapers; [01:34:01] pink pound, adverts targeting gay men, places/services dedicated to LGBTQ+; [01:36:14] relationships after coming out, dating colleagues; LGBTQ+ colleagues, diversity; work shifts, colleagues in relationship, supportive environment; [01:41:20] LGBTQ+ experience depend on jobs, traditional masculinity in operational roles; [01:42:15] shift work impact on relationships; socialising, work outings; [01:50:46] first break-up, colleagues support; [01:52:10] 1997 leaving BR, privatisation, redundancies, official dinner; work social events; [01:55:20] privatisation impact, closure of BTC and IRC; Eurostar; railway vacancies following privatisation; [01:58:44] travel agency work; retail work; move to York 2003, varied career experience, railway experience impact on career in customer service; [02:03:17] being loaned from IRC to BTC; InterRail [end of track 01] [Track 02] 1992 HIV Awareness Year, InterRail poster, complaints, reasons for rejecting part of campaign; [00:03:23] links between IRC and BTC, contacts with former colleagues; how he changed during 10-year BR career, feelings about leaving, jobs since; [00:06:04] Free travel with BR, free railway pass, European rail pass; short trips to Europe; Eurostar test train, Paris day-trip; [00:10:10] fun memories at IRC; tickets sold at IRC, ledgers used for tickets not on system, handwriting tickets; [00:12:30] final reflections on job and people at IRC [end of interview]

This interview was made as part of People Pride and Progress (PPP) project. The project was initiated in 2023 to record the stories and memories of the LGBTQIA+ community in a new oral history archive over two years. It aimed to connect past, present and future through intergenerational interviews, offering opportunities for colleagues across all parts of the rail industry to connect, reflect on and learn from each other’s lived experiences while creating an archive of oral history interviews.