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Oral history interview with Glynn Waite conducted and recorded by Bob Gwynne on 22 September 2017 at the National Railway Museum. Duration: 2 hours 9 minutes 25 seconds. [Start of interview, 00:00:00] Joining British Rail 1960, Trains Office Derby, diagramming, train staff planning, special trains; [00:04:30] area covered, freight timetable, Derby to Barnt Green, Hornsbridge at Chesterfield; Birmingham, freight traffic analysis, wagon surveys; changes, introduction of diesels working ‘out and home’; [00:09:00] line occupation surveys; diagramming journeys and staff; [00:10:30] different jobs before being involved with TOPS; TOPS at Cardiff, start with Ebbw Vale cutover, TOPS in South Wales; [00:16:43] problem with Cardiff Tidal/East Maws works; use of Ventek terminals, issues, wagon surveys, [00:20:49] missing wagons, ‘Cripple roads’, loading wagon data into TOPS; [00:24:32] TOPS survey staff, cutover process, working hours; [00:29:25] impact of TOPS on Area Managers, attempts at economies, TOPS helping reduce amount of wagons and introduce air braked wagons; [00:35:26] TOPS and locomotive maintenance on Western Region; [00:42:39]economies, elimination of consignment notes, survey, traffic flow introduction of numbers for clients, economies on clerks and paper; [00:47:47] goods offices rationalisation, reduction in sidings, new methods of working enabling savings; [00:49:30] job at Speedlink 1984-1990; [00:50:21] TOPS moving into privatisation, non geographic allocation of reporting offices; [00:54:40] planning redundancy but kept on to work out how to affect the move away from geographic location; [00:57:36] TOPS 2000 introduction, link with privatisation; division within privatised freight network, change to Windows operating system; [01:02:23] TOPS 2000 implementation, TOPS offices for BR mainline; TOPS responsibility area (TRA), capacity limits and rationalisation, Worcester TOPS office closure, further rationalisation; [01:07:08] reason for TOPS office locations, marshalling yards, reasons for rationalisation and TOPS staff redeployment; [01:11:47] TOPS clerks, recruitment and grades; [01:14:40] Freightliner, coal/cement, links to TOPS; difference between TRUST and TOPS; [01:17:01] TRUST and LARTA, geolocated train departures; how to put in a new location [01:21:50] locations for companies; wagon load, marshalling yards, train loads rather than individual wagons; [01:25:07] merry-go-round system (MGR), automation, including wagon numbers and weights, MGR wagons kept in trains; Toton, only two roads on down-side, wagon weight limitation at some collieries, MGR wagons revolution; [01:30:17] TOPS 2000, more people understand the system, area managers and shunters can input TOPS; TOPS direct (Eric Straw), Wolverhampton Steel Terminal, training on using TOPS, including Masboro Control; [01:35:10] EWS move; cut over Swansea Borough, Newport 1974, returned 20 years later to cutover to shunters; removal of Rowntrees traffic, closure of Dringhouses yard, closing yards, Parkeston; reflection on railways during time of career, sectorisation hierarchy, Bury St Edmonds example, Peterborough-Grantham, division of payments in pre-privatisation era; [01:43:04] sectorisation process, new thinking, cost of running railway has increased, GNER causes wage inflation with drivers, causing train cancellations elsewhere;[01:49:02] career overview, lodging at Railway Hostel, Loco hostels, redundancy, WR change, traffic analysis, Rowsley, Derby, Crewe, Nantwich, Bridgend, Sheffield, TOPS implementation, Speedlink, RFD, Manchester, Islington; EWS attempts to replace TOPS; Freightliner poached Glynn from EWS with traffic; [02:01:20] work as a consultant sorting out new freight flows, sectorisation, end of Speedlink, lack of knowledge; Michael Portillo, every freight flow had to make 8.5% return on assets; [02:06:50], privatisation, increasing distance of freight flows [02:09:25] [end of interview]

Glynn Waite interviewed by Bob Gwynne

2017-09-18

Oral history interview with Margaret Willmot conducted and recorded by Dr Jonathan Aylen on 8 December 2016. Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes 28 seconds. The interview focuses on Margaret Willmot’s experience as a junior programmer on TOPS (Total Operations Processing System) at British Rail. Start of railway career, TOPS (Total Operations Processing System), education, computing degree, job application; [00:03:23] British Rail induction, COBOL programming language, computing people vs railway people career approach; BR computer centres, machine types; work on TOPS at Blandford House, gender stereotypes, work on TOPSTRANS; [00:07:30] programming language in TOPSTRANS, assembler based macro language, how it worked, [00:14:23], computer core memory, data storage on magnetic tapes; TOPS customed built equipment, operating system; [00:18:30] disc drives vs tape drives, online vs offline processing; [00:20:00] TOPS wagons team, coding applications related to wagons, how coding was done, equipment used, punch cards, tele-type, team reaction to online machine, typing cards, programmers and typists, typing error example; [00:23:35] writing new enquiry for commodity code, modifying existing code, American code vs British Rail code, STANOX, TOPS Responsibility Areas (TRA), end of punch cards; [00:26:05] ventek cards 96 columns punch cards vs 80 column cards, no use of paper tape on TOPS; [00:29:51] enquiry for commodity code, security in TOPS; safety, preventative maintenance of wagons in TOPS, ‘cripples’ wagon; [00:32:20] TOPS wagon team, colleagues, organisation, way of working, hard coding, complexity of wagon movements in Scunthorpe area; [00:36:05] modification to original American TOPS for use by British Rail, example of obsolete codes for United Kingdom application; TOPS telecommunication, BR private phone lines; [00:41:10] British Rail choosing IBM over ICL; training on TOPSTRANS by Southern Pacific, relationship with Americans, helping with issues, BR staff visits to USA; interviewer discussing origin of TOPS; [00:46:20] example of computer crashing with application programme, technical issues and requirement, human errors rather than programme errors, example of issues with wagons, missing wagons, numbers painted on wagons; wagon audited against TOPS data; [00:55:00] working hours, office based work, junior position, reflections on experience on TOPS, camaraderie in TOPS team, TOPS experience useful in next job, if TOPS is still in use; date formatting in TOPS, space saving format; [00:59:30] leaving TOPS and British Railway, career after TOPS, San Francisco based computing company, revenue system for Eurotunnel; [01:01:00] further reflection on experience on TOPS [01:02:28] [end of interview]

Margaret Willmot interviewed by Jonathan Aylen

2016-12-08

Oral history interview with David Thomas conducted and recorded by Matthew Hick on 17 July 2012, at the National Railway Museum. Duration: 1 hour. Background; starting as a volunteer, campaigning for York as NRM site, site requirements, museum opening 1975; Friends of the National Railway Museum (FNRM) group established, Lord Downs, member of Stephenson Locomotive Society, joined FNRM; [00:03:40] FNRM details, membership, presence at NRM, how volunteering began; DT stopped volunteering early 1980s due to work pressures [00:06:10] maintaining contact with FNRM; stewarding trains, examples, organising York Evening Meetings (1994), York FNRM Evening Meetings, details, numbers, benefits to FNRM; [00:09:00] volunteer recruitment; end of 1990’s, volunteer recruitment and training co-ordinator (autumn 2000), information points and miniature railway volunteers, Claire Evans, background in training and recruitment, detail, job satisfaction; [00:15:50] other aspects of volunteer recruitment; formation of millennium volunteers in York, opportunities to get younger volunteers, reservations, failures, developing records, IT development, volunteer database development; [00:22:10] volunteer management; volunteer manager (Kate Wadden) appointed (2002), coming to terms with having a manager, success at working together, volunteer manager success across museums in the group, continued when Matt Thompson appointed, links with other volunteer officers, job satisfaction continued; [00:27:00] volunteering development; Railfest 2004, Matt Hick impact; [00:29:00] what drove the first volunteer push; concern to move volunteer recruitment quickly, contributory factors in helping recruitment; [00:32:30] why NRM increased volunteer numbers, recordkeeping on volunteers, value of volunteers; reasons for recruiting more miniature railway volunteers, not enough drivers, recruited 10; [00:34:10] driver training provided by Director of Engineering Richard Gibbon; [00:35:00] Back of House teams; Tuesday night team managed by Rich Gibbon, changed when Richard Gibbon retired; [00:36:50] highlights whilst a volunteer co-ordinator; satisfaction of people who were recruited and stayed, some still at NRM; [00:38:00] changes in volunteer recruitment, applicants with “their own agendas”, now recruit against a job description, applicants with impediments, improving inclusivity in recruiting volunteers, turning down applicants, dealing with difficult cases, museum needs to “get what it needs”; [00:43:00] roles at NRM; would have liked to have been involved in locomotive support, linked to family history, role carried out like in professional career with British Telecom (BT); [00:45:00] last 12 years; enjoyment, good support, enjoyed working with Claire Evans; shock of having a manager; Railfest 2004, challenges managing volunteers, keeping up with changes; [00:48:00] change in relationships between staff and volunteers; more co-operation and co-ordination, closer links with learning team; [00:49:50] change in relationship between the volunteers and FNRM; [00:51:00] Why NRM appointed a Volunteer Manager (Kate Waddon); DT volunteers 1 day per week and for FOH volunteers, appointment to cover whole spectrum of volunteering, volunteering in better shape now, very positive development; [00:53:00] reflections on own volunteering experience, no disappointment overall, found it difficult in 1 day per week role, keeping pace with what is happening; [00:55:50] how family views his volunteer endeavours; [00:56:20] aspirations for future volunteer programme; get people that the museum needs, questioning impact of economic crisis on future of volunteering [00:59:36] [end of interview]

David Thomas interviewed by Matthew Hick

2014-10-13

Oral history interview with John Charlesworth conducted and recorded by Tony Steadman on 24 February 2015, in the mess room of the Miniature Railway team at the National Railway Museum. Duration: 34 minutes. How he was introduced to railways; volunteering at Middleton Railway; member of the Friends of the National Railway Museum (FNRM), joined in 1977 on information points; rigidity of staff at museum; 1985 helped with work on Tuesday night restoring the Duchess of Hamilton locomotive (DOH); [00:05:00] career, worked on maintenance at power stations, hot riveting and air drills, lived in Selby; 1988 footplate ride on Green Arrow; support crew on DOH on main line; [00:10:00] miniature railway and working with public, Richard Gibbon, increased numbers, driver training for miniature railway, started charging, change, replacement of tracks; [00:15:00] miniature railway originally thought of as a toy, changed when charges came in; Deltic introduced on miniature railway, run round; 2014 rebuild; volunteer age differences; [00:20:00] recruitment of new drivers; outside examiners; everyone a driver; difficult passengers; [00:25:00] cataloguing with John Peck; drawing of accident; preparing standard gauge locomotives; fireman during day; [00:30:00] not so much to do at present, commenting on open spaces in Station Hall; believes there is potential for more volunteer involvement; enjoyed volunteering [ 00:34:14] [end of interview]

John Charlesworth interviewed by Tony Steadman

2015-02-24