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National Archive of Railway Oral History

The National Archive of Railway Oral History (NAROH) holds over a thousand hours of recordings capturing the stories of people who worked on Britain's railways. The archive is held at the National Railway Museum in York and was founded and managed by the Friends of the National Railway Museum, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

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Garlick, Gladys

Garlick, Gladys

2002-12-06
clerk; traffic apprentice; stationmaster; area manager; freight depot manager; area manager; divisional operating superintendent; management services manager; divisional manager; regional operations manager; safety programme director; ticket office; daily routine; Lewisham accident; staffing stations; initial training; rules and regulations; signalling inspectors; training, motive power department; freight train investigations; box visits; staff problems; Tom Rixon; total signal failure; railway houses; disciplinary; staff shortages; Lionel Sebright; depot badly managed; change management; National Union of Railwaymen (NUR); working management courses; operating discipline; rationalisation; electrification; nuclear flasks; Her Majesty's Railway Inspectors (HMRI); diesel multiple units (DMU); flooding; points failure; career moves; handling disputes; Spa Road incident; revenue protection; commuter associations; management of all aspects of accountability; strike 1988; Automatic Train Protection (ATP); Southall accident; Clapham accident; CLI 55 doors, backside covering; class 47; Signals passed at danger (SPADS); revenue protection; royal trains; safety management group; changing of work practice following accident; theory of structure simplification; haphazard management development; empowerment; d.o.b. 1935-09-21, railway work 1956-1992, Catterick; West country, Exeter; Eden Park; Elmers End; Clock House; Hither Green Booking Office; Collumpton; Newton Abbott; Taunton; Bristol temple Meads; Merthyr Tydfil; Worcester; Torquay Line; Banbury; Kemble; Shrewsbury District; Gloucester Eastgate; Uxbridge; Twyford; Southall; Newbury race; Cheltenham; Carlisle; Perth Depot; Quintinshill; Workington; Sellafield; Nottingham; Headquarters, Paddington; Didcot power station; Westbury; Chippenham; Beckenham; High Halden; Dover; Doncaster; Newton; Dillington House; Swindon; British Steel Corporation; Eastern Region; National Coal Board (NCB); Western Region;

Poynter, Bob

2002-11-19&27
cleaner; passed cleaner; fireman; second man; passed second man; driver; acting traction inspector; traction inspector; head of driver training; chief traction inspector; traincrew assistant; traincrew manager; traction and driving manager; medical examination; Ishikara colour-perception; Edridge Green Lantern; cleaner's lobby weaver plant; firing duty requirements; no formal instruction, work practice; cylinder drain cocks; compressed air lances, misuse, accidents; accomodation problems; massive drive shaft; water tower; cotton waste; Fireman's course; management of fire, saftey on the line; first firing shift; lack of health and safety; fire iron; empty carriage working; female engine cleaners; cleaning fire; short passenger working; mutual improvement classes; closure of depot; electric and diesel methods; new types of locomotives; blocked train; use of short circuit bar; royal train; a/c current locomotives; standarised teaching modules; signal school; hidden routes; Advanced Passenger Train (APT); different types of diesel and electric locomotive; driver training; driver only working; High speed trains (HST); fatal collision; turntabl, pits, steam specials; Dutchess of Hamilton; relationships with foreign train companies; TGV; Malcolm Southgate; Trans-Manche super train, driving cab design, PS1, PS2, first team in France; recruitment of drivers, criteria, profiles; D4 T1-16 driving activites, EPS; union, abandoning seniority; Psychometric tests, language ability; start date May 1993; female drivers, crew; d.o.b.1946-05-14, railway work 1961-2000, Brixton; Nine Elms Depot; Guildford Training School; Basingstoke and Salisbury; Waterloo; Japan; Euston, Carlow Street; Bedford-St Pancras; Wembley; Marylebone; Grove; Deepdene; Canterbury; France; Paris; West Coast Mainline, London Midland Region (LMR); London Transport; Terence Cuneo; London Fire Brigade; SCNF; SCNB; Eurostar; Rail News; Alstrom; British Rail Board (BRB);

Bassett, Philip Edmund

2002-11-22
trade union; local departmental committees; ASLEF General Secretary; reason for being active, Nine Elms Depot, Army King Regulations; 1947 call up, driving by 24th birthday; 1963, LDC Waterloo; 1973, Executive Committee of ASLEF; 1981 President; 1984 District Officer; 1992 Assistant General Secretary; 1994 General Secretary; unofficial acts, Waterloo; LDC duties; rostering, complaints; discipline; work is rule; General Secretary RW Buckton; Assistant General Secretary Don Pullen; Executive Committee sessions; Marsham Street; trade union support; procedure for dealing with cases; 8 hour day dispute; dispute over letter; £10.00 contribution is Signals passed At Danger (SPAD) report; selling railway houses; Assistant General Secretary duties; General Secretary; social life; d.o.b. 1929-01-09, railway work 1944-1994. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

Fullick, Derrick Frank

2001-06-02
messenger girl; clerk, wages office, locomotive works; Railway Savings Bank; accounting; introduction of computers; rules on marriage; computer operator; equal pay; branch treasurer, Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA); Derby Technical Centre; British Railways Engineering Ltd (BREL); Sectional Council; British Railways Board; Management Staff Joint Council; TSSA executive committee member; TSSA Treasurer; TSSA President (first woman in this position); redundancy; privatisation; d.o.b. 1933-06-02, railway work: 1948-1997, London Midland Railway (LMR); Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA); British Railways Engineering Ltd (BREL); Virgin; Derby Wagon works; Derby Technical Centre;

Hanks, Brenda

2002-08-06
immigrant worker, emigrated from Barbados to UK; London Underground; guard training; porter; shifts; road learning; carriage cleaning foreman; electrification; leading railman; women carriage cleaners; managing staff; Railway Mission; attitude to railway; trade union; Local Departmental Committee; bonus scheme; work study; chief supervisor; racism; promotion of ethnic minority workers; customer care; suicides; camaraderie; d.o.b. 1940-09-29, railway work: 1963-1980, Barbados; Newton Abbot, Devon; London; Rickmansworth; Manchester Piccadilly; Manchester Victoria; Crewe; Macclesfield; Alderley Edge; Buxton; Longsight; London Euston; Stockport;

Taylor, Neville Patrick (Pat)

2002-05-23
research and development; head of vehicle dynamics; head of advanced projects; director of advanced projects; director of research laboratories; director of engineering research and development; two-axle wagons; civil and mechanical engineering conflict; freight vehicles; railbus; revenue; investment; funding; Advanced Passenger Train (APT); Advanced Passenger Train-Experimental (APT-E); High Speed Train (HST); design; test track; trade union opposition; electrification; Maglev; Advanced Multiple Unit; mechanised track maintenance; signalling warning systems; d.o.b. 1929-03-29, railway work: 1962-1989, Associated Society of Locoomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF); British Transport Commission; English Electric Company; British Leyland; InterCity; Ruston; Turbomeca; Gloucester Design Services; Metro Cammell; Hawker Syddeley Dynamics; Dowty; Houchins; National Union of Railwaymen (NUR); General Electric Company; Tracked Hovercraft Ltd; Plasser; Thaurer; Westinghouse; Derby; East Coast Main Line; West Coast Main Line; Melton Mowbray; Nottingham; Old Dalby; Duffield; Derby locomotive works; London St Pancras; Leicester; Glasgow; Manchester; Liverpool; Erith; Scotland; East Anglia;

Wickens, Alan Herbert

2002-03-22
royal train; apprentice; senior electrician; deputy to royal train supervisor; royal train manager; rolling stock; staffing; planning; finance; maintenance; Falklands Conflict; funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales; opening of Channel Tunnel; reduced capacity; security; history; Golden Jubilee; d.o.b. 1957-03-04, railway work: 1973-2002 (on-going), Stoke; Portsmouth; Channel Tunnel; Wolverton;

Hillyard, Christopher David

2002-03-04
chart designer; press desk assistant; feature writer; BRB Headquarters; sub-editor, Railnews; editorial executive, Business in the Community; public relations officer, Business in the Community; editor, Bylines, BR Community Unit; BT Film Unit; GW operatic society; BR Chairmen; d.o.b. (Information withheld), railway work 1960-1983, BRB Headquarters; Watford; Paddington; Bristol; GW Royal Hotel; Sealink;

Heckler, Frances Edith

2001-10-24
d.o.b. 1926-10-21, railway work 1943-1999, Topics: footplate cleaner, fireman, driver; trade union; local departmental committee; railway welfare; Places: Grimethorpe; Cricklewood Depot, London; Stafford; childhood, Grimsby, Hull, Sheffield; Second World War, evacuation, Sheffield Blitz; family railway background; cleaner, Grimethorpe, LMS; colour vision test; training; NUR; Cricklewood Depot, London, shortage of firemen; Midland Enginemen's Fund; transfer to Stafford, railway barracks; work with Armed Forces personnel, staff shortages; marriage, accommodation; conditions (weather, ice), Dore & Totley Tunnel; steam trains working in tunnels, conditions (illness); promotion to driver, 1960, conditions (pay); contrast between LMS and LNER railways; travel to work; trade union, transfer from NUR to ASLEF, 1955 strike; LDC representative; LDC work; social security tribunal; health and safety at work representative, 1974; suicides on the line; retirement, 1991. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

Sharp, Cyril Herbert

2000-08-15; 2000-09-19
Oral history interview with Colin Howson conducted and recorded by Robert Aitchison on 21 April 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration 15 minutes 30 seconds. Born in Bishop Auckland in 1948; PE teacher training Leeds college; childhood in Bishop Auckland; school and college; starting work Sunderland; sports in Shildon, British Rail Football club, boxing; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade, memories of smell and noise; railway walks in Shildon area; closure of Shildon railway works; mining; politics in Shildon area.

Colin Howson interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-04-21
Oral history recording; Expanding National Archive of Railway Oral History; Gerald Egan; family life; daytrips/outings; BRSA; railway clubs; sport; work culture and relationships; memories of individuals; station master; British Rail; ethnic minorities; National Service; retirement activity; preserved railways; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s; Jimmy Savile; Leeds; Dewsbury; Padgate; Blackpool; Leeming; Wakefield; Horbury; Ossett; Healy Mills; Knottingley; Bradford; Hull; Barnsley; Sherburn

Egan, Gerald

2004-11-16
footplate, bar lad, cleaner, fireman; leaving school, aged 14; starting work at a baker's; joining railway, bar lad, Buxton; progression through cleaner, passed cleaner; fireman, Buxton; experience working heavy trains over steep gradients; National Service; severe weather conditions, 1947; involvement in many different incidents; fireman in exhibit in National Railway Museum; member of Midland Railway Preservation Society; father's job, a driver, his railway experiences; d.o.b. 1929-07-21, railway work 1944-1953, Buxton. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

Palfreyman, Brian

2000-11-13
engineer; locomotive manufacture; depot inspector; maintenance engineer; divisional maintenance engineer; works manager; British Rail Engineering Ltd, BREL; diesel locomotives; chief mechanical and electrical engineer; High Speed Train; headquarters; single manning; Advanced Passenger Train-Prototype; sectorisation; Railway Division, Institute of Mechanical Engineers; d.o.b. 1931-05-01, railway work: 1955-1987, Metropolitan Vickers; Cora Iompair Eireann; Beyer Peacock; General Motors; English Electric; Southern Region; London Midland Region; Western Region; Manchester; Dukinfield; Derby; Woking staff college; Manchester Business School; Birmingham; Tyseley; Doncaster; Northern Ireland, Dublin, Belfast; USSR; West Coast Main Line; Old Oak Common; Bristol St Philips Marsh; Swansea; Plymouth; Penzance; Weston-super-Mare; Severn tunnel, Sudbrook pumping station; Barry Docks; Taunton; Paddington; Trans-Pennine summit tunnel; Crewe;

Power, Samuel Robert Douglas MBE

2002-01-25
Craft apprentice at Meols Cop car sheds, Southport; start date 1943-05-10; electrical fitter for 4 months; Drawing Office at Formby Power Station; Lancaster - Morecambe - Heysham; integration of power supplies on Mersey / Wirral railways; training at English Electric, Preston and Bradford; Assistant Electric Traction Engineer, North London; Stonebridge Park Power Station; Electric Traction Engineer, Manchester; Manchester -Bury, Manchester-Altrincham electric services; Woking Management Course 12; Electrification Engineer, Glasgow; Airdrie-Helensburgh services; South Clyde electrification; Law Junction Depot; Divisional Maintenance Engineer, London; Traction Maintenance Engineer, BR HQ; service problems working groups; Chief Mechanical and Electrical Engineer, York; High Speed Trains; retired in 1983, returned to Southport; The Shaftesbury Society; Christian Faith and involvement with Church; visits to Nigeria and Brazil; involvement with Channel Tunnel; d.o.b 1928-01-25, Railway Service 1943 to 1983. Dick Kerr and Company; English Electric; Barclays, Kilmarnock; Meols Cop; Southport; Horwich Works; Formby Power Station; Manchester; Glasgow; Greenock; Wemyss Bay; Marylebone; Euston; Derby; York;

Sourbut, John Alan

2005-01-27
research department; modernisation; dieselisation; derailment; organisational culture; freight; assistant director, research; management; finance; regional planning manager; staff management; trade unions; re-signalling; East Coast Main Line; property; planning; road freight; chief investment officer; Department of Transport; Sealink; hotels; sectorisation; electrification; director of projects; rolling stock renewal; telecommunications; d.o.b. 1931-02-28, railway work: c.1952-1988, Sulzer; Midland Main Line; Woking staff college; BR Eastern Region; London Transport; British Rail headquarters; East Coast Main Line; Grosvenor Hotel; Great Northern; The Grove, Watford, Derby; Hither Green; Ellenbrook; Mythelroyd; Doncaster; Peterborough; Teesside; Lincoln; Stevenage; St Pancras-Bedford; Crewe; Manchester; Glasgow; Settle-Carlisle; Leeds; York; Newcastle; Durham; Stansted airport; Birmingham; Bristol; London; Hull;

Nield, Bernard John

2002-03-06
apprentice; electrical and mechanical engineering; locomotives; family; school; Cambridge University; English Electric Company; apprenticeship, piecework; apprenticeship, hours; Edge Hill Depot, Liverpool; locomotives; shedmasters; dieselisation; attitude; Sudan; conditions, weather; locomotive maintenance; illness; Kenya 1961-1963, load testing; diesel locomotives; conditions, high altitude; 1963, London, Finsbury Park and Stratford depots; EEC representative; locomotives Class 1-5, Deltic locomotives; manufacturer representatives; Crewe 100 AR6 locomotives; Roy Kelly; commissioning AR6s; Crewe electric traction depot; working practice; Doncaster Works staff; Walter Jarrett, engineer; Mr S.B. Warder, BRB Electrical Engineer; demonstrating electric locomotives; Shugborough Tunnel; attitude; test runs; incident in Sudan; repairs to AR6 locomotives; marriage; nose-suspended traction motors; electrification stock; attitude; marriage; Crewe; West Coast mainline; success of A6 locomotives; EEC-BR locomotive development collaboration; sales; contracts; 1968-1969 GEC, EEC, AEI; voluntary redundancy; SKF, different work practices; producing water jet boats; Westinghouse Co. 1974; Jubilee Line experimental tube train; Luke Marsden-Smedley, move to Hong Kong, 1977; house market, reaction of wife to move abroad; Hong Kong Mass Transit Corporation; rolling stock standards, Electric Multiple Units (EMU); Electrical Engineer; Design manager; GEC Traction, 1983; Singapore Metro, Chief Electrical and Mechanical Engineer; redundancy; wife's reaction; Stuart Scott, project director; responsibilities; comparison with Hong Kong; platform edge doors; energy conservation; railway architecture; London Underground, 1989; demise of engineering role; innovation; privatisation; retirement; Vintage Engineering Ltd; railway preservation. d.o.b. 1934-08-27, railway work 1950-1990s, Edge Hill; Sudan; Kenya; London; Stratford; Crewe; Hong Kong; Singapore; West Coast Mainline. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

Vint, John

2000-06-01
office boy; carriage works apprentice; training, carriage construction; drawing office; work study; Winston Churchill's funeral; carriage repairs; general manager's saloon; derailments, continuous welded rail; exhibition trains; weather; wagons, claims, maintenance; privatisation; nuclear industry; Transmark; consultancy; TOPS; d.o.b. 1935-10-06, railway work: 1950-c.1990s, BR Southern Region; London Brighton & South Coast Railway; London Transport; South Eastern & Chatham Railway; Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais (SNCF); Transfera; Rank Xerox; Post Office; New Zealand Railways; English Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS); Lancing carriage works; Brighton; Micheldever; London; Eastleigh works; Portsmouth; Southampton; Eastleigh locomotive shed; Slade Green electric sheds; London Victoria station; Stewarts Lane; Waterloo & City line; Isle of Wight; Acton London Transport Executive works; Wimbledon depot; Clapham junction; Bournemouth; Hastings; Ashford works; London Waterloo station; Croydon; Poole; Weymouth; New Crossgate works; Dunkirk; Salisbury; Eastern Europe; Ulster; Belfast; Selhurst; Swindon; London King's Cross; York; Sellafield; Australia; Derby;

Meaby, Arthur James

2002-04-29
traffic apprentice; supernumerary assistant to district passenger manager, then district goods manager; assistant yard master; assistant head of freight, Eastern Region; traffic manager; works assistant; bulk terminals manager; freight planning manager; chief operating manager's department; rail travel, Second World War; accountancy; training; nationalisation; marshalling yards; managing style; coal traffic; reorganisation; merry-go-round working; steel traffic; Total Operations Processing System (TOPS); trade union impact; privatisation; d.o.b. 1921-12-21, railway work: 1949-1983, London and North Eastern Railway; British Rail; Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB); National Coal Board (NCB); British Rail Eastern Region; British Rail North Eastern Region; Freightliner; Speedlink; Hadley Wood accountancy school; Bishop's Stortford; Sheffield Victoria station; Ipswich; Grimsby; Eastern Region headquarters, London Liverpool Street; York; Gascoigne Wood, Selby; Toton; Aire Valley; Knottingley; London King's Cross;

McCarter, Charles

2002-
engineering apprentice; Derby Carriage & Wagon Works; LMS Research Department; British Rail Research Department; observer (technical assistant); Head of Security; childhood; family; school; apprenticeship; mechanical engineering degree; Derby Technical College, day release training, 1940; LMS Research Department; LMS Research Department during Second World War; Loach; Newberry; Hoskins; Warlow-Davies; Baldwin; origin of jobs; staff relations; stress concentrations; staff structure in Research Department; promotion; effect of nationalisation; working conditions; collaboration between research laboratories of other former railway companies; career progress; hobbies; degree in electrical engineering; promotion, John Littlewood; specialisation in security, from c. 1960; Chief Constable of British Transport Police; Henry Pearce; interlocking doors; Head of Security Section, c.1970; Railway Pension Fund Art Collection; asbestos, reaction to risk; tobacco freight security; tobacco freight; locks on vans; patents; fiddling on the ferry; radiator fire, Birmingham New Street; withdrawl of British Transport finance from Research Department security work; retirement, 1982; interests family; daughters; experiences, visibility tests, Collingham; viaducts; water balance on canal, Ruabon; test locomotives. d.o.b. 1919-07-04, railway work 1935-1982, London; Hastings; Lewisham;

Maskery, Cyril

2000-11-15
London Passenger Transport Board; Royal Engineers, Second World War; BTC; management, Assistant GM and General Manager SR; electrification; modernisation; dieselisation; political relationships; Beeching closures; BRHQ; incidents; BRB; Childhood; First World War, Buckingham Palace; father, Rt. Hon. Reginald McKenna MP, Chairman of Midland Bank; school, Eton College; university, Trinity College, Cambridge; influence of father on career choice, LPTB; John Cliff, T&GWU; starting work; London Transport Act; training; road transport scheme; Lord Ashfield; Deputy Chairman Pick; d.o.b. 1911-02-16, railway work 1934-1976, London; Hastings; Lewisham. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

McKenna, David CBE

2000-11-09
Joined BR 1st Jan 1990 as part time Board Member; Full tiome Chairman of BRB October 1990; Oil Industry UK and Overseas; introduction of recommendations of the Hidden Report following the accident at Clapham; Organisation for Quality; linking of Safety to the Quality Initiative; preparations for the introduction of International rail services via the Channel Tunnel; comments on the plans for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link; Rail Privatisation; meetings with Secretary of State for Transport; concerns about proposals; formation of Railtrack; personal views on time as Chairman; d.o.b Railway work 1990-01-01 to April 1995.

Sir Bob Reid

2003-03-31
Oral history recording; Expanding National Archive of Railway Oral History; Donald Reasbeck; childhood; family life; sport; religion; pubs/drinking; railway community; changes in the community; changes in the railway industry; charity work; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s; Doncaster; Hexthorpe; Bridlington; Rhyl; Armthorpe

Reasbeck, Donald

2005-02-01
soil analyst; projects officer; soil mechanics laboritory; (seven disks - see related items section for synopsis). d.o.b. 1939-10, railway work: 1961-1996

Heath, Donald

2002-10-08
Oral history recording; Expanding National Archive of Railway Oral History; Bob Clow; childhood; family life; railway club; railway community; changes in the community; housing; work culture and relationships; anecdotes from the workplace; memories of individuals; working on steam; working on diesel; working on electric; change from steam to diesel; depots; changes in the railway industry; seniority; hostels; Mutual Improvement Classes; fireman and driver training; firemen and driver examinations; unions; strikes; tension at work; cleaner; fireman; driver; instructor; pre-grouping; Big Four; British Rail; ethnic minorities; shipping; Second World War; retirement activity; pre-war; 1950s; 1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s; Harwich and Parkeston Quay; Temple Mills; Stratford; Whitemoor; Dovercourt; Manchester; Bury St Edmunds; Colchester; Ilford; Bathside Bay; Ipswich; March; Healy Mills; Liverpool; Hornsey; Fenchurch Street; Shoeburyness; Derby; Welwyn; King's Cross; York; Hatfield; Norwich; King's Lynn; London; Tilbury; Southend; Liverpool Street; Gidea Park; Shenfield; Euston; Felixstowe; Mossend; Eastleigh

Clow, Bob

2004-10-14; 2004-11-02; 2004-11-09; 2004-11-16; 2004-11-30
British Transport Police; London Underground; police-railway relations; docks; Sealink; boat trains; ticket-dodging; fatalities; d.o.b. 1945-02-06, railway work 1975-2000, Weymouth; Southampton; South Wales; London; London Liverpool Street; Southend;

Webb, Jim

2001-04-10
Oral history recording; Expanding National Archive of Railway Oral History; Nick Alexander; work culture and relationships; memories of individuals; marshalling yards; changes in the railway industry; engineer; management grades; British Rail; Dr Beeching; Sheffield; Temple Mills; Ripple Lane; Whitemoor; Derby; Hull; Goodmayes; Tinsley; Marylebone

Alexander, Nick

2005-03-25
Oral history interview with John Tomlin recorded and conducted by Robert Aitchison on 23 April 2004 as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration 50 minutes 37 seconds. Early life; Shildon railway works; messenger boy; fitter; York carriage works; Tomlin Street; father's drawing of a locomotive; visit to India; Railway Institute; Shildon works band; Italian prisoners of war; World jamboreee of scouts; practical jokes; accidents and fatality; brake assembly; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary, cavalcade

John Tomlin interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-04-23
footplate; greaser boy; engine cleaner; fireman; driver; dieselisation; royal trains; single manning; depot closures; d.o.b. 1931-01-13, railway work 1945-1993, Exmouth Junction; Yeoford freight yard; Exeter St David's; Old Oak Common; Pinhoe; Cowley Bridge; Starcross;

Munson, Charles P.

2001-04-19; 2001-04-26;
research laboratory; vehicle tests; dynamic instability; Advanced Passenger Train; reorganisation, business-led; education, PhD, non-linear vibration theory; recruitment to BR; Engineering Research Division Laboratory; dynamics; vehicle stability; experimental test track; Field Trials Department; track recording trolley; relationship of speed to derailment; Tony Hobbs; Alan Rimmer; development of theories on vehicle stability, dynamic instability; high speed freight vehicle (HSFV); staff relations; Stan Smith; measuring track irregularities; callouts, derailments, conditions (hours); causes of incidents; development of Advanced Passenger Train (APT); David Boocock; reaction of trade unions to APT; freight liners; pantograph; civil engineering research, mechanised track work; safety; liaison with business; sponsorship of research work; restructuring of research division, George Buckley, Malcolm Savage; strategic research programme, BRB; Automatic Train Protection (ATP); retirement; history of BR Research Department; research staffing levels; d.o.b. 1934-07-08; railway work 1964-1993. Derby; Etwall; Network Southeast.

Gilchrist, Alastair Ogilvie

2000-08-22
footplate, cleaner, fireman; Longmoor Military Railway; Royal Engineers; docket clerk; school; junior clerk (1940); Southern Railway, East Croydon; stores, New Cross Gate; footplate experience; cleaner (1947); Norwood Junction; temporary fireman; army (1942-47), Royal Engineers, Longmoor military railway; cleaner, LNER, Hull, relief fireman, knocker-up; bonus working; colliery traffic; Hull-Barnsley lines; Austerity locomotives; transfer, Southern Region, Bournemouth (1950); Eastern Region, Selby, Darlington (1958); docket clerk; rostering; boss (Jasper); Darlington, A3 locomotives; end of railway career (1961); d.o.b. 1925-07-19. railway work 1940-1961. East Croydon; Hull; Bournemouth; Darlington.

Worsfold, Basil George (Bert)

2000-07-06
Associated with Public Transport from appointment as Principal Finance Officer for Lothian Regional Council in 1975; appointed as Director of Finance at South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive in 1979; retired as Director General of South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive in 1998; detailed description of the involvement of the PTEs in the funding of the local rail networks; the role of the Passenger Transport Executive Group and the restructuring of the Rail Industry; Service Quality Regimes; the Franchising Process;

Ritchie, Alex

2002-05-19
train timing; junior clerk; traffic apprentice; deputy head of section; timetable manager; passenger movements; terminal time measurement; timetables; childhood, background, school; starting work, train timing; special trains; traffic apprentice; Beeching; Norwich; Sheffield; resignalling at Leeds; passenger operating; Broomhouse Tunnel; football; modernisation; resignalling; punctuality; HSTs; Leeds; domestic circumstances; computing; closure of Leeds division, reorganisation; timetable manager; business involvement; reorganisation; freight timetabling; privatisation; d.o.b. 1940-05-09, railway work 1958-1998, Norwich; Sheffield; Leeds; York. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

Wrottesley, David

2001-05-17
Beeching; management trainee; school trains; BT Police; area manager; electrification; freight marketing, steel, iron ore; reorganisation of coal traffic, industrial action 1984-1985; Speedlink Coal; Light Rail negotiations; BR safety panel; privatisation; track access agreements; freight companies; personal assistant to Bob Reid (1); chief officers; passengers' charter; Peter Parker; costs; revenue; Provincial Railways; effect on family life; d.o.b. 1947-07-29, railway work: 1970-1998, Railtrack; Bridgeton Central; Partickhill; Dumbarton; Glasgow; Bellgrove; Grantham; East Coast Main Line; Cardiff, South Wales; British Rail Headquarters; Manchester Piccadilly; Nottingham; Settle-Carlisle line; USA;

Shrubsole, Martin Richard

2002-04-11
apprentice; signal and telegraph engineering; signal inspector; childhood; apprenticeship, training, graduate training; Technical College; lineside work; lineside work, Yorkshire; lineside work, Manchester; Assist Signal Inspector, lineside work, Second World War; Assist Inspector, end of war; company rivalry, electrical & mechanical signalling; Wigan resignalling; Area Assist, Glasgow; Stirling, dual inspector; Head Office signal engineer; vandalism; inspections; d.o.b. 1918-10-, railway work 1935-1982, Warrington, Wigan, Glasgow

James, Ron

2001-01-24
chairman, British Rail; management pay; Richard Beeching; Barbara Castle; Harold Wilson; Roy Jenkins; Bill Johnston; public sector working; secretaries of state; role of BR Board; management; trade unions; parliamentary select committees; audits; public relations department; Will Camp; Terence Conran, design needs; David McKenna; Channel Tunnel; balance sheet of change; Rail Council; difficulties of implementing change; electrification; corporate advertising; Transmark; railway community; business sectors; accounting; privatisation; freightliner; Bob Reid; hotels; shipping; Bloody Men's Club; time management; visits out; politicians; civil servants; industrial action; resources; motivation; chairmen of nationalised industries; social responsibility; d.o.b. 1924-08-30, railway work 1976-1983

Parker, Peter

2001-11-20; 2002-02-05
clerk; management trainee; assistant area manager; trains invetigator; chief clerk; station/traffic manager; area parcels manager; human resources manager; lodgings and travel; rostering; tickets; scrapping of steam locomotives; fare structures, manual; sugar beet, supply of wagons; Midland Mainline, performance; third rail, direct current; incidents; petrol tank and suicide; product change; privatision; human resources training; d.o.b. 1944-08-13, railway work 1966-1995, Cheltenham; Knottingley; Healey Mills; York Headquarters; Ipswich; Burry; Richmond; Hounslow; Ipswich; Staines; Feltham; Brussels; Sheffield; Glossop; Sheffield; Crewe; Westinhouse Brake and Signal company; Durham University; British Rail Board (BRB); London Underground Limited (LUL); British Rail (BR); Saga; Golden Rail; St Edmind's sugar beet; National Cash Registers (NCR); Red Star Parcels; International Red Star; Euston Parcels Group; Red Express;

Tyrrell, John Campbell

2002-02-18
premium apprentice; A.J. Cook; training; drawing office; conditions; progressman; locomotive repair; acting shed master; supervisory shed foreman; relief mechanical foreman; derailment; steam locomotive speed tests; diesel railcar; locomotive shed master; L.P. Parker; O.S. Nock; mutual improvement class; weather, snow; LNER Pacific locomotives; locomotive inspections; mileage; overhauls; Clean Air Act; Local Departmental Committee (LDC); managing footplate staff; discipline, exceeding speed restrictions; Deltic locomotives; technical and rolling stock assistant; maintenance schedule; Class 31 locomotives; end of Divisional maintenance organisation; voluntary redundancy; d.o.b. 1925-08-13, railway work: 1941- , London & North Eastern Railway (LNER); London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMS); Midland Railway; Great Central Railway; Great Northern Railway; Hull & Barnsley Railway; Midland & Great Northern Railway; British Rail Eastern Region; Great Western Railway; British Rail Western Region; London Midland Region; Ffestiniog Railway; Gresley Society; A1 Steam Locomotive Trust; Flying Scotsman Association; A4 Society; Doncaster works; Roundwood; Rossington; Doncaster Carr yard; Hornsea; Scarborough; Colwyn Bay; Crewe; Wigan Mining and Technical College; Crimpsall works; Barkeston junction; Ipswich; Norwich; Melton Constable; Cromer Beach shed; Stratford works; Yarmouth; Lowestoft; Leicester; Cambridge; Bury St Edmunds; March; Ely; Mildenhall; London Liverpool Street; Peterborough; London King's Cross; Claypole; London Marylebone; Sheffield; Manchester; Woodhead tunnel; Stoke Bank; Skegness; Hemerdon Bank; Plymouth; Hatfield; Dunstable; Luton; Hitchin; Boston; Grantham; Edinburgh; Newcastle; Edinburgh Haymarket shed; Kentish Town shed; Letchworth; Connington; Melbourne, Australia; Salt River locomotive works, Bloemfontein, Bethlehem, Cape Town, Natal, South Africa; Bulawayo, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe); Vancouver, Ontario, Quebec, Canada;

Townend, Peter Norman

2002-05-31
goods depot; traffic; traffic apprenticeship scheme; divisional office clerk; marketing; budgeting; freight; reorganisation; freight marketing, aggregates; business customers; TOPS; computerisation; trade unions, TSSA; management staff joint council; privatisation; d.o.b. 1932-08-14, railway work 1948-1988, Paddington; Reading; BRB headquarters;

Cartwright, Patrick Francis

2001-11-03
traffic apprenticeship; stationmaster; A1 Pacific locomotive; London main line; training, goods, large station; firing; diesel multiple units (DMU); Associated Soceity of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF), strike; milk train; pigeon trains; royal train; electrification; Channel Tunnel; major incidents; station master, role; hazards; Willie Whitelaw; Gerald Aston; signalling; electrification; air brakes; Frank Worsdale; Gerry Somerfield; channel tunnel, terminals; Alain Bertrand; John Bonham-Carter; accident; last British Rail (BR) slip coach; impact of privatisation; expenditure and revenue; d.o.b. 1927; railway 1949-1986. Bletchley line; Stratford; Marylebone - Nottingham; st. Pancras; Manchester Huntsbank; Birmingham New Street; Penrith; Cartmel station; Cockermouth station; Kilmarnock; Glasgow South; Liverpool St; Woking; Paddington; Glasgow; West Ruislip; Bluebell railway; Oxford University Railway Society; Transmark; London Metropolitan Line; British Rail (BR); SCNF. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

Oakley, Raymond G.

2000-05-06
junior clerk; booking office; parcels; stationmaster; goods agent; traffic apprentice; traffic department, market research; area manager; planning department; traffic, sugar beet; Transmark; Eurostar; d.o.b. 1925-05-04, railway work 1940-1982, Kettering; Glendon; Rushton; Donnington; Llanbister Road; Peplow; Calvely; Whitchurch; Nottingham; Derby; Birmingham; Spon Lane; Soho; Paddington; Portsmouth; Waterloo; Bricklayers' Arms parcels depot; Victoria; Gatwick; Guildford; Melbourne, Australia; Iraq; Houston, USA; Hong Kong; Botswana; Zimbabwe. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

Simmonds, Dennis

2001-07-06
footplate; engine cleaner; fireman; driver; First World War; Second World War; General Strike; diesel training; LNW Provident & Pension Fund; trade union; running shift foreman; d.o.b. 1899-08-14, railway work 1914-1964, Tebay; Wigan Springs Branch; Carlisle; Perth; Crewe; Ingleton; Garston Dock; Salop; Penrith; London; Ince Moss; Windermere. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

Wilson, Percy

2001-02-14
booking clerk, passenger running section; time table office; BTC publications; chief publicity officer's department (passenger); Intercity advertising services; enquiry office; rules and regulations section; self drawn maps; A. Earl Edwards; David Kirby; accident; emergency timetable; publicity publications; 1966 world cup; alphabetic train departure sheets, computerisation; selective prices manual; geographic flow lines; channel tunnel; David Rayner; coded frequency maps; D2 T1-14 sectorisation; Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers andd Firemen (ASLEF) strike; inter-terminal links, London Underground; last Manchester pullman; Chris Green; penalty fares; silver swallow award; methodology; d.o.b. 1933-01-01, railway work 1948-12-04, Sydenham Hill Booking Office; West Dulwich; Austria; East Croydon; Waterloo; Lewisham; London; Stockton and Darlington; Penmanshiel Tunnel; Washington DC; New york; Euston House; London-Brighton; Stansted; British Railways; British Transport Commission (BTC); Terence Cuneo; Transmark; British cartographic Society; Thameslink; Network Southeast; Intercity;

Slatter, Bernard Arthur James

2002-12-04; 2002-12-09
Oral history interview with Tom Strophair conducted and recorded by Robert Aitchison on 23 March 2004, as part of the Time Tracks oral history collecting initiative. Duration 1 hour 5 minutes 7 seconds. Born in 1927 in Witton Park; early life; apprenticeship; army; Shildon railway works; reparation steel from Japan; long shed; motive power shed; electric trains; Shildon works closure 1984; pensions; prisoner of war; 1975 celebrations, Stockton and Darlington 150th anniversary; wagon repair; traverser; closure of shipbuilding; closure of pits; Shildon station; railway institute; almshouses

Tom Strophair interviewed by Robert Aitchison

2004-03-23
probationer clerk; junior clerk; shorthand typist; clerical exam; description of station; claims office; Miss Green, tutor, explanation of course; work description; typing emergency instructions; roneo notices; VIPs, royalty, film stars, dictation, standards; outdoor machinery section; d.o.b. 1939, railway work 1957-1963, Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne; Alnwick; Hertfordshire; Northumberland; Ware Station; Liverpool Street; Chertsey; Waterloo; London Bridge; Southampton Docks; Sheffield; Derby; Plymouth; Bristol; Shell Mex/BP; Alnwick Gazette;

Shalice, Brenda (nee Pow)

2003-01-21
research department; freight vehicle suspension; vehicle steering; Advanced passenger Train (Experimental) (APT-E); group standards; privatisation; InterCity engineer; pantograph work; d.o.b. 1947-09, railway work 1947-c.1990, Derby;

Boocock, David

2001-12-13
porter; head shunter; passenger guard; stationmaster; parcels clerk; station inspector; assistant station master; assistant manager; learned English from railway people; Beeching closures; perks; area management; train incident; discrimination; Queen Mother; interview experience; multi-racial; accommodation; training; working conditions; d.o.b. 1910-01-01, railway work 1957-1989, Kashmir; Kircaldy; Thornton Junction; Kinbrace; Glasgow, Central; Herne Hill; Woolwich; Liverpool; Broadstairs;

Ayub, Mohammed

2003-01-16
footplate; engine cleaner; fireman; firing instructor; traction inspector; senior traction inspector; train crew manager; conditions, shifts, mess; mutual improvement class; trade union; Local Departmental Committee; rivalry; single manning; driver training, Deltic, HST; steam-diesel comparison; d.o.b. 1924-01-13, railway work: 1940-1980s, Asociated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Fireman (ASLEF; National Union of Railwaymen (NUR); Trades Union Congress; Gateshead; London King's Cross; Newcastle; York; Stoke Tunnel Barnford; Kentish Town hostel; Edinburgh; Skelton; Bensham; Haydon Bridge; Gascoigne Wood; Bardon Mill; Blyth coal staithes; Tyneside Metro; Sheffield;

Charlton, James Reginald (Reg)

2002-06-27
electrical & mechanical engineering; London Underground; trade unions; management training; major incidents; reorganisations; maintenance; school; Royal Air Force 1939-46; junior technical assistant, London Transport 1946; exchange with RATP; Paris 1952; general technical assistant to progress and planning engineers; London Transport; underground stock (post-1945); trade union; management training; Ashridge; electric traction engineer; suppliers; electrical equipment; mechanical parts; operating problems; reorganisation; deputy operations director; director mechanical engineering; Moorgate disaster; OBE; maintenance structure reorganisation; retirement 1985; review of work at London Underground; consultancy; Tunis; Washington; World Bank; Chicago; Colin Kray; Chicago; Manx electric railway; Docklands Light railway; London Transport International; Algiers Metro; Singapore; China; Washington Metro; Channel Tunnel 1985-1986; Alain Bertrand; Channel Tunnel locomotives; SNCF; Channel Tunnel evacuation procedures; Eurotunnel rolling stock; d.o.b. 1921-05-18; railway work 1921-1985. London; Moorgate. 3.1496 x 2.8346 x .315 in.

Hafter, Gordon Henry (OBE)

2000-07-03
probationary clerk; class 3 clerk; clerical officer (CO); head of section (CO4); travel centre manager; telesales manager; passenger & goods; railway studentship scheme, goods depot project; divisional experience; formal training, day release, Institute of Transport; cattle transportation; coal co-ordination section; merry-go-round (MGR); research and planning section; early digitalisation; freight train, passenger train planning, survey; draft timetables; service improvements; group travel section; shift working patterns; travel centres; fraud; staff shotages through dismissals; All Purpose Ticket Issuing System (APTIS); Portable Ticket Issuing System (PORTIS); conflict between staff; despatch of tickets; group travel; telesales office closure, operating problems; National Rail Enquiry Service (NRES); value of business travel; Regional Railways North East (RRNE); complaints procedure; Birmingham-London service, complaints; trade union membership; d.o.b. 1946-09-24, railway work: 1965-2000, York Goods; Foss Island depot; Leeman Road; Knottingley passenger & goods; Castleford; Hunslet goods; Wellington Street; Bradfod Valley; Woodlesford; Holbeck; Healey Mills; York booking, HQ; Skegness branch; Leeds; Sheffield division; Hull; Gilberdyke; British railways (BR); Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB); National Coal Board (NCB); North Sea Ferries; British Telecom (BT);

Scotney, John

2002-09-06