Do train crews from different TOCs mix with one another in the mess room, or keep themselves to themselves?

[Flange Squeal]

The usual musts in ours, Kettles (tea, coffee, and fresh milk provided daily), water boiler, oven, microwaves, toaster, coffee maker, hot drinks vending machine, Coke/Fanta vending machine, snacks vending machine, pool table, two fruit machines & a change dispenser. In the TV room we have full Sky with sports and film channels which are paid for by the welfare fund out of profits from said machines.

Very nice! At my last TOC in southern England (I’m at a single depot operation now, but only been a relatively short time since leaving the multi-depot place) ours were sink, water boiler, microwave, fridge, table and chairs.

Anything more (eg TV, vending machine, fruit machine etc) was allowed by agreement with the company and funded by traincrew themselves. Usually traincrew would run a social fund as you describe, which may consist of staff voluntarily chipping in a certain amount each year to pay the TV licence, or through acquisition/renting of a vending/fruit machine with the profits paying the TV licence and any surplus put towards food for retirement dos etc. Fruit machines were becoming noticeably fewer at the depots I frequented though.

 

[Scotrail84]

I’ve heard some horror stories about the facilities some freight boys & girls are provided with. Thankfully we have always been treated well in comparison.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Dec 2024 ==



I find it so strange how things are done north of the Border. No deals on booze in pubs (even Spoons) or on Scotrail catering after certain hours for example and now you advise me of this. Why so draconian? We’ve had several guards do that over the years then scramble around to borrow. Others have been at work hours after finish time as won’t leave the fruity. Even getting someone to stand guard whilst they go out for more cash. Most I think are contactless now.

We've got Sturgeon and her crusade against alcohol abuse to thank for that. Although we do kind of get some deals, we had a £2 a pint deal for a few weeks in Greene King pubs in September.

They just don't have the staff to man every long distance service with trolleys just now.

I have to be honest, bandits in messrooms are a bad idea, there would be late starts every day and sackings every other month if we had them up here.

There used to be members of staff who would have had their last bite covered but would sit and play cards ands still be there long after their turn had finished, playing for 50p a point in some games. Absolute madness!!

 

[scotraildriver]

I’ve heard some horror stories about the facilities some freight boys & girls are provided with. Thankfully we have always been treated well in comparison.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Dec 2024 ==



I find it so strange how things are done north of the Border. No deals on booze in pubs (even Spoons) or on Scotrail catering after certain hours for example and now you advise me of this. Why so draconian? We’ve had several guards do that over the years then scramble around to borrow. Others have been at work hours after finish time as won’t leave the fruity. Even getting someone to stand guard whilst they go out for more cash. Most I think are contactless now.

Because we have a controlling,nanny state government that thinks no one can enjoy alcohol or gambling responsibly. It's killing the hospitality industry too.

 

[chuff chuff]

There used to be members of staff who would have had their last bite covered but would sit and play cards ands still be there long after their turn had finished, playing for 50p a point in some games. Absolute madness!!

Playing bones or cards for money was also forbidden.

 

[dk1]

Because we have a controlling,nanny state government that thinks no one can enjoy alcohol or gambling responsibility. It's killing the hospitality industry too.

Not good mate.

 

[Scotrail84]

Playing bones or cards for money was also forbidden.

Yes as it's a form of illegal gambling in the workplace. Didn't stop boys playing though. Don't see many card schools these days anyway.

 

[chuff chuff]

Yes as it's a form of illegal gambling in the workplace. Didn't stop boys playing though. Don't see many card schools these days anyway.

Hardly see anyone talking nowadays since phones and tablets became so prevalent.

 

[Scotrail84]

Hardly see anyone talking nowadays since phones and tablets became so prevalent.

Sitting spare playing Spanish, Dominoes and pool are all a thing of the past since the new boil in the bag staff came in. Covid was the start of it.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Sitting spare playing Spanish, Dominoes and pool are all a thing of the past since the new boil in the bag staff came in. Covid was the start of it.

The last time I sat in a card school in our new building all the newbie’s seemed outraged! We weren’t even playing for money. Even when we used to play Blob it was only a penny a spot.

 

[Flange Squeal]

Interesting - but sad - to read of depots where it sounds like long serving and newer staff have an apparent divide. Where I am now doesn't seem to have this, but at a previous operator it seemed a real mix around the network. Some depots seemed pretty much spot on with the above descriptions - even when you walked into another depot and made an effort to say "Evenin'" and most wouldn't so much as look up (unless perhaps you were from that depot) - which makes me feel very fortunate the depot I was at (which wasn't a particularly small one either) seemed to be one of the few(?) still able to facilitate integration and human interaction. Of course there were some exceptions, with the odd "dinosaur" looking down at the "boil in the bags", who then didn't feel comfortable around said people, or people who really did just prefer a screen even when you tried to include them in chat.

However on the whole, everyone just seemed to get on respective of age and length of service. Old and new crew alike would be exchanging banter between them or about their football teams etc, newer people feeling able to ask the more experienced about an unusual shunt they'd picked up on an amended/special job without worrying about the risk of being made out to be stupid, etc. I don't know if this was because the layout of the messroom was a few tables pushed together to make one big one in the middle of the room which meant you were naturally 'closer' to each other, rather than being able to tuck yourself away on a separate table, or if we were just lucky with the people we had.

This isn't even a rose tinted specs moment from years back - it was still the case in a recent, post-Covid world! Shame we can't bottle whatever the magic formula there was and send it off on a tour around the network. Personally, I can't help but think it must make work end up being more of a chore if you aren't having a laugh and a joke - or even a plain old chat - with your colleagues. Especially if a driver where you spend most of the day on your own, with only the odd call to/from the signaller or change ends with a conductor (where provided), as a break from isolation!

 

[Ashley Hill]

Interesting - but sad - to read of depots where it sounds like long serving and newer staff have an apparent divide.

I think its probably more of a cultural divide between new and old and not anything vindictive.