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rail staff in pub
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In my days as a Guard at Kings Cross (mid 80's) the job was run on booze. If the foreman was looking for a driver at Hertford North he would ring the Sele Arms. I once thumbed a lift at Hornsey off a light Class 47 on the goods line and the driver was so plastered I had to keep him talking into the Cross.
Chapeltom
Established Member
Good debate about Wetherspoons. As I student, I sometimes go in as early as 10am depending what day it is, to drink yes. I agree about the down and outs, in particular establishments there is a problem with them but these guys generally are fairly friendly and I've had many a chat with a down and out.
Whilst JDW do come across as McDonalds of the pub chain, families, elderly couples, students use them (and don't take the stereotypical view of young people, students are different to chavs). They have standards.
You don't know how many times I've gone into Spoons at midday in Manchester wanting a pint after a 9am lecture whilst halfway home (I live in Derbyshire, commute to Liverpool) and been stuck behind people wanting lunch!!
But I agree, uniforms and pubs wouldn't work for me. I wouldn't feel easy with it either.
Whilst JDW do come across as McDonalds of the pub chain, families, elderly couples, students use them (and don't take the stereotypical view of young people, students are different to chavs). They have standards.
You don't know how many times I've gone into Spoons at midday in Manchester wanting a pint after a 9am lecture whilst halfway home (I live in Derbyshire, commute to Liverpool) and been stuck behind people wanting lunch!!
But I agree, uniforms and pubs wouldn't work for me. I wouldn't feel easy with it either.
lincolnshire
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PinzaC55. i like the bit I thumbed a lift off a Class 47, it used to happen regularly in them days, everyone worked together when it was one joined up railway called B.R.
Look at P.Way jobs on a Saturday night, collected from outside the pub and more often returned to the pub after the shift relaying, how many accidents was there in them days?
Like has been said already these days it pays not to be seen on licensed premises in uniform or while on duty , you never know who is watching. Just look at some of the post,s on here that I have seen, should the guard be shutting the doors from half way down the train etc , should i report him etc etc. if it definitely is not a genuine safety matter, mind your own business is my advice to them and if you don,t like it go by bus instead.
Look at P.Way jobs on a Saturday night, collected from outside the pub and more often returned to the pub after the shift relaying, how many accidents was there in them days?
Like has been said already these days it pays not to be seen on licensed premises in uniform or while on duty , you never know who is watching. Just look at some of the post,s on here that I have seen, should the guard be shutting the doors from half way down the train etc , should i report him etc etc. if it definitely is not a genuine safety matter, mind your own business is my advice to them and if you don,t like it go by bus instead.
Its true. I'm not defending the way things were done those days but there were no accidents because we looked out for each other. I remember one of our guards was working a train back from Leeds and he was so drunk that he had to be relieved at Peterborough by a Pboro guard into the Cross. He didn't get the sack, just told to go home and not do it again. Nowadays the United Nations would be involved.
The problems started with the run up to privatisation when you could be a Central Conductor, an Eastern Trainman(G) a Senior Conductor, A Boil In The Bag........nobody knew what the hell anybody did, or cared.
Reading that post I'm very much glad it's not like that now. I couldn't quite believe what I was reading tbh
dk1
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Lots of those drinking on duty days where so wrong in so many ways. I would love to go back though.
Anon Mouse
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I would hate it if we went back to the derinking culture, I would be skint by the end of the month!
dk1
Veteran Member
You could lose your whole weeks wages on a thursday pay day afternoon/evening in the railway club
Anon Mouse
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You could lose your whole weeks wages on a thursday pay day afternoon/evening in the railway club
My Wife would kill me, its bad enough when I have had a week of fast food!
You might have quite a few night shift workers who have finished and want a pint at the end of their shift too. I used to pop in for a breakfast and sneak a whisky into their tea after finishing at 7am
If someone wants to sell alcohol at 7am, and someone wants to buy it, I really don't see the problem. I thought we had 24 hour licensing laws for this reason?
scotsman
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I've heard a similar story involving folk on the railway looking after their (destroyed) colleagues
I understand that the hotel across the road from the old abbots Ripton station was a favourite-whilst the train was stopped there the fireman would run over and fill up the tea flasks with beer for the rest of the trip up north.
Was part of the culture a while ago - as people have said there are countless stories of drivers being found in the pub by the foreman whilst spare/cover and no use to anyone!
Was part of the culture a while ago - as people have said there are countless stories of drivers being found in the pub by the foreman whilst spare/cover and no use to anyone!
D1009
Established Member
Remember the Eltham Well Hall accident ? I think it was that that put the nail in the coffin of the railway drinking culture.
That was in 1972. The "railway drinking culture" was still in full gear in 1986 so any effect must have been very delayed.
BTW one factor in the end of the "drinking culture" was that BR realised - when they were trying to get rid of staff - that they could use D&A rules to get rid of them.
I remember in 1994 one guard was in the mess room "spare" and the foreman came in to give him a job. He found the guy slumped over the table asleep and reeking of booze. The guy was told he could resign or be sacked and prosecuted (standard practice) so he resigned. He had worked for BR for 19 years so he would have got redundancy money of if about £20,000 if he'd stayed sober a few more months.
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It's not compulsory to open or serve alcohol for 24 hours! Each establishment has the freedonm to decide for themselves what hours to apply for!
It was well and truly gone by 1998!
sprinterguy
Veteran Member
I don't see the harm in a driver or member of train crew who is feeling fairly alert and not impaired by fatigue having a leisurely pint between duties (But no alcohol probably is the most sensible policy), but some of the tales from the old days, of which I've heard a few as well as those mentioned on here, of drivers and other train staff being hammered on the job do worry me a bit! At times when I've been out on team lunches in previous jobs I have held (nothing to do with railway operations I might add) and had a couple of pints it can be difficult enough when I've gone back in the afternoon to concentrate on a job that involves a desk that doesn't move anywhere!
Wasn't the cause of the Morpeth sleeper derailment something to do with a driver who had had a few to drink prior to departure from Waverley?
Wasn't the cause of the Morpeth sleeper derailment something to do with a driver who had had a few to drink prior to departure from Waverley?
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He had had a few drinks but his defence argued, successfully, that he had bronchitis that, in the past, had caused him to have severe coughing fits leading to him becoming unconscious so were able to avoid a conviction for driving whilst intoxicated.
I also remember that at Charing Cross station in the early 90's a few staff were having a pint next door with an unpopular foreman who was still on duty. The local area manager came in , and the foreman noticed his drinking "buddies" had disappeared. I hope he found another job.:roll:
It's not compulsory to open or serve alcohol for 24 hours! Each establishment has the freedonm to decide for themselves what hours to apply for!
That's not the issue. It's that some Wetherspoons open at 7, are ready and willing to serve alcohol, while punters are ready and willing to buy it, and yet due to arcane laws the two parties are not allowed to trade freely.
But they are, if the company has applied for a licence allowing them to serve alcohol at that time, and as longer as the company wants to serve alcohol at that time. Your assumption that JDW is ready and willing to serve alcohol is not necessarily correct.
It may be that there have been incidents that have restricted the licencing hours locally, or have persuaded the company not to serve until a certain time, but there is no law that says alcohol cannot be served or purchased at 7am.
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