-
(Things so different this day)?
Late 1950s, You become a Passed Cleaner! (You still clean engines/ oil n paraffin mix)! But Inspector says your fit to fire or do other things? Or fit to do something but no one knows what yet? Maybe an incoming fireman falls off his bike! And suddenly your tearing over North Devon on a twin bogy Maunsell! A nice engine if not going tender first into rain! But mention of a 1/36 gradient recently on here? And me thinking St David’s 1/37 was the steepest on the network, got me daydreaming of my banking days! I quite enjoyed my times on that! Slogging up that hill on nearly full ‘wind’ but full regulator while nursing a wheel spin, to enter a quite long tunnel to have you on your knees to study its floorboards and maybe get a little air! Driver wraps a towel round his head? My first glance up to think we had been hijacked by ISIS group leader Asama Bin Laden? I would once do a full day firing after doing six hours on shed! And after my rail days in ’67 and I would Swab to clean huge sections of water ‘main’s pipework overnight to finish at 6am, to restart my main laying job again at 8am! Laying big bore pipes over field’s, through hedge’s and roads! With only a 2hour break! Yes, (Thing’s so different this day)?
