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Re: Trains and your stories
I've had a an interest in trains since 1976. I used to travel a lot by train, far too expensive now.
I've a couple of lovely childhood memories, this being one.
In 1981, there was rail work going on at Porth station. The line was being singled between there and Treherbert. The Meardy branch was still being used for coal trains. The layout at Porth station was being altered. I had to go down to have a look. There was an engineering train there, with a class 37 at one end. Work for the day was coming to an end. The locomotive had to be couple up the other end of the train. At the time, I had asked to have a look in the cab. Permission was granted. While I was in the cab and the second-man showing me the cab controls etc, the driver got into the cab. "We've got clearance to Pontypridd and back."
Thinking my time in the cab was over, I duly said "I better jump out."
The driver looked at me "Don't you want a cab ride to Pontypridd and back?" He then grinned.
My face lit up like the midday sun. "Yes please!"
The second-man said he would go to the other cab, so I sat in the second-man's seat.
The three mile journey was something else. A view from the drivers cab!
At Pontypridd, the locomotive was then to run back to Porth. This would then take it to the other end of the waggons. I was a little worried has this meant going from one cab to the other. When I got out of the cab, what if I could not reach the cab hand rails from the ground? This worry immediately evaporated when I found out what we were going to do; WALK ALONG THE WALKWAY THROUGH THE LOCOMOTIVE NEXT TO THE ENGINE ITSELF!!!!! I will never forget the noise. Into the other cab and a three mile journey back to Porth. At Porth, I said my thanks and how great the ride was. I watched them couple up the locomotive, and watched the train work wrong line out of Porth. It was a day to remember.
This was long before the PC and "Elf'n'safety" zealots had their way. Even for a child to ask "Can I have a look in the cab?" the killjoys will pounce. I'm glad I was growing up then, not now.
I've had a an interest in trains since 1976. I used to travel a lot by train, far too expensive now.
I've a couple of lovely childhood memories, this being one.
In 1981, there was rail work going on at Porth station. The line was being singled between there and Treherbert. The Meardy branch was still being used for coal trains. The layout at Porth station was being altered. I had to go down to have a look. There was an engineering train there, with a class 37 at one end. Work for the day was coming to an end. The locomotive had to be couple up the other end of the train. At the time, I had asked to have a look in the cab. Permission was granted. While I was in the cab and the second-man showing me the cab controls etc, the driver got into the cab. "We've got clearance to Pontypridd and back."
Thinking my time in the cab was over, I duly said "I better jump out."
The driver looked at me "Don't you want a cab ride to Pontypridd and back?" He then grinned.
My face lit up like the midday sun. "Yes please!"
The second-man said he would go to the other cab, so I sat in the second-man's seat.
The three mile journey was something else. A view from the drivers cab!
At Pontypridd, the locomotive was then to run back to Porth. This would then take it to the other end of the waggons. I was a little worried has this meant going from one cab to the other. When I got out of the cab, what if I could not reach the cab hand rails from the ground? This worry immediately evaporated when I found out what we were going to do; WALK ALONG THE WALKWAY THROUGH THE LOCOMOTIVE NEXT TO THE ENGINE ITSELF!!!!! I will never forget the noise. Into the other cab and a three mile journey back to Porth. At Porth, I said my thanks and how great the ride was. I watched them couple up the locomotive, and watched the train work wrong line out of Porth. It was a day to remember.
This was long before the PC and "Elf'n'safety" zealots had their way. Even for a child to ask "Can I have a look in the cab?" the killjoys will pounce. I'm glad I was growing up then, not now.
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