A Railwaymans Life

Life & Death on the Railway

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:40:33 +0100

This week so far has been a traumatic one for many of my colleagues on the railway. I do not differentiate between companies like a lot of my colleagues do, as far as I am concerned we are a railway family regardless of the colour of our uniform or train.

On the 24th April 2012 there were 5 fatalities in one day on the UK railway network, that is five drivers & guards whose lives have been changed forever by the actions of one person. Not to mention the Network Rail staff & Brtish Transport Police Officers that had to clean up the mess after the incident & the 1000’s of passengers who had their journey times severely extended or even cancelled.

So with this in mind I was shocked when a colleague of mine forwarded a document he received from the British Transport Police under the freedom of information act to find out that between the 1st January & the 2nd April 2012 there have been 147 incidents of persons being hit by or falling under trains on the UK rail network. Unfortunately this figure does not specify if the person survived or if the action was intentional or an accidental.

This is an appalling figure as that is 147 drivers that have to live with the knowledge that they have either maimed or killed a person whilst going about their job. It is also worth bearing in mind as well that there will also be a number of guards and members of the public who also will have been affected by the incident as well.

The top train is one of our old long distance trains that were...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:16:10 +0100

Class 321 Electric Train

Class 121 Diesel Train

The top train is one of our old long distance trains that were replaced by the newer ones, seen in the previous pictures.

The bottom train is one of our old local trains, they were retired in 2001 after being in service for nearly 40 years.

These are the two main types of train I work. The top one is...

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 16:37:57 +0100

Class 153 Diesel Train

Class 350 Electric Train

These are the two main types of train I work. The top one is used for local journeys & the bottom one is used for our longer distance services.

Desiro Trains

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:39:44 +0100

Desiro Trains:

These are the main type of train that I work. But I do work on other types of trains well.

Woman 'set herself on fire' on train

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 09:56:57 +0100

Woman 'set herself on fire' on train:

This happened while i was off work after my knee surgery. It was on one of the trains owed by the company I work for and it was two of my colleagues who were working the train when it happened.

Bad News

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:23:00 +0100

What an eventful week it has been, I returned to work on Tuesday for the 1st time since I had my arthroscopy. It has taken its toll on my knee but i was determined to get through it.

Today i had to attend a physiotherapy appointment today at 1350, i was promptly told by the physiotherapist that i’m doing too much & that i stand a good chance of doing permanent damage to my knee if I carry on stressing it like I am at the moment.

The result is that she instructed me to go to my GP & get some stronger anti-inflammatories, she also said to get him to sign me off for 4 weeks.

In two weeks time I have another appointment, where she will asses my knee and decide if i’m fit to resume work.

Oh well so much for the triumphant return to work.

After yesterday, some joker decided to stack the ticket machines...

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:16:18 +0100

After yesterday, some joker decided to stack the ticket machines like this. LOL

This is the sight that greeted me this morning when I got to...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:32:51 +0100

This is the sight that greeted me this morning when I got to work. 30 Ticket machines that need to be processed ready for reuse. It will take me hours.

1st day back at work after my operation. I had to spend 3 hours...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:11:44 +0100

1st day back at work after my operation. I had to spend 3 hours wading through nearly 900 emails.

Me, sat at the Physiotherapy Department of my local hospital...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:17:00 +0100

Me, sat at the Physiotherapy Department of my local hospital last Thursday. This was after 30 minutes of physio and i was hot and knackered.

A Relatives Birthday Cake.

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:50:29 +0100

A Relatives Birthday Cake.

I really need to get back here, I usually go here every year but...

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:20:16 +0100

I really need to get back here, I usually go here every year but because of my knee injury i have not been there for nearly 2 years. :(

"I’d rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not."

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 19:33:30 +0100

“I’d rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not.”

- Kurt Cobain

This was the scene in the staff car park at work. About 15...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:56:00 +0100

This was the scene in the staff car park at work. About 15 minutes later on a path further along at the station I had my accident.

My History on the Railway.

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 20:26:00 +0100

I started on the railway in the March of 1996, i was the last intake of staff for what was then British Rail (North London Railways), because I was employed under British Rail I received a pass that allows me to travel for free on the trains in the UK, i can also get reduced rate travel on most of the railways around the world.

The 1st 6 months of my job were not the easiest as it seemed to me that every train i stepped on to work ended up having problems. This resulted in me receiving my nick name of Jonah, this has stuck with me and probably will stay with me until the day i retire (the railway is funny like that). Eventually things settled down and i carried on with a job that i loved.

I have seen many changes to the railway since the time i started the biggest of which was privatisation. I have also seen elements of my job taken away and given to other staff.

I have worked for many years with very few problems, i have had the usual trial and tribulations ranging from minor train breakdowns, a couple of major train breakdowns and the odd assault.

In July of 2010 i was rushed to hospital with abdominal pains, where i spent 5 days of being prodded and poked by doctors and nurses, eventually after a very embarrassing procedure involving a camera being placed up somewhere very personal, i was diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). This lead to me being taken off the trains and a substantial dietary change.

I was finally declared fit to return to the job I loved in December 2010, unfortunately for me it had snowed quite badly and as i walked out to work my 1st train i slipped and dislocated my right knee cap, i also tore 2 ligaments and stretched another to almost breaking point (although this was not picked up straight away). So once again I was rushed to Hospital, after having various x-rays i had a neoprene splint strapped to my leg. I returned to hospital in January 2011 where the aforementioned ligament damage was found after an MRI was performed. In April 2011 I had major surgery on my knee. (Below)

I then started regular physiotherapy and by September was fit enough to once again return to work in a limited capacity looking after the Avantix Ticket Machines, all was well until November when during a visit to the hospital that there was a lot of grating noise in my knee, along with strength problems. Yet another MRI later and a return visit to the hospital resulted in me being told that there was debris in the knee and this would require surgical intervention.

On the 29th of February 2011 whilst on my way home from work I got a phone call from the admissions department on my hospital asking me if i could be there on the 2nd March for them to perform my Arthroscopic Surgery, I went into surgery again for the 2nd time in less than 11 months.

I awoke from the anesthetic to find two new holes in my knee (Above), i was told by the surgeon that they had done far more than they were expecting, this included smoothing the back of my knee cap, flushing out cartilage debris and trimming the rough edges of my knee cartilage to prevent further disintegration (hopefully!).

This brings me up to date I am recovering form the 2nd lot of surgery and will hopefully be returning to work on the 2nd of April.

My 1st Entry

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:23:00 +0000

Hi,

Well today is my first entry on my blog, I decided to start this to express my feelings about some of the things that piss me off & the sights I see doing my job on the railway.

I have been off work for a while after having an Arthroscopy on my right knee, i have been passing the time doing my Physiotherapy exercises and playing Mass Effect 3 on my xbox. I have watched a few films on DVD and TV, also I have been spending some time on an internet chat site and i’ve met some great people from around the world.

For some reason today i’m feeling quite low and not even shooting a rampaging hoard of aliens is making me feel better, which it usually does. I’m going to keep at it and maybe when enough aliens have died, i will feel better.

So bye for now I have go save the earth from the Reaper Invasion, and I’ll see you all again soon.

WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:10:18 +0000

Shooting the crap out of stuff on my xbox.