Right Son, Lets See How You Greet a Passenger

by Doc Braham

Title

Right Son, Lets See How You Greet a Passenger

Artist

Doc Braham

Medium

Photograph - Photography, Pop Art, Contemporary, Black & White, Portfolio, Original Art, High Class Fashion, Painting, Conceptual, Mixed Media, Abstract, Contemporary, Success, Unique, Odd, Quirky

Description

What kinds of employment could be found with the railways? There were two worlds - the managers, clerks and other salaried white-collar workers, and the weekly wage-earning manual workers (operatives). Amongst the latter, the engine driver of a crack passenger train such as the Flying Scotsman was at the top of the heap and he would have worked his way up slowly from perhaps a cleaner in the sheds or works, to fireman, then to driver. The train crew (driver, fireman and guard) practiced double-homing, that is, they split their time between a normal home with their family at one end of the line they worked on, and a second home in lodgings at the other end (Jerome).

Wages were generally low, but the employers were amongst the first to provide benefits such as pensions, sick pay, convalescent homes, staff housing, community facilities and social activities. Staff were of high calibre compared to outside the industry, were loyal to their companies and took pride in their work. The days of many personnel, such as rural station masters, ticket clerks and porters, were not filled and there was a chance to develop hobbies such as gardening and reading. Signalmen were rather well known for their literacy as well as their industrial militancy. Apprenticeships and technical training were provided, as were other needed skills like accountancy and safety procedures. At first large numbers of women found work in station restaurants and bars, and in laundries. When the men went off to two world wars women undertook clerical tasks and were suddenly found to be capable of a lot more, from running lost luggage offices to cleaning engines and becoming railway police!

Uploaded

November 23rd, 2017

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