[mrg2507]

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

Since privatisation, there were two types of railwaymen - - proper railwaymen, and points scorers, and it was the points scorers who feathered their nests and prospered, and this vile culture of 'its not what you know, its who you know' existed.

Obviously passing your MP12 was a great moment, and with me taking advantage of the 'PT&R' arrangements as a drivers assistant, I moved to Cambois to 'get made'. My life their was probably the best in my career secondly only to moving back to Gateshead as a driver, when my '8b' came up.

Cambois has an allocation of 6 x 56, 4 x 37, and three 08 pilots, but a real homely depot with a great bunch of men, and one of my old Cambois colleagues who was a guard then in 1986, moved over to the footplate after I had left, and recently found himself driving 55022/D9000 for GBf.....

Life at 52A as a secondman was good, with plenty of work and many running jobs, and only once did I have the pleasure of working with my now retired Dad, a Saturday morning relief job - in which my Dad spent all day relaxing, and allowing my the pleasure of the left hand seat.

When back at 52A as a driver, there was a severe shortage of 143 units, those awful alluminium tin can bendy busses. Many services were loco hauled, or even in the hands of loco's hauling 101 DMU's, as I and one or two others were yet to be DMU trained.

I spent a full summer driving 3/4 coach vacuum braked trains between Newcastle, Berwick, Carlisle & Middlesborough.... and more than adequately lived up to my reputation as a total thrash merchant.

I remember one particular hot summer's afternoon, starting duty at 4pm to do the all stations Berwick service. I arrived at Gateshead to collect my loco, and the loco foreman (good old Geoff Bulter) even asked me which loco I wanted to take, as there was a choice. There were a few ETH fitted 47's, but my decision was made when I noticed 37250 on his depot loco board.

I have to say, that loco - complete with mini snow ploughs, the old black centre route indicator box, and covered in grime got the thrashing of its life out of every station.... Manors, Cramlington, Morpeth, Pegswood, Widdrington, Acklington, Alnmouth, Chathill & Berwick, and I remember the thanks I got from the 20+ bashers who travelled on the train..... power handle open slightly to take up amps, straight air brake off.... full power... and if you were a real mercenary, you hoped the anti-slip activated on a greasy rail, but leave the controller wide open for noise value. With 37250 being a later '68' series class 37, the load regulators seemed far better than those fitted to earlier 37's, so when you opened the power handle full, you got full value in noise and black exhaust, instead of the almost apologetic build up of power & noise associated with the '67' series.

Long before I even left school, Dad used to take me to work with him - usually on a Sunday, and while many a loco inspector would turn a blind eye, I gained a real insight into what was to be my future career. One job in particular I remember, the Heaton CS to Red Banks empty vans.... a rake of 25+ parcel vans, plus another 6 or 7 attached at Darlington, hauled by anything from a class 40, to 45/46.... all good stuff.

As a young number cruncher, myself and 2 or 3 pals would be at the Central Station early on a saturday morning. We eventually were allowed to travel to Durham by our respective parents - in the days when it was actually safe to do so. But my trips to Durham, and latterly Darlington were mapped out so we always caught a train driven by Dad. I will never ever forget - even to this fine day, Dad's departure from Darlington with a Kings Cross - Edinburgh service, hauled by 55017, The Durham Light Infantry....... his technique, a skill practised and honed since he learned the Deltics when they first entered service on the ECML, had her at full power before leaving the station canopy... a sound & sight I cannot forget..... and when the 2nd engine joins in, wow - Dad was conducting an orchestra that belted out that Napier music that is still so evocative to this day.

The first locomotive I ever drove.... 55009, at Gateshead. I was about 8 or 9 years old, and had been with Mum, Dad & my sister to visit my grandparents on a Sunday afternoon, and I always pursuaded Dad to divert via Gateshead on the way home, so I could look at the loco's. Two of his colleagues were shunting 'Alycidon', and Dad shouted up 'could we cab it'..... the crew couldn't wait to get out, and asked Dad to kindly stable the loco.... so after some prompting, I took the left hand seat..... god, 9 years old, with 3300hp worth of Napier music at my fingertips..... for 2 minutes I lived the dream, but I never forgot how lucky I was to be allowed into that shrine, a locomotive cab.

I could go on & on...... but you all know where & when I was happiest!

Cheers.

Marcus Gilmour.

(Proud son of the legendry Albert!)