Mine was my previous job of 11 years working 12 hour rotating nights and days! I almost laughed when the manager interviewing me told me 9 hour shifts on the railway can be demanding having been in a very high pressure job before!
So this week I've been on our early turns.
The earliest of which is '0415-1215 Standby'
Now working shifts is one thing but getting up to start work at 0230 takes some effort! You don't know if your late for nights or early for days!!
Basically your the first guard in the depot and first reserve just incase anyone goes sick. Now this again is one of those marmite shifts, love it or hate it, it's got to be done!
Booking on with the depot manger and due to the shortages on our depot usually sees you being given work to do immediately but at the moment things are quite settled and with our newest guards now in the saddle as permanent surplus staff until the timetable change in May I'm told to 'take rest'.
I collect a float and ticket machine and take it up to the mess room upstairs, check my cash and machine are in fully working order and log on. Watching the coming and going of the early staff is funny virtually everyone asks the same question 'You spare??'
It's something of a novelty to have spares on the depot you see and sometimes it can work in your favour if you have a particularly grim job!
Eventually I retire into the TV room until I'm joined at 0605 by one of the newer guards who is also spare! (You can now see the older guards literally doing the maths at what job your going to be covering for them at this point!)
We're now joined by a few of the drivers who are coming in for breaks having started at 0330 ish and also a couple of spare drivers. The atmosphere is jovial as we chew the cud over various trivial matters and current affairs!
At 0745 the tannoy crackles into life 'Conductor *the guard* to the signing on point please' duty calls. I collect my machine and make my way down one floor to the signing on point. One of the other guards has become sick on duty and I'm to cover his last two trains. However because he is coming in from Crewe and he was due a break my first train is not until 9ish then it's a quick trip to New mills followed by a trip to Hadfield!
A quick pit stop to Greggs is now on the cards then and after a bacon barm and a coffee (black no sugar thanks!) I'm off on my first trip and its a double 142 set upto New Mills with a 'sleepover' in the sidings.
I'm not keen on double sets out of the peaks worse because we are restricted to the back two coaches and our fare dodgers know this.
People think I'm ticket mad but as a fare paying passenger before joining the railway it gets my goat seeing people get away with it!
As it happens I check the front coach before departure and despite no barrier on platform 1 all have tickets. Then my driver draws up as far as possible at stations enroute which encourages all but one determined soul to join us in the back set. Had a little walk round New Mills on arrival and the back to Picc!
My Hadfield was equally as uneventful with the vast majority having tickets or 'blue wrinkly passes'!! Managed to keep to time all the way back but got held up again by damn TPE at Guide Bridge and then held for what seemed like an age outside Picc for a platform!
The best bit about being standby is the possibility of going home early and sure enough on arrival at The depot I'm told I can go home around half hour early! Not my best result to date but an early finish all the same! There is something satisfying about driving home and getting paid for the privilege!
Photo. Old style blind on one end of the 142 had some fun putting some odd destinations up! (Small things and all)!!
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