The Bristol Railway Archive

Talking of lorries and building sites, over the past decade or so signs seem to have cropped up saying 'No reversing without a banksman'. Where did that term come from? Are they redundant financial sector workers who have found a new NVQ?

On the original thread, when I was an apprentice, I used to walk home from work along the cess of the main line then nip over the back garden wall - about a mile and a half. I could usually do this between trains when they were running on time. Despite contravening current day Personal Track Safety rules, was this any less safe than walking along main roads? I suppose it was the equivalent of a road sweeper (remember them?) walking home along the gutter.

the green mile wrote: .... when I was an apprentice, I used to walk home from work along the cess of the main line then nip over the back garden wall - about a mile and a half. I could usually do this between trains when they were running on time. Despite contravening current day Personal Track Safety rules, was this any less safe than walking along main roads? ....

When I was at Bath Road and lived in Brislington I often walked out of the back of the shed, along the avoiding line, onto the earthwork remnants of the Radstock line and back onto roads at Stanley Park.

In those days, of course, nobody had yet thought of high-vis jackets and, as long as you stuck your right arm in the air to acknowledge approaching trains, nobody gave a monkey's.

Ah, those were the days

My first (temporary) job out of school was in a TV repair shop. Colour TV's with 25kV tube supplies and live chassis.

I always recall the timeless advice from the senior repairman: "Always keep one hand in your pocket and you'll be just fine!"

He was right. I got plenty of shocks (or "belts" as they were called back then) but never once did I get killed outright!

'No reversing without a banksman'

According to Wikipedia, the term banksman comes from coal mining:

1825: the man stationed at the bank or top of a pit who unhooks and empties the laden corves into carts or wagons, from a frame or stage. 1849: the man who draws the full tubs from the cages at the surface, when wound up by the engine, and replaces them with empty ones ; he also puts the full tubs to the weighing machine, and thence to the skreens, upon which he teems the coals. It is also his duty to keep an account of the quantity of coals and stones drawn each day. 1894: Person who controls the unloading and loading of the cage at the pit top, and signals the descent of the workmen.

Nowadays, the term is used for the person at ground level who is responsible for the operations of a crane, or a reversing supervisor where lorries are concerned.

jules wrote:

'No reversing without a banksman'

According to Wikipedia, the term banksman comes from coal mining:

1825: the man stationed at the bank or top of a pit who unhooks and empties the laden corves into carts or wagons, from a frame or stage. 1849: the man who draws the full tubs from the cages at the surface, when wound up by the engine, and replaces them with empty ones ; he also puts the full tubs to the weighing machine, and thence to the skreens, upon which he teems the coals. It is also his duty to keep an account of the quantity of coals and stones drawn each day. 1894: Person who controls the unloading and loading of the cage at the pit top, and signals the descent of the workmen.

Nowadays, the term is used for the person at ground level who is responsible for the operations of a crane, or a reversing supervisor where lorries are concerned.

And buses

That's a relief. I was expecting to open up today to a load of bad mouthing for walking along main lines. My excuse - I was young then and didn't know any better. Just like I didn't wear ear protection in the engine rooms of locos because it was 'uncool'. Sorry, speak up, I'm a bit deaf these days!

I still maintain that track walking is safer than road walking. The trajectory of a train is more predictable than that of a road vehicle and train drivers react by giving you a warning which road users don't.

the green mile wrote:That's a relief. I was expecting to open up today to a load of bad mouthing for walking along main lines. My excuse - I was young then and didn't know any better.

If you were going to get any "bad mouthing" then I would suspect that it would be from the younger element for whom H&S has been drummed in to them (some might say "over-drummed into them") for nearly 40 years.

Others of us around here, of a "certain age," who spent much of their teenage years bunking sheds and tresspasing over all manner of railway property, because that's how things were done back then, might hold a different view.

Well said sir! As a wise old sage in York Carriage Works once said to me, "Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of idiots". Proven to be correct on many occasions during my career.

Something else which has changed over the years is the visibilty of track workers. You will notice that they are now dressed all over in high viz orange and with appropriate head protection. Gone are the days of the humble HV vest tied around the waist or even just left hanging on the handle of a shovel dug into the ground just beyond the cess. On hot sunny days, an opportunity to top up the suntan, it was not unknown for a bright red shirt to be removed and hung by the trackside in this manner.

Even within depots, the navy blue overalls I wore in the 60's and 70's have been replaced with orange. Sometime in the 70's we were instructed to wear a HV vest when walking across the barrow crossing from Bath Road to Temple Meads platform 12. Often it was just casually thrown over the shoulder for the few seconds it took to complete the move. Safety culture seemed to be thought of as 'uncool' in those days.

At the end of a shift at Bath Road, there was always a rush straight across the main line under the Bath Road bridge to the car park at Pylle Hill. I don't think we lost anyone.

A topical one for today:

How about starting fires with waste oil? I shall be conducting an experiment into this one tonight to check that it still works. I'm sure it does (unless they've put something in the oil to prevent it)

Have a fun and safe bonfire night all. I'll report back tomorrow ...

starting fires with waste oil?

Yep. it still works a treat and I lived once more to tell the tale ...