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Documentary

Railwaymen

Stephen Lovell-Davis captured, from within, the quiet resilience and brotherhood of Euston’s railwaymen in the early ’80s.

Between 1979 and 1981 I worked as a Station Coupler at Euston in London, uncoupling the incoming engine from arriving trains and coupling on another to take them back out again. The job, which used to be done by the firemen on steam engines, was created with the advent of diesel and electric engines operated by a driver only. The couplers were part of the shunting department which was based in the Yard Supervisor’s office at the end of platform 18. The senior men were the Trip Shunters, in charge of backing complete trains in ‘trips’ from the downside shed to the station. The department was run by a shift Supervisor assisted by a Chargeman.


The job was dirty, boring and statistically the second most dangerous on the railway after the permanent way repair crews. However, it did have a degree of independence not enjoyed by the platform staff, in that a coupler was given a list of trains to cover and was not looked for unless a train was missed.

 

The job was dangerous because you had to climb down between the engine and the carriages to unhook the coupling and detach the brake hoses and power cables. Often the coupling was pulled tight and the easiest way of undoing it was to get between the engine and the coaches, isolate the brakes and shout to the driver to ‘ease up’. He would then push the engine into the coaches to slacken the coupling which you could then unhook. You were meant to get out from between the engine and the coaches during this operation, but we never did.

 

Although there were officially three shifts (early, late and night), the job was deliberately understaffed and we all usually worked 6am-6pm early turn or 6pm-6am nights, covering the late turn on overtime. This meant that the basic wage of £64.80 per week was raised to a more reasonable amount by overtime.

 
During my time there I didn’t take many pictures, I was too busy doing the job. Now I wish I had shot more since I think it is some of my best work. These pictures were selected from 105 frames.

Our Hero – Euston 1980. This is me standing next to two class 86 locomotives. You get a sense of how big these things are from track level that you don’t get standing on a platform. The uniform, which was made-to-measure in Hebden Bridge, consisted of a woollen three-piece suit. Not very practical when everything was covered with grease. I don’t think I ever had it cleaned in all the time I worked at the station.

Yard Supervisor Johnny Moran – Euston Station 1979. As Yard Supervisor, Johnny was in charge of shunting and train movements between the station and the shed. He was also in charge of station couplers and so was my line manager as we say these days. Actually, rather an appropriate title if you work on the railways.
Coupler Gulam Ismail – Euston 1980. Gulam was a keen cricketer and would always try to swap his shifts with you if they fell on a match day.
Shunters McCloud and Brown – Euston 1980. Brownie styling it out in flares and white moccasins. These were probably not quite up to the British Safety Standard for footwear. Gloves in the foreground really were necessary to protect your hands. The widely-adopted procedure was to keep them in your pocket in a sliced loaf wrapper which was just the right size.
The Anguses resting – Euston 1979. Most of us worked twelve hour shifts for two weeks of days then one of nights. This could be particularly wearing in the winter when you wouldn’t see daylight on a night shift. These two were cousins, as I recall. The man in the foreground was a trip shunter and the chap in the background was a coupler, like me.
Couplers Biondini and Ali – Euston 1979. Steve and Hanif messing about for the camera. I’m not sure what my colleagues thought of me photographing them but they were remarkably tolerant and relaxed.
The fly-spattered front of a Type 47 – Euston 1979. This was a diesel but most of the locomotives running out of Euston were electric, running off the 25,000 volt overhead power. There were also electric unit trains on the suburban services that used 630 volt third rail power. Stepping over these in very heavy rain you would get a jolt through your leg.
Shunter Brown tired in the Yard Supervisor’s office – Euston 1979.
Couplers Ali and Ekmekci with Shunter Brown in the background – Euston 1979.
Yard Supervisor Moran – Euston 1979. Johnny walking along the rails beyond the platforms. This could be a dangerous place because there were a lot of points and crossovers directing trains into different platforms and it could be difficult to tell where an approaching train might be going.
A type 2 and the 350 in the morning light – Euston 1979. There were a couple of little roads between the Yard Supervisor’s office and the signal box that were used for parking shunting engines, wagons, failed carriages etc. The points controlling them were the old-fashioned hand operated type.
Shunter Angus on the rails – Euston 1980. Roger Angus on the rails with a Class 08 shunt loco in the background. This locomotive was used for all sorts of shunting jobs, including bringing sets of carriages from the downside shed. It had various names: ‘The 350’ (referring to its 350 hp power output), ‘The Jock’ and I once saw ‘The Flying Flea’ written on the side of it in dirt.
Chargeman Corridon – Euston 1980. Bill Corridon was always immaculately turned out,  just look at those boots! Here he is standing by the points lever for the shunt road by the office.
Yard Supervisor Cedric Pearce on the parcels’ dock – Euston 1980. The trolleys behind him were known as Brutes (British Rail Universal Trolley Equipment) and were used to move parcels and other items on and off trains and around the station. They seemed to have metal wheels because the racket they made when being towed around was horrific.
Coupler Valentine – Euston 1980. Steve Valentine shuffles cards in the Shunters’ break room. This was the location of choice for cards (three-card brag and ten-card rummy) and dominoes. Dominoes, as played by the Caribbean guys, was not the sedentary home-counties game I knew. The dominoes had metal rivets in the middle of them and were slammed down on the table accompanied by varying levels of abuse and taunting.
Shunter Brown and Chargeman Corridon in the Yard Supervisor’s office – Euston 1980. The mirrors by the window enabled the Chargeman to see what was in the shunt roads or coming up platform 18.
Coupler Angus having lunch  – Euston 1980. There was a subsidised staff canteen in the station but it wasn’t very good. We had a little kitchen in the Shunters’ room and the Caribbean guys would all put in money for Brownie (one of the shunters) to cook for them. It was usually stew and dumplings and was delicious. The chaps from the Indian subcontinent brought snap tins of curry and rice or chapattis from home. For my part, I usually ate take-away puris and Indian sweets from nearby Drummond Street.
Coupler Mehta with jumper cable – Euston 1980. These cables, one on each side, were the 1000v electricity supply from the locomotive to the train.
Coupler Moriarty with a parcel train – Euston 1980. There was a massive Royal Mail parcels depot on a floor above the station, sending and receiving post from the north-west and Scotland. They also used to run a TPO (Travelling Post Office) to Scotland overnight. This was the Night Mail made famous in the Auden poem.
Cedric Pearce in the Yard Supervisor’s Office during a night shift – Euston 1980.
Coupler Lloyd in the Yard Supervisor’s office – Euston 1980.
One of the Trip Shunters getting warm in the shunters’ room – Euston 1980.
Coupler Joy Etienne in the staff canteen – Euston 1980. He always looked cool wearing these slightly tinted glasses, which I think were prescription, even on night shifts.
Couplers Valentine and Moriarty with Yard Supervisor Pearce next to the 350 shunt engine – Euston 1980.
Johnny Moran at the points lever, letting a Class 86 engine through – Euston 1980.
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The photographer

Stephen Lovell-Davis

Stephen Lovell-Davis rose from photographing gigs and punk bands—after a run-in with Pete Townshend no less—to shooting for the NME, Vogue, The Guardian and more, building a career across portraiture, reportage and editorial work.

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