Steam Team at Ormskirk Railway Station

“I had a few jobs when I left school. I was an apprentice watchmaker and then I ran some errands for a TV and radio company, basically a gopher.

“I didn’t like the jobs one bit. So, the employment worker gave me a choice between working in a leather factory or on the railway. I thought why shouldn’t I go for the railway and I never looked back.�

In 1956, Chris began working in the signal box, which included duties like answering the phone to book all the trains in the register book.

“I remember my first day meeting the station master Mr Davidson, but everyone called him Uncle Tom. He was a former Cumbrian wrestler and I can’t say a bad word about him.

“He was such a nice guy and he stood up for his men. He was the gaffer, he was the man in charge and we all looked up to him. He took me on as a signal box lad but I wasn’t allowed to pull any levers or press any buttons.�

Chris was there for about four years during which time he was sent to Manchester for a six week course at signal school.

“I was on £7 a week, it didn’t pay well but it was a great job.�

But it was here that Chris discovered his passion for photographing steam engines.

His mother Mary bought him his first camera, a Kodak junior folding camera. “My mum and my dad, Andrew, loved taking pictures, I’ve got albums full of my dad’s pictures. I started taking pictures of trains at all the different stations I worked at.�

From Ormskirk, Chris went on to work at Fazakerley West station. “That was a big signal box with about 80 levers in there. Your job was to regulate flow of traffic, pulling the points so trains could pass through.

“All trains were signalled through on a special bell code. For example if there was an express coming through, the signal box down the line would send four even beats through on the bell. You would then repeat that back to them to acknowledge it.�

“It was a very safe system, I worked everywhere because I was a relief worker, I went were I was told but I was based at Rainford Junction.

“I actually went down there to photograph the cabin because it’s the last cabin standing
which I worked in.�

But for Chris the steam engines were more than a form of transport.

“It was a way of life, we went to work and if we needed a break we just stepped on to the platform and watched the trains. It was a great era.�