Ross Allen Part 2, working on the railways - Manawatu Conversations

Description: Broadcast on Manawatu People's Radio, 4th October 2022. Part 2 of 2. Joined the railways in 1963. Shunting and local trips. Got boiler ticket, then fireman’s ticket. In Woodville to 1969, trips as far as Wellington, diesel. Goods carried, including stock. A bull in a wagon. Delivering petrol in drums. Switch to diesel engines. Maintaining train wheels. A fireman on a diesel train. Became a train driver. How to drive a train. An incident with a train load of lucerne. Air brakes, “charging up” the wagons. Birds nesting in the engine. Electric trains. A family catching the Northerner at Palmerston North nearly left a baby behind. Still interested in trains, including preservation railways.