What are a Guards duties on a Goods train?

[class40]

I know they are responsible for safety but what else do they do?

Thanks,

Tony.

[ianmacmillan]

The guard is the man.
Who sits in the van.
That runs at the end of the train.

The man at the front.
Thinks the guard is a c**t
and the guard thinks the drivers the same.



The guard is in charge of the train.
The driver is in charge of the loco.

The guard carries out the groundwork and shunting while the driver drinks tea. He then calculates the weight and tells the driver along with the speed and route and any stops.

When the train is running he uses the handbrake to keep the couplings tight and assist in braking. He watches for hot boxes and any problems with the train.
In an accident the guard protects in the rear of the train while the driver protects in front including the opposite line.

[Speedbird083]

Are they till given detonators to protect the train following accidents, or have they gone with the cab-to-shore radio and mobile phone era?

[class40]

The guard is the man.
Who sits in the van.
That runs at the end of the train.

The man at the front.
Thinks the guard is a c**t
and the guard thinks the drivers the same.

R

The guard is in charge of the train.
The driver is in charge of the loco.

The guard carries out the groundwork and shunting while the driver drinks tea. He then calculates the weight and tells the driver along with the speed and route and any stops.

When the train is running he uses the handbrake to keep the couplings tight and assist in braking. He watches for hot boxes and any problems with the train.
In an accident the guard protects in the rear of the train while the driver protects in front including the opposite line.

So if the guard does all the work, why then do Drivers get paid more?

I take it that the guard sits in the rear cab of the locomotive as they don't seem to use Guard's Vans anymore.

Thanks for that Ian, we know quite a bit about the drivers job, but not much about the guard.

Tony.

[ianmacmillan]

There are no goods guards anymore.

All freight trains are DOO.

Where a train requires to shunt in an unmanned location a member of groundstaff may travel with the train but he has no on-train duties.

Most ex-guards are now groundstaff and have been trained in wagon examination and minor repairs. Many see it as demotion and leave for passenger work.

I took early retirement instead, a couple of months ago.
I AM NOT A SHUNTER.

[allypally]

thats what i call professional pride ian

[broads2]

grandfather was a guard on the S E C R
in his bag he carried a box of detonators
i supprised it did not blow the house up
the guard is the man incharge of the train it must run on time and not be late
the train must not break in the middle
but as we see today this happens far to often
on passenger trains they have no guard
you could say thats why the trains are late
(but most of its down to network rail)
oh please bring back the guards

[Tomnick]

Come again? We still have guards round our way (might explain why our trains remain in one portion ) - as most of the country does - but I don't see how that helps punctuality that much!

Nice poetry though

[coxy64]

Life without the Guard on DOO Trains is Soul Destroying as you have no company now, and can go long periods without seeing anyone.

I remember being a Second Man in the 80's when we still had Great Freight Guards who knew their Job inside and out.
I think most had progressed from Shunter. I remember watching them using Brake Sticks and Shunting Poles, and applying the Hand Brake in the Brakevan on a Class 9 Train(Unfitted) to keep the Couplings tight when going through a dip.

In those days the Guard knew the Road aswell as any Driver and the Team Work kept the Job going.

Most also knew their Freight Train Loads like the back of their Hands, knowing which Wagons were Unfitted, Air Braked or Vacuum Braked by just looking at them.
When it came to Drivers Slips most knew the weight of the Wagons without looking in the Fish and Chips Papers(Freight Train Loads Book)

Sadly when I Passed Out for Driving in 1991 most of these Guards had gone, along with the Unfitted Trains and being replaced with a Different Breed altogether.

Some it was nearly impossible to get a Brake Continuity Test out of them.

During the Late 80's the Second Man was removed from most Trains and the Guard was to Ride in the Front Cab with the Driver.

This later saw the former Guard and Second Mans Jobs merged to form a New Grade Called (Trainman).
Trainman G(Not progressing to Driver)
Trainman D(In the Line of Promotion to Driver)

The Trainmen were sadly displaced from Ipswich before Privatisation.
Some having to take Shunters Jobs or take Redundancy.

It's Sad that in under 20 Years a Traincrew has been reduced from 3 to 1.

I do miss them.

Gary............................