大象传媒

Trams had platforms, driving gear and stairs at both ends so that when they reached the terminus the driver and conductor changed ends and away went the tram in the reverse direction. This meant that all the seat backs had to reversed, inside and on top, the indicators and destination boards and blinds changed, the driver would pull up the platform steps and put a chain across to prevent people trying to board from the wrong end and the conductor would reverse this procedure at the other end. The gong and sand pedals were also recessed into the platform floor at the conductor鈥檚 end and pulled up, ready for use, on the driver鈥檚 platform. The gong was equivalent to a car horn and clanged very loudly as often as the driver stamped on it. When the sand pedal was used a measure of sand was deposited on the rails to help the metal wheels to grip in wet or frosty weather. This sand was stored in bins situated underneath the long seats either side of the gangway and there was always a spare sack of sand kept under the stairs for emergencies. In central London the power to drive the tram was picked up by a blade called a plough which ran along a conduit between the tracks but further out of London the electricity was supplied via overhead wires picked up by a pole on the tram roof. So at the terminals the conductor had to unhitch the pole from the back of the tram and run round in a big arc to swing the pole round to the other end and make contact with the wire again. This was quite heavy work and very slight conductors who weren鈥檛 putting enough strength into holding the pole down could easily be swung to dangle several feet in the air. I weighed about ten and a half stone in those days so it was no real problem to me. But it wasn鈥檛 much fun in the pelting rain or a pea-souper fog and with other traffic to contend with. We always heaved a sigh of relief when the job was over and the rope securely tied up. There was always a wide area left free round the rookie鈥檚 tram at Camberwell Depot so we could all learn to execute this manoeuvre. After our initial try, we were told to go through it again without help and with the Instructor standing by with a stop watch, trying to keep a straight face when the more delicate of us were lifted off our feet or let go of the rope before it had clicked onto the wire and had to be hauled down from the roof of the Depot. Several of us had trouble securing the rope too, if you didn鈥檛 use the correct knot it would take ages to undo again.

We were shown a running plate that set out the times the trams were due at the terminus and the departure time for the next journey. This was underlined in blue for the journeys before 8.00 a.m. when workman鈥檚 returns could be issued and in red in indicate the cheap midday period. There were wooden indicator boards, about seven feet long, which were dropped into slots at the side of the tram. These showed the chief stops along the route and had to be turned over when the cheap midday period came into operation, another heavy and quite dangerous task for the conductor who had to make quite sure the traffic was clear before attempting it. In theory there was room between the up and down tracks for a normally built person to stand between them. But it was only safe to do so when both trams were stationary - a fact that was underlined a year or so later when a driver at New Cross Gate, in a hurry to cross the road, managed to get between two trams and was crushed to death. So we all promised not to try anything foolhardy when swinging the pole or flipping the boards.

Before getting back on to the tram we were shown the cow-catcher - so named because something similar was used on the trains that cross the American West which scoops up any wild life wandering on the track. Not, I might add, to save the life of the cattle but to prevent the collision from derailing the train. On the tram the cow-catcher really was an attempt to save the life of any pedestrian foolish enough to dash in front of an oncoming tram and was like a slatted wooden gate which would hold the hapless pedestrian under the platform of the vehicle and so prevent almost certain death by crushing under the wheels. A tram had an unladen weight of sixteen and a half tons and no one could expect to survive being run over. We were told that a previous Instructor at the School used to actually demonstrate the cowcatcher and lie across the track while the tram was driven - very, very slowly - up to his body. However, this demonstration ceased when he started putting on weight and the crawling tram nudged him to one side. In fact the success of the cowcatcher gate depended not only on the size of the casualty but the fact that he was always exactly at right angle to the track. I must admit I was jolly glad that our present Instructor had no intention of demonstrating for us, we had all become very attached to him and were really keen to do well at the dreaded exam the following Saturday so as not to let him down.

However, we were due to be parted the very next day for on Wednesday and Thursday that week we were to report to our respective Depots and actually work a duty with a real conductor. So it was on Thursday that I discovered why there were doubts as to the wisdom of accepting Wandsworth as my future place of work. It was miles away from New Kent Road and involved a change of tram at Lambeth Bridge and at Battersea. Luckily for me I could always get to work or home in the week no matter what the duty I was on because the routes concerned had trams running all night and I only had a ten minute wait at Lambeth Bridge to make my connection but it made a long, weary day even longer and the Depot Inspector had to make sure I wasn鈥檛 given a late turn on Saturdays or a very early turn on Sundays as the night trams didn鈥檛 run on Saturday nights.

Although exciting enough, the next two days were a hectic nightmare. I鈥檇 forgotten all the stage numbers and fares and got so involved in trying to keep my balance while issuing tickets and giving change I almost forgot to ring the bell or blow my whistle and decided I needed one more hand or preferably two more! Of course I was in a strange part of London too and my relief at reaching our destination must have been comical. I fell over twice, dropped change all down the stairs (in the blackout too) and caught my hand in a seat when changing them over at the terminus, took two foreign coins in mistake for ha鈥檖ennies and, finally got so flustered and nervous I kept the tram waiting while I dived down a public toilet to be sick! Apparently, though, such behaviour was just par for the course - my trainer conductor actually assured me I had done quite well really. I think he was paid three shillings (fifteen pence) for taking me around on those two days - he deserved a medal.

And just to give me something else to think about, I had a letter from Bill to say he would be on leave that weekend and could we be married on Saturday please? He had to report back to Chatham at 8.30 a.m. on the Monday and, although he wasn鈥檛 allowed to say so (all mail from the Armed Forces was censored), I knew he would be away on a trip and it might be months before we saw each other again. Luckily I was due to do a late turn on the Thursday again so I spent the morning arranging for the ceremony at Lambeth Town Hall and scraping up enough money for the special licence as it was such short notice. Bill had asked me if I would mind getting my own ring, as he did not know my size. I tried several jewellers only to find that no one stocked one big enough and it took at least four days to get one stretched. I ended up buying one in a pawnshop! It only cost me a pound but it fitted and that is all I wanted at the time. But I did give a passing thought for the poor woman who had pawned it and could not even redeem it for one pound. I hoped it would bring me better luck at any rate.

Only when I was actually on my way to Camberwell on Friday morning did it dawn on me that I could not get married on Saturday and take my passing out exam at the same time. So I dashed into the classroom and, instead of taking the Instructor on one side and explaining the situation calmly, I stammered out, in front of the whole class, that I could not come to school the next day because I was getting married. When I was asked if I could not delay it for a few days I promptly burst into tears and said, 鈥淥h, no, Sir. I鈥檝e simply got to get married.鈥� Well, in those days there was only one reason why a girl had to get married and the poor instructor鈥檚 immediate reaction was to ask why on earth I was training to work on trams of all things if I was expecting a baby? Even to this day I blush to think of it. Order in class eventually restored, my explanations accepted and, showered with congratulations from the other girls, we all waited while the Instructor went off to see what could be done.

Would you believe it, an examiner arrived from Chiswick that afternoon and took me off to a little office where I was officially passed out, told to report to Wandsworth for a late turn on Monday (after I had seen Bill off at the station) and reminded to take my marriage lines with me. So I passed out at Camberwell Depot as Conductor Andrews on Friday, October 3rd, 1941 and signed on at Wandsworth Depot on October 6th as Conductor Hazell.

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