I went through the normal rituals which all apprentices are subjected to in their first few days, being sent to the tool stores for a 'long stand' and for a 'bucket of blue steam' etc. I got away though with a few things that other apprentices had to endure.
During my first week at work a strike was organised by the Manchester Apprentices, and the apprentices on the railways decided to go out on strike as a show of solidarity with their follow aprentices in the Manchester area. It was an unofficial strike, and, besides apprentices were not supposed to strike So before I had received my first pay packet I was out on strike for more money. I forget how long the strike lasted, but I think that it wasnt over a week. The tradesmen at the works had a collection for the apprentices whilst we were 'out', which was a good gesture, but then, the Tanks employees had always had a reputation for helping out in circumstances like this. I think I received about ten shillings. When I finally did receive my first full weeks pay I received two Pounds and four shillings. As a result of the strike we received a pay rise and very soon us new apprentices were on two pounds and eight shillings a week. I think pay day was on a thursday. Two or three tables were laid out at the South end of the Heavy Machine Shop (The Danube) and the accounts \ pay department had all the pay packets laid out on the tables and all the machine shop personnel queued up for their pay. I recall at times the works manager Mr Barker-Wyatt would attend the pays.
After my first 12 months on the lathes I was 'promoted' to the brake job. Before this I had a new apprentice to look after on the lathes for about three months to train and take over my lathe.
The brake job, as its name implies was for servicing all mechanical equipment associated to the braking equipment of the locomotives, this included the EM1 & EM2 classes of electric locomotives as well as the steam locomotives.. The leading hand on the brake job was Freddie Moores, A little different than Len Fanning, a lot stricter, but I got on ok with him, Denis Wild and Eric Bond joined me on the brake job at the same time plus other apprentices, but I cant remember who.
The brake job was situated away from the machine shop, again, this shop was in the original loco shops of the 1840s and was in the original loco shops to the right of the traverser of that time. This part of the building also housed the White Metal Shop. The white metal shop would probably be shut down in this day and age as a health risk, the amount of fumes coming out of the metalling process was quite significant, no breathing \ respiratory apperatus was used in those days. The largest amount of componants being attended to in the white metal shop was by far axlebox bearings. These were turned out one after the other and I recall a conveyer type system of rollers where the bearings were rolled out in rows, another item turned out in large numbers were reversing screws and blocks. The reversing screw square threads were white metalled over the steel, then turned down on a lathe in the machine shop.
At this period in time a we heared that an old named locomotive was put into storage inside the old Iron Foundry on the track adjacent to the old now redundant furnaces. Eric, Denis and I decided to go and see the loco and on entering the dark gloomy foundry we were confronted by class D11 No 62660 "Butler Henderson". The loco was in a grimy state, matching it's surroundings. A few weeks later the loco was in its birthplace, the erecting shop, for what was thought at the time, it's last overhaul as it was destined for the railway museum at Clapham. No 62660 was turned out of Gorton in December 1919 to the design of John G Robinson, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Central Railway. The first of a very successful class of 4-4-0 'Improved Directors' and numbered 506.
The overhaul was not a full overhaul, but more of a restoration for Museum display, though quite an amount of work was done on her. I helped with the overhaul of the brake rigging, and, wanting to actually work on the engine I 'bushed' a brake pull rod ensuring that the bush had been 'drifted' in a little too far for it to fit onto its cross beam, thus ensuring that I would be called into the erecting shop to correct the problem. This was the usual case at Gorton. If a componant did'nt fit on the loco in the erecting shop, the shop fitters called for the responsible department to correct the componant.
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