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Monday the second of
October 1967, a date inscribed forever in
the elaborate hand of the depot superintendent
on the inside of the front cover of my Hants
and Dorset rule book along with the number
743 which was also on my clock card. The
rule book, now battered from spending years
at the bottom of my ticket box, covers every
aspect of a driver or conductor's working
day. I was also given a timetable and a
set of fare charts plus five shillings float,
to be paid back when I left.
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A brief tour of the
depot and offices was followed by a long
wait in the canteen while it was decided
what should be done with me. The canteen
was run by the staff social club and had
a snooker table. There was a small group
in one corner playing cards, several people
eating, drinking tea or smoking. The ones
in a hurry did all of these at the same
time.
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It seemed a completely
alien world, the more so because I had no
idea what any of them were talking about.
Eventually, an inspector showed me how to
use a ticket machine and how to complete
the conductor's official document, the waybill.
On this I had to record the start and finish
numbers on the ticket machine for each journey
and calculate the money taken.
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ticket machine was the Setright. This was
loaded with a blank ticket roll and had dials
on the top for the date, the fare stage and
one each for shillings and pence (later ten
pences and pence). There was a lever to select
single, return and other ticket types. |
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were counters to record the value of tickets
issued (one in halfpennies the other in shillings),
one for the total tickets issued, others for
child and return tickets, and one which could
be set by the office to any value or ticket
type for analysis. |
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slot in the front was used to overprint returns
and took individual tickets such as weeklies
and transfers as well as 'day out' tickets
which gave unlimited travel. There was a hole
punch on the top of the machine to cancel
these on each journey. |
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loose tickets were carried on a wooden rack.
These were five-day weeklies, six-day weeklies,
day-out tickets, transfers to Aldershot &
District service 14 and transfers to Southdown
services to Portsmouth. These loose tickets
had to be issued in numerical order and were
difficult to handle when your hands were very
cold. |
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would not have my own ticket machine until
I had completed my two weeks training but
I was issued with the sling on which it was
to be worn and a cash bag. An old, worn cash
bag was best. The stiff leather of a brand
new one would leave your fingers sore and
a new strap for the machine would cut into
your shoulder. |
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