The photograph of my hometown station in Observer 308 brought back memories. It accompanied an article from Brian Mosen which I found very interesting. I was a cadet at Eltham station in 1941 and returned in 1948 as shift clerk for four years.The station had a staff of 14 looking after 24 trains a day (except Sundays). One very memorable occasion springs to mind in 1950. My shift ended at 8.30pm. A shunter was on duty with me but at the time I left he was busy in the yard with a shunt engine from Stratford. I closed the station and went home. Next morning at breakfast I opened the paper, a headline almost caused me to choke on my Weet-Bix: Runaway Wagons from Eltham crash into Train at Hawera. The first line began, At 8.30 last night... I jumped up from the table and was at the station before my bike knew what had hit it!
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