THE railways certainly seem to have been steaming downhill since Alan Winstanley was a young porter. And if John Prescott is ever to persuade us to get out of our cars and on to public transport then he might well take a leaf out of Alan's notebook for the 1950s and early 60s.

That was an era, he claims, when the trains were run with genuine pride and platform staff were right on their toes, keeping the stations spick and

span and services running bang on time.

By comparison with his own teenage workload on the Thatto Heath platforms, Alan's convinced that station staff of today belong to the 'lolling classes.'

Not only did he and his colleagues see to luggage and passenger safety, but they were also required to cultivate trackside gardens, brighten brasses and station lamps, clean windows and ledges, polish waiting room seats and ticket office desks, scrub out the toilets, brush the platforms (both sides) daily, and deliver and send out parcels.

In addition, they had to refill and clean the paraffin-fuelled signal lamps, issue tickets (special day return to Liverpool and Wigan was just 7p in today's currency!) and deal with baskets of homing pigeons.

Pigeon racing was big-time then. And Alan, from Stafford Road, Toll Bar, recalls sending the basketed birds to all parts of Britain.

Incoming pigeons, with a Thatto Heath starting point, were released with the utmost care. "We had to make sure there were no overhead wires in their flight path," Alan recalls.

It was once a familiar evening sight, as fanciers from around the district arrived at the station with their baskets full of pigeons which they took out, one by one, in the waiting room to be ringed for the race.

Alan's teenage memories were sparked off by recent news of a proposal to pump £1 billion into improving and updating the North West railtrack and its stations.

"I do hope," he says, "that they do something about St Helens Central's toilets, buildings and subway. They are in a terrible state."

And he also protests that the smaller local stations of Thatto Heath, Eccleston Park and Prescot are all in need of facelifting. Alan and his brothers followed in their engine driver father's footsteps as railway workers.

Between all that daily scrubbing, brushing and polishing, Alan recalls that as junior porter he had to scamper alongside the incoming trains shouting out "Thatto 'Eyth" and checking that all the old fashioned T-shaped carriage handles were closed in the safe, horizontal position.

"Many's the time I had to run by the side of the train after spotting that one of the handles hadn't been closed properly."

Perhaps the most unpleasant task for a junior porter entailed changing the lamps in the signals. The most daunting of these was positioned along a cutting and up a gantry. The ladder was close to the tall, slimy, and dripping wall of the cutting.

"Plus we had to look out for rats while walking up the line," Alan recalls with a shudder.

This situation was made even more creepy on the odd occasion when a gust of wind might extinguish the lamp, making re-lighting necessary.

By contrast, helping the leading porter tend the manicured gardens on both sides of the station was a real pleasure. And there was additional satisfaction on the several occasions when Thatto Heath won first prize for best-kept station and gardens.

Eccleston Park also figured prominently in this prestigious event, at one period making an annual habit of picking up first prize, thanks to the green-fingered talent of Tommy Brown and his mate.

Alan concedes that railways were more heavily used during his time, justifying the much higher staffing levels. Thatto Heath could boast a station master and a leading porter on each shift, as well as the more junior staff.

"But we never had a minute to spare (even the platform edges had to be kept whitened). A big coal fire was kept blazing in the gleaming waiting rooms in colder months and the toilets were kept in immaculate condition."

But for all this, Alan loved his job. "We weren't highly paid, but the comradeship between the men was first class."

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