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I loved my job. I was a fireman working for the railway. I know a
lot of kids used to dream of being an engine driver, but I always
wanted to be a fireman. I liked the manual effort of first filling
up the coal tender. We always had to load our own coal, and I
preferred that. I was one of those people who always liked to do the
whole job themselves.
I used to feel very good swinging my great shovel full of coal
from the heap to the truck. I know I always had a little smile on my
face because I was very fit - I used to do weight training twice a
week, to keep fit. Really I don't know if I did it to keep fit for
the job!
I worked with Bert. He was a good driver and we were a good team.
We were together for ten years.
I was a married man. I had got married when I was quite young-
too young, really. I had met Madge at the local swimming baths. Most
of the youngsters of the district went swimming at least once a
week. I never went dancing, though. I was a bit more serious, I
suppose than the rest of the lads. I was more of a loner.
There was a weight-training club near us, but I liked to do all
of my training on my own. I used to see a few of the club lads at
the swimming baths, strutting around and rarely having a swim! They
didn't realise, I'm sure just how good swimming was for developing
muscles and keeping you fit. They seemed to like parading around the
sides of the open-air pool like a load of turkey cocks!
Anyway I got married and soon we had a couple of kids - a boy and
a girl. Nice enough kids, but I was not really a family man. I liked
work and tended to do as much overtime as I could.
You have no idea how good it was to get your fire stoked up and
feel the pull of the engine and the rest of the train. I tried to
keep our pull as smooth as possible, which meant not allowing the
fire to get too low before stoking it up again.
It is an art, I think, being a fireman and keeping your speed
steady. What a lovely sound - the hissing of the steam and the
clicking of the wheels along the tracks!
Bert was quite as serious about his job as I was about mine. This
is why we made a good team I suppose. We worked long hours, Bert and
me - sometimes clocking up 50 hours a week. The money was good of
course, but we liked the job. There was something exciting about
travelling around - even when you were on a local run every day,
going to the same places and back. A few of the drivers used to race
each other on the routine jobs - just to break the monotony I
suppose. Bert and I never joined in this childish pastime though.
We didn't talk a lot when you consider the number of hours we
spent working together each day. Our conversation was mainly about
the engine, the rest of the train, the tracks, the quality of the
coal. Sometimes we looked at the countryside around us on a long
run. Like me, Bert lived for his job.
One day, as I was clocking on for work, I was called into the
office and told the boss wanted to talk to me. I hadn't a lot of
time, and when I was called into his office, I asked if it was going
to take long, as I wanted to get loaded.
'I'm putting Len Green on with Bert today,' the boss said.
I just stared at him in disbelief.
'I want you to train a lad,' he went on.
'Train a lad!' I repeated. I had never trained anyone in my life.
'Aye. I've a young lad who could do all right stoking, but I want
him training well, and I think you're the man for the job. Come on
I'll take you to him and we'll get you both started.'
'Just a minute Mr.Garvy. I don't think I can do it. I've no
experience.'
'All you have to do is show him how you do the job yourself -
from beginning to end. George Brenshaw is standing in sidings with
7631 and when you're ready, he'll follow your instructions. Don't
worry - you can do it, you're one of the best there is at the job.'
Well, to cut a long story short, I had to train this lad up. I
must admit I wasn't happy - first because I didn't like my pattern
changing, and second because I didn't want to give away my tricks of
the trade. It took three weeks for him to get the main idea of the
job and then I went off to the boss to see when I could get back to
Bert and our teamwork.
'You'll have to team up with Harry Flocks this week. Bert is on
his holidays. You'll be on the London run, though, so you should be
happy.'
I wasn't happy, I'm afraid, because Harry was one of the main
racing drivers - he was as childish as they come, and I was not keen
on having to do things his way. Still, I had no choice - the boss
was the boss.
It was along the High Embankment that we left the rails. I had my
head down stoking away and I had no idea Harry had run a signal way
back before we entered the valley run up. It was a signal which
requested the driver to observe a speed limit, to enable a local
stopping train to get through this valley and along the embankment,
before we started on it. I think he must have misjudged the speed of
the train in front, because he was on top of it before he realised
he couldn't stop in time. I heard a tremendous crash, felt the
engine judder and then nothing.
When I came to, I was in agony. My head and shoulders were
agonisingly painful. Then I blacked out and it seems that on the way
to the hospital, I died. You might say I died by my own hands
because my upper body was almost burnt to a cinder as the great
engine toppled over, and the fires I was stoking rushed out on to
me.
The oddest thing though was that after a very long time sleeping
or unconscious - call it what you will, I woke up. No burns. No
injuries. But strangest of all, I could not contact in any way, the
world I had lived in. I was a ghost in other words.
I found out I needed no food or drink or sustenance of any kind.
I discovered after a time that I could move around at a very fast
pace - in fact I only needed to think of a place or person and I was
there.
I then spent a very long time (although I could not have told
anyone just how long, as I could not keep track of the time really)
riding with the engines up and down the country. It was a wonderful
experience to begin with. I was there first with Bert and his new
fireman - the lad I, myself had trained. I am proud to say, that
this lad became a very good fireman and I heard Bert tell him that
he was almost, but not quite as good as I had been.
When Bert said this, I was quite shocked by the strength of his
feelings. He almost went to pieces and I had to help him get his
mind back on the job. He was passing a big signal box at the time,
with a very complicated set of signals that needed concentration.
Still I didn't realise that in his way, old Bert felt very deep
feelings of brotherly love for me. It took him a long time in fact
to get over my death. I used to ride mostly with him, but when he
was off, I rode with other drivers - even the continental drivers
that I was able to pick up from time to time.
Bert's health was never quite the same after the shock of my
death, so he was off sick quite a lot. One day when I was riding
with him, I realised he was getting past it. He had missed a few
signals and I managed to jog his memory to save any problems. After
the last run, when he went to clock off, the boss was just coming
out of his office. Bert asked to see him. To my amazement Bert asked
to be signed off for good - due to his ill-health.
Well it happened and after that I didn't really have a lot of
heart for the trains.
I was mooching about when a chap approached me and actually spoke
to me. I was quite amazed for no-one had ever spoken to me, since I
died. I had spent a lot of time with my wife and family, since I
became a 'ghost' - I suppose you could say, but not one of them knew
I was there or tried to speak to me. They, like most bereaved
families, grieved and gradually adjusted to life without me. It
wasn't too difficult as I had spent a lot of my time at work and on
overtime and none of them really knew me.
So, when this chap asked me did I know the date, I was taken
aback. He looked quite an ordinary fellow, quietly dressed, about my
age I suppose.
'What do you mean?' I asked him.
'Do you realise that you've been haunting engines for five
years?' he said.
Well you could have knocked me down with a feather - five years!
"The thing is,' the young chap went on, 'there is a lot of
work needs doing and we're a bit short-handed. You've always been a
good worker, and you've a cool head in spite of working so close to
fire, so I wondered if you'd give us a hand.'
'What sort of work are you talking about?' I asked, as cautious
as ever.
'Nothing really difficult. You know how you trained up that young
lad as a fireman and did a really good job of it?' he looked at me
as my mouth had fallen open.
'How the devil did you know that?' I asked.
' I've been keeping an eye on you - ready for this moment really.
I know quite a bit about you because, as you've been haunting the
engines all over the place, so have I been haunting you. Only it is
not really haunting, you know. You come under the group of people-
and it is a very big group - who are earthbound. That means you are
staying around your old habit patterns and so you are getting
nowhere but bored.'
I thought how right he was with this last bit, but the rest of it
puzzled me.
'Don't worry about what I say, just come along and see what our
problem is.'
Well I felt a bit of a fool because he suddenly took a hold of my
hand and said 'Hold on!'
There was a blur all around me and I know I was travelling
because I had discovered how to do this since I had died, but I
seemed to be going at quite a rate!
Then we stopped. It was very early morning - must have been
winter because there was some kind of feeling to the air. We were
quite close to a big block of flats, probably on the Continent, as
we didn't have such huge blocks in England. Suddenly there was a
roar and a wall of flame shot up into the air. Now the odd thing
about this was that although I could see the flames and hear all of
the crackling and screams, I didn't feel any heat and the flame
didn't seem to touch us.
'Come on, follow me!' my new friend said.
We dived right into it all and soon I could see bodies all around
me - but the strangest thing was that there seemed to be twins of
everyone. One was the real body, burning or just lying out of the
flames but overcome by the fumes and smoke, and hovering near the
bodies were identical bodies, looking scared and not really knowing
what to do.
I immediately went for a couple of kids that were clinging
together. I put my arms around them both and said 'Come on, you're
all right, I'll take you away.'
Then I just thought of a hospital and in no time we were there,
all three of us. As soon as I had put them down, a couple of nurses
came along and took them over.
'Go back' one of them said, smiling at me. I again thought of the
fire and I was there again, bringing out more people. This went on
for a long time. Each time at the hospital, there was always an air
of calm and efficiency. The people I had taken in were no longer in
sight when I brought the others - no doubt taken very good care of
by the nurses.
Eventually the fire was put out. It must have taken a couple of
days from what I could gather from the Fire Chief talking to the
police. When I had deposited my last patient, a youngish woman,
quite attractive, I thought, with a very lovely smile despite the
horror she had just experienced, I turned at a familiar voice
alongside of me.
It was my friend again - and he was smiling at me.
'You see what I mean, when I said we needed you You have been a
tremendous help to me. Thank you. I'm glad I was right about you!'
'What do you mean? You seem to make a lot of remarks that I can't
fathom!' I smiled at him because I liked him, and felt we were on
the same wavelength. That was strange for me as I had never really
made friends easily.
'Well we have a little team that specialises in helping out where
fire is concerned - when people are killed and need help. Just as
you have been doing. It seemed like second nature to you didn't it?'
he said.
'Well, I must say I found it interesting to be able to get people
out, comfort them and get them to a hospital. Are you offering me a
job then? I thought you only worked in the physical earth life - not
when you become a ghost!'
'Well, as you know yourself, you can choose what you do. You can
hang about haunting the old places, but nobody can see or hear you
and it does get a bit boring. You can go off and make a few friends,
get yourself fixed up with a place to live and then perhaps look at
a few new ideas to develop yourself - or you can help us. You can
still look around as well - see what else there is on offer. There
is always plenty to do. You will never ever be bored. What do you
say to sticking with us? I will take you to meet the rest of the
team if you are interested...... oh, and we might be able to use
that young lady you brought out last, as soon as she is feeling
better!'
So that is what I now do with my time. I also have developed an
interest - don't laugh! - in painting! I study with people who were
once quite well-known on the earth - the main thing is they
certainly can teach a thing or two about colour and texture.
Brigitte, the lady I brought out last, is working with us in the
rescue team and she is also studying - music. We are quite
inseparable apart from our studies. She is the opposite of myself in
many ways, and we have some very interesting discussions!
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