PART 1
"WHEN I started in 1979, we were initially issued with practical denim-style over jacket and trousers. We'd fill in the uniform clothing order, and wait a short time before it arrived. A portacabin was used because of the massive volume of uniform in those days.
THERE have been countless characters that Mick has met through his 42 years driving on the ECML. These are just a few.
Pausing at Newcastle on its way to Edinburgh Waverley in July 1991 and just three months old at the time is Class 91 No. 91026. The class has played a key part of driver Mick Ingledew's working life.
TRACKS NORTH
Freddy Davis, who later would be my first aid team captain, had everything for me to collect: a giant cardboard box of uniform items awaited me, two of which I wouldn't be ordering again.
"Joe Bonner was a real joker and was famous for a 'white-stick' routine played out to unsuspecting passengers at places like King's Cross. In full uniform, complete with BR cap, Joe would tap the white stick from side to side in front of him and ask for assistance.
Mick takes time for a photo next to the celebrity No. 91119 at King's Cross on August 6, 2020.
FRASER PITHIE
"The BR driver's hat is stylish, but some heads are not designed for the style used, and this includes me. My hat blew off shunting a parcels'train at Redbank, Leeds. I could have retrieved it but didn't bother. There were a few second men that wore this version, but there were also 1950s 'passed'firemen who wore the old steam cap: Freddy Price, Gordon Bottomley and a few drivers on the spare link, Tommy Smith and John Wildsmith.
"Someone always came to his aid, whereupon Joe would say'can you take me to the platform for the train to x please'.
IT WAS the 1970s and life was fun for Michael Ingledew as a teenager in Newcastle, experiencing new trends such as discos, with the inevitable trip to the pub.
"There were two people, driver Pat McCarthy and guard Alan Mitchell, for which there was a wager if anyone ever saw either of them without their hat. The majority of drivers did wear the hat as can be testified by media footage from the time.
"The kind person would scurry across to the departure screen to find the train's platform and then go back to Joe. They would then arm link him to the platform.
However, something was missing, as Mick explains: "I started working in local government at Newcastle City Council's Saxon House offices as a clerical officer in 1977. It was a job with prospects and one where I was already training for my first step up, but I had a growing realisation that life stuck in an office was not for me.
" The second item I would not be ordering again was the dual-purpose overcoat. The rain would pour downwards from your shoulders to form a cascade down your knees.
"Joe would then say: 'Is this the driving cab'? Usually, they would say'no that's at the front'. Joe would then respond by saying: 'Well I'm the driver so I need to be there and if you'd open the door I'd be most grateful'!
"I had a great group of friends, one of which was a girl called Judy whose dad, Gordon Charlton, happened to be a train driver at Gateshead. Gordon asked me had I ever thought of applying to be traction trainee, but I hadn't.
"Consequently, I went for the other option, a Crombie-style overcoat, but its disadvantage was while it kept you dry the weight of it meant you felt like you were carrying a sack of potatoes.
Not satisfied with this, legend has it, he asked the unsuspecting passenger: 'Do you have any black tape with you that could mark where 125mph is on the speedometer for me please, just so I know”
Key moment