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PREFACE by David J Kirk BEM, April 2002. I first became involved with the Coalville depot when I was appointed as Traffic Assistant (later changed to Traffic Manager) in 1974. I had already been with British Railways for 20 years and had previously been a station master, Yard Supervisor at Chaddesden Marshalling Yard and Operating Supervisor at Wirksworth before arriving at Coalville. In 1974 (and indeed for the next ten years) the depot was responsible for the movement of around 100,000 tonnes of coal per week from Leicestershire and South Derbyshire collieries to power stations along the Trent Valley and also to Didcot. There was also (and still is) a large traffic flow of stone from the quarries at Cliffe Hill and Bardon Hill to various destinations in block trains. A twice-weekly train of bitumen tanks from Ellesmere Port to Bardon Hill for Prismo also ran. All of this traffic was the very reason for the depot at Coalville. The section of line between Knighton South junction and Burton on Trent with its six signalboxes, Coalville depot, the truncated branches to Measham and Cadley Hill colliery and the power station at Drakelow became my responsibility. The depot was unusual in that the train crew, shunters and yard staff all shared the mess room and other facilities. This seemed to work well and the mix of the staff gave a better understanding of each other's duties and problems. They all knew that their jobs and the depot itself were sustained by the high tonnage from the collieries and that their future lay in keeping it on the move. But Coalville - as on British Railways generally - always faced a shortage of resources, locomotives and men. At times it was a great struggle to meet all of the customers requirements and a great deal of ingenuity was shown by supervisors and men to keep the job running in all weathers and despite all difficulties. I was always pleased to meet with the staff's elected representatives the Local Departmental Committee (LDC) which had separate committees for drivers and for guards. I have always believed that good staff relations are essential to the running of any depot. We did not always agree but always had mutual respect for each other's point of view. This came to the fore during the dark days of the Miners strike in 1983/84. I had firm instructions to move as much coal as possible and the staff were instructed by their Trade Unions not to do so. Despite the pressures relations between the staff and myself remained good and did not change. This says a lot for the staff and the depot. An important event in the life of the depot was the annual Open Day, which I have covered, in a separate chapter in the book. I feel particularly proud to have been part of this, which in my view was a boost for the depot and the staff and really put it on the map. Though I left Coalville Depot in 1984 I continued to chair the Open Day Committee until the final one was held in 1991.By this time the collieries had closed and the subsequent loss of traffic meant that the depot could no longer be sustained. The depot had officially closed before the 1991 Open Day but this was specially agreed to be the last. So ended an era. Coalville depot was a special and rather unique depot, still greatly missed by the staff who worked there and the thousands who came and enjoyed the Open Days. Anthony Gregory has done a fine job in bringing together the stories of the depot of Coalville and I wish him every success.
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