Railway Station Yard

My parent's business on Whitefield Road backed onto the sidings of the rail station. The coal wagons were shunted onto a track alongside the public pathway. The Coal Merchants had their office shacks on the entrance way to the station. Every day the coal lorries would back up to the coal wagons, and the coal gangs would shovel coal into jute sacks and fill up their lorries with the days deliveries. The shoveling and delivery was dirty work, and these men were always covered in coal dust. I spent much time watching the work from the pathway, until they got fed up being watched and waved me away so they could continue their stories.