Remembering Frank Cook

Frank Cook started working on the District Railway as a cleaner in May 1881. A year later he became a fireman, being promoted to a driver in 1890. He retired in June 1931, after more than 50 years service, who was by then a ticket collector at Ealing Broadway.

So why is Frank Cook so special and why dedicate a whole page to him?

Truth be told, Frank Cook is no more special or noteworthy than thousands of other people who do or have worked on the Underground in the past century and a half. All would have their own stories and perhaps by telling Frank’s, as published in the local Ealing press, we can appreciate the lives dedicated to moving passengers around the London Metropolis.

DROVE STEAM TRAINS ON THE “DISTRICT.”

Mr. F. Cook Looks Back.

RETIRING AFTER 50 YEARS SERVICE

Many Ealing people, who travel daily by the District Railway, will soon miss from Ealing Broadway Station the familiar cheery figure of Mr. Frank Cook, the man who takes the tickets.

Mr. Cook, who lives at 8, Birbeck road, South Ealing, is 65 years of age, and will retire on June 28, after having served the District Railway Co. for 50 years and a month. Starting as a cleaner on May 28, 1881, until ill-health caused him to change over to the position of ticket-collector four years ago, he was a driver.

It was in his capacity as a driver that Mr. Cook has had his most interesting experiences, the greatest of course, being the change from steam to electric trains, which as he put it, “altered all our locomotive aspects”.

Mr. Cook has already been referred to in the “Middlesex County Times” as “the considerate collector”, and, when I saw him at his work this week (writes a ‘MCT’ representative), I found that the description was well deserved.

“Lots of people know me,” Mr. Cook said “and you’ll have to excuse me a minute,” for a train had arrived and the passengers were pouring past him. As they went by, many greeted him as an old friend.

“Oh, the questions !” he exclaimed, good humouredly, and with a twinkle in his eye which suggested that he was very glad to help those who needed directing. “Everyone,” he added, “seems to be nice and kind to me, and I try to be considerate to them. That man used to be my guard,” he said, after a particularly cheery “Good afternoon” to someone who had just passed by.

“Talking about guards,” he continued, “that reminds me of my driving days, and the greatest thing in my life was the transition from steam to electricity. You see, I used to drive those steam trains. Lots of Ealing people will remember them, and how, in those days, everything was black and grimy with going through the tunnels. and yet, when we were all grimy, people could see us in our engines, and were fascinated by us, but now” he sighed “we are shut up in our boxes, and can’t be seen”.

WAR DAYS RECALLED

“My most exiting times were during the war, when we had to have all the blinds down in the carriages, and had to creep along for fear of the arcing.”

“No, I haven’t had any particular accidents, only some ‘very nearlies’! But the changes I have seen are really too numerous to mention. I have seen the opening of a few bits of railway, and I have all the notices at home relating to the two Jubilees.”

“The one very special thing that did happen, though, was the transition. Why, we had to start all over again, and learn everything new ! The only thing we knew was the road. There aren’t many of the steam train drivers left. You see, I started young.”

“Yes I am well known all over the line. I used to help a lot in the employees’ social and other activities, especially sport. They used to call me Captain Cook”. He chuckled as he recalled those happy days when he was in the fore-front of the games enthusiasts.

“If there was anything going on, they would say, ‘Oh, you be captain !’ I used to play quoits a lot. I started the quoits section here, and it is still going strong.”

BROTHERS’ GOOD FORTUNE

The the smile which is always on this genial collector’s countenance broke into a laugh as he thought of how his three younger brothers has started work in the same line as his, and how he had persuaded them to join the Police Force instead, with the result that two are now in retirement and on a bigger pension than Mr. Cook will get !

Perhaps it was the sight of a mother shepherding her children to the right platform that reminded him that he, too, had a son still at school. “And there’s my wife and widowed daughter living with me,” added Mr. Cook.

“I have looked after myself in the past,” he said, “and now I am looking forward to the rest I feel I have earned. Bowls and gardening and my hobbies, and that’s all the work I intend to do !”

Image taken in 1916 of Frank Cook (seated) with two unnamed younger colleagues (possibly firemen) behind

RETIREMENTS

Mr Frank Cook

The opportunity is not given to many employees of the Companies to complete fifty years’ service; indeed, the number who have done so during the last ten years could be numbered on the hand. Such however is the proud distinction of Mr. Frank Cook, Ticket Collector, Ealing Broadway, District Railway, who retired on June 28th.

Mr. Cook commenced his service with the Company in 1881, as a cleaner, and in 1882 he became a fireman. From 1890, until ill-health caused him to revert to the position of ticket-collector in 1927, he drove the old steam trains and piloted the electric.

He was known locally as “the Considerate Collector” and his record proves that this description is well deserved, for many passengers greeted him a a friend.

He is a games enthusiast and was the first captain of the D.R.A.A. quoits section.

In an interview Mr Cook said, “I am looking forward to the rest I have earned. Bowls and gardening are my hobbies, and that’s all the work I intend to do !”

THE MIDDLESEX COUNTY TIMES (Saturday 23 October 1937)

OBITUARY: Mr Frank Cook

50 Years With District Railway

Mr. Frank Cook, of 8 Birkbeck Road, South Ealing, died in the West Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth, On Wednesday, at the age of 71.

Mr. Cook retired in 1931 after serving on the District Railway for over 50 years. At the time of his retirement he was ticket collector at Ealing Broadway Station.

Starting as a cleaner on May 28, 1881, he became a fireman in the following year, and from October, 1890, until ill health caused him to change over to the position of ticket collector four years before he retired, he was a driver. Among the changes that he saw was the change-over from steam to electric trains. He was almost contemptuous  of the electric trains. In the old days, he used to say, drivers knew every nut and bolt of their engines, but when electricity came they found only “miles of wire,” about which they could learn nothing.

Mr. Cook was well known all along the line by the nickname of “Captain Cook,” and helped in the employees’ social and sports activities. After he retired he spent much of his time gardening and playing bowls, his two chief hobbies.

The funeral will take place at Ealing Cemetery on Monday at 3.30pm.

Frank Cook’s District Railway badge and button