Bashing: bad for the Health?

Now I bashed as a teenager and not an adult.

In fact I think this is really the best for your sanity, although I often do regret spending the ned time I did on bashing. Why? Well I could have had a much better spring start into my later hobbies of cycling and sailing in terms of fitness, experience and not in the least, social standing!

Bashing is physically bad: a lot of sitting on your rear end, diesel fumes, take away food.

Bashing was psychologically bad: how can you live with your favourite locos being (inveitably) taken off passenger routes in favour of plastic and then cut up?

On the pluss sides though:

You learn about geography and logistics of travel. You learn about the railway.

It is a very egalitarian sport which makes social contact across social classes: well apart from scousers and maccelsfield types who had too many drunks, vandals and dicks in their ranks imho...

As a teenager you get a great feeling of freedom within some safe environment of the railway staff and the commonality of other bashers.

You learn a lot about mechanical things, about HSE and about planning of projects.

You get to relax a lot.

It was, and probably is, fun.