Train driving trio clock up 132 years

7:50pm Friday 5th September 2008

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WHEN they started working on the railways, it was still the age of steam – but now a trio of York train drivers have brought 132 years of life on the tracks to an end.

Chris Clements, Eddie Sibley and John O’Connor are all making retirement plans after bringing their decades of service to Northern Rail to a halt.

And their colleagues made sure they had a send-off to remember when they threw a party for the three long-serving drivers at the Railway Institute in York.

John, of Acomb, who turns 65 this month, and 61-year-old Eddie, from Stamford Bridge, both clocked up 47 years in the industry, having begun when steam trains were still a regular sight on Yorkshire’s railway lines.

While Chris, of Osbaldwick, who celebrated his 65th birthday last week on the day of the group’s joint retirement bash, just missed out on the days of steam, he can now look back on a 38-year stint with happy and proud memories and reminisce about the many changes he saw to railway life in that time.

“When I started with British Rail, the old railway shed was where the National Railway Museum was eventually built, we covered a lot more routes and it wasn’t such a clean job as it is now,” said the father-of-two. “We all had favourite journeys and mine was the Harrogate line because of the countryside and the wildlife. It was a really friendly route and you’d always have people coming up to shake your hand.

“I started as a guard in 1970, and 18 years later, when we had the chance to become drivers, I was only the second guard in York to move on to that. It was something I’d always wanted to do – my wife’s uncle was a train driver and he told me about the job in the first place, but I never thought I’d spend so many years doing it.

“I enjoyed the camaraderie of working on the railways and the chance to get out and about – you never got bored and I worked with some great people. It probably won’t sink in that I’ve now left it all for a while. But it’s nice that all three of us left at the same time and I’m sure we’ll all be staying in touch.”

Northern Rail driver Andy Seal, a former colleague of Chris, John and Eddie, said: “We wanted to have a joint party for them because so much history is leaving with them.

“When you combine the time they spent in the industry, they’ve been there almost as long as the railways themselves. They’re great lads who always pulled their weight and we wanted to show our appreciation of all their hard work.”