Living his locomotive dream

Dennis Wells, 68, from Judea, has been in the rail industry for more than 50 years. Photo / Ruth Keber

Dennis Wells started his lifelong career in the rail industry when he was just 16.

Mr Wells was brought up in Nelson but left at that age to seek an honest future of full-time work, something his seasonal surroundings could not offer.

He started as a junior porter on the train platforms in Lower Hutt, Wellington, working in the goods sheds, receiving and dispatching parcels.

He had been on the job about eight months when he first witnessed the power of a steam locomotive.

"I'd always seen the drivers and firemen sitting there and it looked like a cushy job, it appealed to me.

"What was the turning point for me was when I saw a KA [steam engine train] fully restored drive past and the driver opened up full throttle and it made such a noise ... and all the passengers on the platform were so impressed. I thought, 'that is the job for me'."

He was shifted to Palmerston North and started his training to become a driver - a six-and-half-year venture.

Steam trains started to be phased out in Palmerston North in 1966 so Mr Wells moved to the Bay of Plenty in April 1967 to keep following his dream. They were then completely phased out.

He loved the atmosphere within the trains and, in 1969, he got his ticket to be a driver. By 1975, he was a full-time driver.

"You see the country in all four seasons, at all times of the day and night. I prefer driving in the spring, all the blossoms in the trees. You see ducks with ducklings, sheep in the paddocks with their lambs, cows giving birth to calves."

He has also had his fair share of life-threatening moments on the job.

"The day I nearly got killed, March 2, 1987. We were on the train down to Kawerau, it was just two of us and we were approaching a crossing loop on the Matata straits, we had green lights all the way, we went past the first light, then the second light was green, then all of a sudden a blackout. The power just went off. That was seen as a danger stop single."

Mr Wells slowed the train down to a stop. His fireman on the train walked to the nearest station to find a phone and looked back to see the train bouncing behind him.

"He sees this engine bouncing up and down, like a basketball, it was an earthquake, 6.8. Luckily, the train had not been loaded. If the earthquake had struck while we were on the move, it could have thrown us off the track."

Unfortunately hitting people, cars or animals on rail tracks was just a part of the job today, Mr Wells said - but he still believes it was one of the best jobs in the world.