KEY POINTS:
I have been a train driver for 47 years. I started under NZ Government Railways. The Herald had an advertisement wanting trainee firemen who would then become engine drivers for both steam and diesel trains. I applied, had a medical exam, which I fortunately passed, and years later I am still employed by the railway.
A typical day for me is driving locomotive carriage trains in the suburban service - Papakura, Britomart, Waitakere, Pukekohe on either early or late shift. I can start as early as 3am and finish as late as 10pm.
The hardest thing about this job is coping with any fatality - in particular, a suicide - knowing that you did all you possibly could to prevent such a tragedy; endeavouring to stop as quickly as possible and not able to do any more as the driver. Unfortunately this is an occupational hazard - very few drivers go through their railway career without such a horrifying experience.
I am one of only two steam drivers left in Auckland. As a child, I was fascinated by steam locomotives and still have the same feeling to this day. I remember stepping into a locomotive cab at Auckland steam depot at the age of 18 and wondering how on earth I was going to deal with this monster of a machine.
I thought 'what the hell am I doing' when I experienced my first fatality as a locomotive driver. I had this thought also when travelling through an 'S' curve at normal speed recently when suddenly 12 to 14 schoolchildren were all over the track, going home from school. I immediately slammed on the brakes to "Emergency" and blasted the whistle, bringing the locomotive to a stop, which is possible with quick thinking and reactions. They all got clear - so I was pleased to say nobody got killed. These circumstances make a driver's job extremely difficult - a near miss is absolutely horrifying.
I wish more people would be sensible around trains. Railway safety is for all of us.
I just love the blues ... music by Count Basie (piano), Norman Keenan (bass), Freddie Green (guitar) and Sonny Payne (drums).
The last time I laughed was watching Robin Williams in the film Mrs Doubtfire recently. I admire people with a great sense of humour and enjoy their company. Life would be bad news without one.
Pencil drawings are another of my passions. They are very detailed and of a variety of subjects (including trains). My father was extremely talented at drawing. I remembering being 8 years old or so and going into his office; I opened the bottom drawer of his desk and and saw a drawing he'd done of Malcolm Campbell's land speed record. I started drawing after that and I love it. I do it with a magnifying glass and some can take more than 40 hours.
The best advice I ever received was from my grandmother. She told me, "Be wise".
