A 80-YEAR-OLD man from Caerphilly county borough has taken his last turn as a driver on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway.

After 65 years as a railwayman, Jeff Madge feels it is time to retire although he intends to remain actively involved with the railway’s steam locomotive department.

Mr Madge joined British Railways’ Cardiff Canton depot in August 1952 aged just 15, the following year moving to Old Oak Common in London where he passed out as a fireman.

Working his way up the ranks, he returned to Cardiff where he became a ‘passed fireman’ and was put forward for driving.

Mr Madge said: “As a passed fireman I enjoyed plenty of opportunities to drive locomotives and did an awful lot of work on freight traffic,.

“I often worked up to Gloucester and sometimes further north over what we knew as the Honeybourne Line, the route over which the present day Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) operates.

“Unfortunately, although I was due to be passed as a driver, the end of steam came about too soon. Many steam men left the railway then but I decided to continue and became a diesel driver, working on most types including the InterCity 125’s (HST’s) and retired in 1983.”

Mr Madge said handling a steam locomotive in today’s world “demands the highest levels of skill and professionalism”.

He said: “Railways – and especially steam – ‘gets into your blood’ and I decided to take an interest in the then embryonic GWSR at Toddington.

“It was a tiny operation with big ambitions then and I have seen it grow and have enjoyed encouraging youngsters as they start their voluntary footplate careers on the railway.

“They are the people who will keep the dream of steam alive for future generations to enjoy. They may never experience the challenge of handling a 700-ton coal train behind a Great Western 2-8-0 such as 2807, which is based at Toddington, or flying along at 80mph or more on a ‘Castle’ with 10 coaches in tow.

“Steam engines are much cleaner and better maintained than ever.”

Mr Madge reflects that with 24 years’ service behind him he has been a driver longer on the GWSR than on British Railways.