He would not miss the late nights and early starts though - "the shift work was absolute crap."
The hardest part of the job was the "apathy of people" at rail crossings and the many near misses that resulted.
McNair said it would shock people how often they happened.
"Usually four or five times a week."
He had three collisions in his career, thankfully none of them fatal.
McNair's interest in trains began as a child.
"It was a common way to travel. My grandparents lived in Mangonui in the Far North and it used to take us 23 hours on the train to get there from Palmerston North - we would leave at 6am and not arrive until 5pm."
His older brother was working on trains so when McNair finished school it was a natural career choice.
His first job was as a cleaner on a steam engine, which he began on February 3, 1964.
After nine months he did an exam to become a fireman.
The next six years were spent in an apprenticeship scheme to become a train driver.
His first job in the driver's seat was in Taihape, mostly hauling freight and sometimes passengers between there and Palmerston North or Taumarunui.
In 1984, when the main trunk was being electrified, he and wife Rangimarie moved their four children to Tauranga.
Most of his work was freight but he also worked on the rail cars, which took passengers between Tauranga and Auckland.
Son Andrew McNair, who came from Napier for yesterday's farewell, remembered his dad would sometimes stop his train at Ngatai Rd and let him on.
"We used to just go for a ride to Hamilton. My mates would all queue up for a ride. Of course, you could never do that now."
Rangimarie died in 2000. McNair later remarried Irene and the couple now live in Golden Sands.
John Loveridge, who retired from train driving in Hamilton last year after 50 years, said it was a hard transition to make.
His advice to his mate for getting through it was: "Get your golf handicap in order".
In his retirement, McNair planned to do a bit of travel with his family and help his daughter and son-in-law, Maria and Rob Bayly, on their Te Puke avocado and kiwifruit orchard.
"Maybe we'll get him doing a bit of mowing," she said. "No shift work though."
