Levin man Don Clarke, 84, is stopping traffic regularly as he walks from his home on Kimberley Rd into Levin to shop or pay his bills.
He stopped driving a long time ago and relies on his legs to get him anywhere. He said it keeps him fit and allows
Pounding the roads helps Don Clarke recollect a lifetime at the railways
Subscribe to listen
Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber? Sign in here
Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
Ka945 hauling a short train through the Manawatu Gorge Photo / Steam Incorporated / Ray Mathewson.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
"I was a month passed my 15th birthday when I joined the Wellington Locomotive Deputy as a junior labourer, a jack of all trades, really. I worked the day shift for 8.19 pounds a fortnight."
His first pay took three weeks to arrive and thanks to his widowed mother - Clarke lost his father when he was just 7 years old - he got by until then.
As the years rushed by he picked up a lot of other skills, from house maintenance to lawnmowing and helped out neighbours where he could doing mowing and gardening, sometimes earning a few pennies for his efforts.
"I had an uncle who worked for the Railways for 40 years, rising to locomotive supervisor. He lived near the station in Levin and I used to go there to watch the train from Auckland go by."
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
As he started working life the Wellington depot was all about steam trains, though there were 10 ED class electric locos.
Living in Miramar he used a secondhand bike to ride to work in fine weather. Otherwise he'd catch the early tram into town and then walk to the depot, about eight miles each way.
It took some years saving before he could afford a brand new bike, he said.
"I can still remember my first day at work. Two of us were given the job of putting colza oil, using rags, on to polish the tenders of an AB class locomotive inside one of the sheds.
"The classes of locomotives we had in Wellington were A, Abs, WAB, WW, Gs plus the ones that used to come in from the Woburn shops and stay overnight which include the K, Ka, J, Ja, Jb. I remember the last two Jbs that came into the depot mid-1952, Nos 1287 and 1288.
"During my first year I did a lot of different jobs, such as a stint at the coal wagon depot unloading brake blocks, cleaning and oiling the handpoints in the depot, even painting the front of the locos with what they called smoky paint, which was black in colour and dried very quickly."
At the end of his first year he obtained his boiler ticket and became a cleaner, which meant the start of shift work, something he wasn't allowed to do until then.
After a few years he had saved enough to buy a 35 Morris 8, very handy in winter.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
In mid-1955 he passed his exams to become a railway fireman and by that time most steam engines were replaced by diesel ones, while electric locos had begun to turn up.
"I remember one shift as a fireman being sent to catch an electric unit to Paekakariki where a steam loco, either a J or Jb class, had a cracked frame and we had to get it to the Woburn Rail Station.
"It was the first time ever I fired a steam loco, going through small, dark tunnels. I soon found out how small the tunnels were and had a lot of smoke going down the wrong way.
"I also fired the Auckland night train out of Wellington. One time I was sent to the yard to look after an oil-burning K or Ka class loco to steam up the night train as the normal stationary boiler was out of action.
"My driver was Norm who was later to become an instructor and took me and other staff through our electric driver courses. I told him I had not done this before, but he was very helpful throughout the trip to Paekakariki."
Once steam locos disappeared the job title of fireman became Locomotive Assistant and an engine driver became a locomotive engineer.
Clarke met his wife Anne in 1957 and they married in January the following year. They had been together ever since, until some time last year when a stroke resulted in her being taken away from him, to Auckland.
"I haven't heard from or about my wife since then. I have no idea where she is."
He remembers he sat the second grade driver ticket in stages. In 1962 he passed the diesel ticket exam and in 1964 the first grade engine driver exam and then did what he calls electric school. Soon after the handling of passengers was added to his work experience.
He said the hardest job was that of shift shed driver. "You had a lot of things to check and you must keep an eye out for other traffic around the depot. On Friday and Saturday's night shifts you were on your own, dealing with mishaps, derailments and dealing with a change in workers due to illness.
"Once I had to ring the district mechanical engineer to tell him at 2am that the Paekakariki engine driver has passed away at home."
He finished as road foreman which meant being in charge of examinations, testing other drivers and going with drivers who had just passed to ensure they could do the job.
Long since retired and living near Levin, he looks back at all the miles he has walked in his life.
He would often walk to work from Wadestown and at least once took his youngest daughter in a pushchair to see his mother in Miramar. He would garden for his mum all day and then walk back, the rest of the family taking the car.
In his later years he has struggled with eyesight. "I have only one good eye and the left one is getting an injection in an attempt to save it."
When he shops in Levin he always get a taxi to go home. "On my way in there are a lot of vehicles that pass me, some getting a bit close.
"I keep well within the white line, but the big double trailer units force me to stop and move over to the right as far as possible, holding on to my hat as those trucks put up a lot of wind when passing. Having no footpaths makes it all a bit risky.
"A firm on Tararua Rd with an H in their name very kindly has drivers that give me a wide berth each time. I notice many motorists do not slow down for the 50km sign on Tararua Rd. There are many kind people who give me lifts and listen to my troubles.
"I am finding out I am not the only one who has troubles. Some haven't spoken to family for years, which is very sad. If you go down with a heart attack or a stroke, like my wife, why be nasty or snobby?
"I am not looking forward to the winter weather, though hot weather isn't nice either. Some of the road melts and gets very sticky."
Don Clarke has put his memories about his working life in a small book, called From Steam to Diesel. The memories of a good life keep him going and as long as the body can keep he will keep walking, he said.
He said he is grateful to all the kind drivers, those that give him lifts as well as good neighbours and friends who have helped him in times of trouble and who have even given him meals.
Latest from Horowhenua Chronicle
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
