A manager who retired 48 years after joining the railway as a carriage cleaner said he has enjoyed a "fantastic” career.
Geoff Price, who worked for Northern as a conductor team manager at Blackpool North station, said goodbye to his colleagues last week.
The 67-year-old, who lives in Warton, joined British Rail in July 1976 and went on to hold numerous jobs on the railway, including shunter, station chargeman and revenue protection inspector.
“Working on the railway has been fantastic for me,” he said. “Everything I’ve got and been afforded over the years has come to me through working on the railway.
“The experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve worked with have shaped me into the person I am today. I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“I’m going to miss everybody, it’s like being part of a family. Not working with these guys and girls day in day out will be a very different experience for me.
“But it really is time to go as I’m not getting any younger. I want to spend some quality time with my lovely wife Patricia and Roxy Dog, my 11-year-old Chocolate Labrador."
After leaving school, Geoff worked in a factory for six months before joining the railway as a carriage cleaner in Enfield Road Carriage Sidings in Blackpool.
“My uncle Tony Bretherton was a train driver based at Blackpool North at the time, so he put in a good word for me," he said. “I really enjoyed it. It was a good job and I still can’t stand dirty windows or any muck.”
Geoff spent the next 12 years working as a shunter, moving trains around between Blackpool North Station limits and within the sidings.
When new diesel units with automatic couplings were introduced, Geoff decided that the shunters' days were numbered and decided to move on and find another role.
He became a station chargeman at Blackpool North Station in 1990, working to ensure trains were being dispatched on time.
“It was another challenge and something different,” he said. “I had a clean, smart uniform and interacted with the public, which was new to me. I wasn’t getting filthy and soaking wet anymore or crawling around under locomotives and coaches.”
Two years later, Geoff was promoted to station supervisor and tasked with managing the station staff and driving up standards. He was part of the team that won the Best Kept Station Award three years running in the 1990s.
He then left Blackpool and was transferred to Manchester Piccadilly, to work as a revenue protection inspector.
“I didn’t know much about tickets, validities and railcards when I started and had to work a lot of things out for myself," he said.
"Whenever I asked a question, the chief revenue protection inspector said ‘you’re an inspector now, go and find out’.
“But I was working as part of a good team and soon developed a sixth sense for spotting fare dodgers throughout the network. I’m told I was quite good at it.
“You would board trains at random wearing a smart grey British Rail uniform, with gold braid around the hat and sleeves. You could see some people thinking ‘oh no an inspector' and make a beeline for the toilet, or just get off.”
Geoff returned to Blackpool North to become a trains inspector in 1997 and worked there up until his retirement, managing traincrew and helping to ensure services run smoothly.
The role was later changed to trains manager in 1999, before being changed again to conductor team manager.
“One of the best parts of the job was finding a good candidate, giving them a chance and then seeing them do really well when they finish their training and go out on the trains," he said.
“You can see it in the way they conduct themselves, their attendance record, their general attitude, uniform standards, revenue performance and on-train announcements.
“Then later on when everything about them is spot on and you see them get promoted and move up through the ranks – that gives you a real sense of satisfaction and pride.”
Image credit: Northern
