THERE are less than half a dozen ex-BR steam train drivers left in Devon and Cornwall ? 70-year-old Gerald Smallacombe of Okehampton is one of them. One of the former Southern Railway lines on which Gerald used to work is now the Dartmoor Railway ? where he used to drive West Country class expresses all the way from Exeter to Bude and Padstow, thundering across Meldon Viaduct, now part of the cycle network. ?I remember we used to get up to 96mph at North Tawton, on the way back to Exeter,? Gerald said. ?If we were just five minutes late we were issued with a time ticket, a copy of which was sent to the office.? Gerald?s father was a signalmen at Ashbury, and the family lived in the Station House ? his mother Olive (90) still lives there. Both grandfathers were platelayers and his uncles also worked for the railway. Gerald?s wife Christine was also been a great support through their 48 years of marriage. There are very few engines Gerald has not driven, but his favourite of all was the N class mixed traffic. ?A very reliable engine,? he said. ?The West Country class could be very hot indeed during the summer as it was enclosed - but in the winter it was lovely and warm. You had to be very careful as that particular class could slip quite a lot.? Gerald has fired and driven Black Fives, A2s, A4s, K1s, Q7s, Battle of Britain class, S15s and many more engines besides. He began as a cleaner in 1952 on BR Southern at Okehampton Station and then spent nine years as a fireman before qualifying as a driver. ?If you were based at Exeter Junction, you might well have had to wait 15 years before becoming a driver,? Gerald said. ?Make no mistake; it?s dirty, noisy hard work, but the job satisfaction is second to none. Each locomotive had her own character and the driver had to coax and nurse her gently to get top performance.? There?s no stopping this perky 70-year-old who still crawls underneath the engine after a day?s work to rake out the fire and clinker.
