Ian celebrates half a century on the railways after heeding good advice

Wisely, Ian took the older man at his word, and this week marks the 50 years since he first started working at Stourbridge Junction railway station.

“My dad worked on the railways in the 50s, and I was always interested in trains and train-spotting,” said Ian, who lives in Oldbury.

“The steam trains were gone, of course, by the time I started, but it was still a really interesting time.”

When he started at Stourbridge Junction in 1970, Ian was paid the sum of £6 17s a week. “I was an area messenger lad,” he said.

“I used to take all the correspondence to the freight terminals at Brierley Hill, Round Oak, Oldbury, Rood End and Great Bridge.

“I used to catch the bus to Round Oak and Brierley Hill, and then get the train to Langley Green. It was a great life.”

His mentor, who gave him the advice on his first day, was an elderly man called Bill Isles.

And he remembers being shown the ropes by a number of railway veterans who were approaching retirement.

When Ian turned 18, he took an adult job in the booking office at the former Smethwick West station, where he remained until the station closed in 1996.

He then moved to Rowley Regis station, and also worked at Langley Green before returning to Stourbridge Junction in 1999.

While Ian’s duties are mainly confined to the office these days, in years gone by his work was more varied.

“If the signals ever broke, we would go down and have a look at it, the same with the level-crossing barriers,” he said.

“If the signals broke down, we would stand by them with coloured flags.”

Ian added: “In the early days I used to be able to help out unofficially in the signal box, as well as helping the train drivers, but there is none of that sort of stuff nowadays.”

Ian remembers being assisted over the years by several station cats, a tradition he reintroduced three years ago when he adopted the Stourbridge Junction feline, George.

“Most of them were in the 70s and 80s,” he said.

“They used to give you an allowance to feed them in those days because they kept the mice at bay.

“We had ones called Smokey and Scampi at Smethwick West, and one called Georgie at Langley. He lived to a ripe-old age, he was about 18 or 19 when he died.”

None of these cats grew up in the age of social media, though, and never enjoyed the celebrity status of George, who has his own Facebook page with almost 3,000 followers.

Ian says he hopes to retire at the end of the year, although these plans could be delayed by the coronavirus.

But if he does, George will retire with him.

“It’s an agreement I had with his former owner, that he would go home with me when I retire,” he added.