Fifty years of service recognised on c2c

Fifty years of dedicated service will be honoured on Wednesday 10 November when c2c name an Electrostar after their longest serving train driver.

James Snelling, from Southend and now 73, joined the railway on 25 March 1946, the day before his fifteenth birthday. His first job was as a porter at Thorpe Bay station before transferring in January of the following year to Shoeburyness where he started on the route to being a train driver by becoming a cleaner/fireman.

The only break in 50 years of service came between 1952 and 1954 when James did his National Service. Returning to the railway he continued his progression through the ranks, becoming a Passed Fireman/Driver at Tilbury in 1956. This meant that while his substantive job was as a Fireman, he was fully qualified to drive locomotives and drive them he did when there was a vacancy. He became a full-time driver on 2nd March 1959.

Of course, when James first became a driver steam was still the power behind the trains that ran on the former LTS (London, Tilbury & Southend) Railway. But already the days of steam were numbered and in 1962 electrification was completed. James was one of the first to qualify to drive the (then) new electric trains and never looked back, driving millions of customers millions of miles between Shoeburness/Tilbury and Fenchurch Street. In 1974 he moved back to Shoeburyness depot where he was based until he retired on 30 March 1996.

But not before two particularly important events which James will remember among the many anecdotes he has from his long career. In 1992 he also drove the Lord Mayor of London from Fenchurch to Southend to celebrate Borough Charter Centenary Day. Then in 1996 HE drove the first train to run under privatisation for the new company PRISM Rail, accompanied by the new Managing Director Ken Bird.

Route Director Leila Frances said: "James began his career before I was even born, and retired having completed 50 glorious years. Fifty years of continuous service in any organisation today is much more the exception than the rule, and it is becoming even rarer on the railway. What makes James' career extra special is that his entire career, as was the case with another member of staff recently, has been spent on the LTS./c2c route. There has obviously been something unique about the Fenchurch Street line that has made people want to stay and we want to keep that loyalty, and with it experience, going. I am delighted that we are able to mark James' contribution to the route in such an enduring way and to demonstrate that while we are in business to run a safe and punctual rail service for our customers, we very much appreciate all our staff who make this happen.

When James Snelling retired, however, that did not mean the end of his family's connection with the railway. His son Trevor has completed 25 years as a driver from 1979 , his daughter-in-law Sue has spent 9 years with the railway, 4 with LTS/c2c, first as a guard, now as a Customer Host. His grandson Peter has successfully completed his Driver Training at Shoeburyness. Sue commented, "You might say we have kept LTS in the family!"