'After 60 years on the railway, it's in my blood'

A man who has worked on the railway for 60 years said he has no plans to retire anytime soon.

Mick Clarke, 76, who is based in Hull, is one of Northern's longest-serving employees.

The train enthusiast, who described himself as a "railway eccentric", said the time had "flown by".

"I once met a sailor who told me he got cravings to go to sea because it was in his blood. That's how I feel about the railway," he said.

Mr Clarke said he first became fascinated with trains when he was a child, watching them for hours during family holidays in Germany.

"I've never thought about doing anything else," he added.

After leaving school at 16, he secured his first job as a messenger at the British Rail freight yard in Hull.

He has since worked in a variety of roles, including sorting parcels and working as a porter.

"As long as I was on the railway, I was happy. But I was always looking at the British Rail vacancy list to see what jobs were going," he said.

After spotting an advert for a signaller, and completing a six-week training course, Mr Clarke spent over a decade working at three signal boxes in East Yorkshire, and still thinks of them as the best years of his career.

"Even now, if someone offered me a chance to go back to the signal box, I wouldn't hesitate, I would just go," he said.

The switch to modern and centralised signalling meant another change in direction for Mr Clarke who took up a role selling tickets and later became a conductor.

"It was like that film 'The Titfield Thunderbolt', with all these local village stations where you knew everyone and the gossip travelled by train," he said.

Mr Clarke, who now works as a revenue protection officer, has also been known to take his work home with him.

He has amassed a collection of more than 1,000 railway books, as well as creating an elaborate model railway, which spans two rooms and is connected by a tunnel running through the wall.

Mr Clarke also has a signal box in his garden, complete with authentic levers and controls from a former British Rail box near Filey.

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