James Clarke qualifies as mainline driver

[West Ruislip]

DBS driver James Clarke qualified as a mainline steam driver today and became the youngest such person to qualify in almost half a century. Picture of James taken at work with his father Don in August 2013, the day Don retired after 49 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-32000416

A 33-year-old man has become the youngest steam train driver to qualify on the mainline for nearly 50 years.
Jim Clarke "passed out" as a qualified driver after he drove the Belmond British Pullman from London Victoria to Guildford, Surrey.
It is believed he is the youngest person to qualify since 1968.
He was following in the footsteps of his father, Don Clarke, who started driving steam engines in the 1960s but is now retired.
Mr Clarke, from Haywards Heath, West Sussex, said he had been watching, listening and learning from his father who spent 49 years working on the railway.

Picture of James taken at work with his father Don in August 2013, the day Don retired after 49 years

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Many Congratulations !

There has been a lot of news about this in the media. It's a great achievement.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Wonderful news to hear. I too offer my heartfelt congratulations.

 

[theageofthetra]

Congratulations to him. Out of interest has anyone started as a trainee driver when 21 and passed out while still 21?

 

[Dieseldriver]

Yep. I started at 20 and went solo aged 21 Well done to the guy in the news story

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

I wonder what this newly qualified mainline steam loco driver and indeed the other mainline steam drivers do workwise when not hauling steam charters, I guess many of them have other occupations on the railway?

 

[theironroad]

From another site, it seems that this guy is a full time driver with DBS, so will probably be doing normal/ charter diesel work when not driving steam.

As far as I know only DBS and wcrc are the only toc/foc that have mainline steam drivers.

 

[mtbox]

I wonder what this newly qualified mainline steam loco driver and indeed the other mainline steam drivers do workwise when not hauling steam charters, I guess many of them have other occupations on the railway?[/QUOTE

All steam drivers are fully qualified mainline drivers, either working full time for the operating companies who work steam or in some situations working part time as required. They will have had a lot of extra training as operating steam is a completely different ball game to driving modern units or locos.
It is not possible for, say, a steam driver from a heritage railway to drive steam on the mainline, unless they were already a mainline driver.

 

[neilmc]

I don't know quite what's involved but it must be difficult to accrue the experience and hours required to "pass out" when there's only preserved steam charters to work with. So well done.

Having said that, 33 is an age of maturity and competence, or ought to be - being retired, I find it more frightening that men in their sixties used to be entrusted with driving often run-down express steam locos in an age of semaphore signalling and a much more complex network.