“I’d like to do it all over again”
CHRIS HOPCROFT’s 60-year railway career included thousands of talks on railway safety to schoolchildren, and both his work in saving lives and his longevity has been recognised with a National Rail Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. PAUL STEPHEN reports
Not all of us are as fortunate as Chris Hopcroft was in 1959, in knowing exactly what we want to do after leaving school. Born and raised in South Wales, the railways were already in his blood when he opted to join British Railways as a telephonist at Maesglas Yard.
The 15-year-old was continuing a tradition started by his grandfather, who had moved the family away from Wolverhampton at the turn of the century to take up a post as signalman with the Great Western Railway.
Hopcroft’s father would subsequently go on to become a railwayman as well, enjoying a 50-year career as a guard and guards inspector.
Initially responsible for recording train movements at Maeglas Yard, the young Hopcroft worked his way up and was soon transferred to Ebbw Junction shed to be an engine cleaner.
In March 1960, he passed his exams to work as a junior fireman and then as a Secondman on diesel traction, after steam engines were phased out in South Wales in 1965.
Hopcroft was promoted to driver in 1986, and also volunteered for fireman and driving duties on main line steam charter trains until 2002.
After the privatisation of British Rail in the mid-1990s, he was employed by a range of companies including EWS and Merlin
Rail, before most recently serving as a train manager with GB Railfreight.
He finally retired in December 2019, after racking up an incredible 60 years of continuous service to the railways.
He recalls: “I came from a railway family, so I was always going to join up in 1959. Over the years I was offered all sorts of management opportunities with British Rail, but the pull of the footplate was just too strong, and I managed to learn 12 different types of diesel.
“I finished full-time work in 2005 and then switched to part time, because I liked working and it seemed a shame to leave something I enjoyed. It’s never been a job to me, but a vocation.
“I’ve seen some tremendous changes over the years and I’m only sorry that my career has finished, because I’d like to do it all over again.”
Hopcroft was originally nominated by GBRf for the Outstanding Personal Contribution category of RAIL’s National Rail Awards, but the judging panel understandably felt that the remarkable length of his career should be more properly recognised with a special Lifetime Achievement Award instead.
Nobody really made much of an effort [on rail safety] before I came back from Japan, so we were stepping into the unknown. I made sure that it wasn’t just me talking, but that we’d also show kids a film and then get them heavily involved in a Q and A.
But it was not just Hopcroft’s longevity that was noted by the NRA judges. He has also dedicated a great deal of time and energy to talking to young people about the importance of rail safety.
This potentially lifesaving work was a result of Hopcroft’s travels to Japan, Germany and the USA, to observe best practice after being awarded the Churchill Fellowship in 1971.
It was in Japan where he came across a scheme being used to educate children on the dangers of the railway - a scheme that he has since pioneered closer to home.
He adds: “I remember seeing the Churchill Fellowship being advertised in Rail News.
3,000 people applied in the railway category and only five of us got past a panel that included the likes of Tommy Lascelles [former Private Secretary to both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II].
“I applied to go to Japan to study the Shinkansen, and then to learn about the new TOPS system in the southern Pacific. I also went to Germany and then had to write a thesis and present it to the panel.
“One of the things to come out of all that was seeing how they deal with trespass in Japan. That’s where my inspiration came from, and I like to think now that I was able to make a difference here in the UK.”
Over the course of 27 years, Hopcroft delivered approximately 2,000 talks to children - covering not just trespass, but also how to use designated crossings, avoiding being too close to electrified lines, being safe and responsible on station platforms, and not treating the railway as a playground.
BR supported Hopcroft by releasing him from his job for up to two days a week, and his hard work was eventually rolled out nationally as the Stay Safe Play Safe scheme, which included other agencies.
In 1994, he was recognised with an MBE for his dedication to rail safety, but he cites his proudest achievement as the way in which he was received by education authorities.
“Nobody really made much of an effort [on rail safety] before I came back from Japan, so we were stepping into the unknown. I made sure that it wasn’t just me talking, but that we’d also show kids a film and then get them heavily involved in a Q and A.
“I also used to tell them that there was no such thing as a silly question, to encourage them to get involved, and we’d get lots of letters from schools wanting us to come in and talk to them. I’d get around South Wales, but also other places such as Gloucester and the West Country, so I could do a couple of talks in a day and then get home.”
Hopcroft’s ability to teach and inspire was also apparent among his more immediate peers, with NRA entry documents from GBRf describing him as “an exemplary figure” and “a model professional” who has left a mark on colleagues across the industry.
He has earned himself a reputation for being highly reliable and skilled, while also making time to pass on his expertise and support to those who look up to him for his knowledge, passion and energy.
GBRf Managing Director John Smith says: “As a 42-year railway person, I am a mere beginner when compared to Chris Hopcroft. If anyone ticks the box of a lifetime achievement it has to be Chris - both literally and metaphorically.”
Unfortunately, retirement hasn’t quite gone to plan for Hopcroft, with the Coronavirus pandemic so far preventing him from fulfilling his voluntary commitments to the Dean
Forest Railway or attending meetings of the Monmouthshire Railway Society.
But on the plus side, he says that he has enjoyed spending more time with his wife Barbara, who has “had to put up with me doing odd shifts for the last 46 years”.
Although the focus of Hopcroft’s Lifetime Achievement Award has inevitably been on the past, he also likes to keep an eye on the future. And he has the following message for the latest generation of young school leavers.
“I’d like to thank everyone I’ve ever worked with as without them I wouldn’t have lasted 60 years. Winning the NRA and to get such recognition from colleagues was a tremendous honour. I never expected anything like that. The MBE was pretty special but so was this.
“When you work on the railway you really do join a family, and everyone really looks after each other. I thoroughly recommend it.”