Tributes to steam train legend, Bobby
Firemen’s shovels were raised high in a poignant guard of honour and flowers were thrown by friends and colleagues as the funeral cortege carrying well-known local steam train driver, Bobby Duncan, passed the railway depot at Inverlochy recently, writes Mark Entwistle.
It was the final journey for Bobby, whose interest in trains was sparked while a young boy growing up in Fort William in the 1940s and 50s where his father had a spell working on the railway.
Robert Alexander Duncan, to give him his full name, and his twin brother, Charles,were born in Linnhe Road, in Fort William, on December 16, 1942, to parents Bessie (nee Rodger) and Charlie.
The brothers would grow up to be the best of friends until Charles’ death at the age of only 40 in 1982. Other siblings came after them – Elizabeth, James and Margaret. Sadly, Margaret also passed away.
Bobby’s parents were a hard-working couple. Bessie cooked in Fort William hotels and worked for K K Cameron, while Charles worked on the railway before starting Duncan’s taxis.
Bobby attended school at Fort William primary and senior secondary and earned a prize for technical drawing.
His interest in the railway had never faded, but after leaving school Bobby earned a living as a hotel porter, followed by stints as a slater and in Sarah McMaster’s fish shop before he had the opportunity to join the railway as a steam cleaner, progressing to a fireman’s position in the 1960s.
That was the start of a lifelong passion with the railways and steam in particular. At first, he was a fireman on the steam trains running through Fort William and on the West Highland Line.
But his dream was to become an engine driver. He moved to Stirling in 1964 as a Steam Fireman as there were no openings locally in Lochaber for him.
Bobby had met his future wife, Mary, in the 1960s and the couple were married in October 1968. Their children then followed – Fiona in 1971 and Robert in 1975.
But Bobby missed Fort William and he returned as soon as there was a job on the engines back in his hometown. He had also missed his identical twin brother a great deal.
He continued as ‘second man’ on diesel engines in Fort William, but no driving vacancies came up so in order to fulfil his ambition to become a fully-fledged diesel engine driver, he had to take his chance when a post came up in Inverness in 1986 and the family moved to a new home in the city’s Aird Avenue in January 1987.
It was in 1984, much to Bobby’s delight, that steam made a return to Fort William and the West Highland Line.
He eventually qualified as a steam driver taking the opportunity to work on his days off from British Rail on steam engines on the West Highland Line.
Bobby went on to become a train driving instructor with ScotRail and was delighted when he could help ambitious youngsters get a start and get ahead. He took great delight in being the first driver for the North line to drive the New Sprinter train in 1989.
Bobby was active in the Fort William Railway Social Club as a committee member and took pride in being a major part of the club.
Sadly, life had its share of both ‘downs’ as well as ‘ups’, with Bobby’s marriage of 30 years sadly ending in 1997 and tragically Mary died in January 1998.
However Bobby found happiness again with the second woman destined to hold his heart, Moira, and she became his partner for more than 20 years until her death in 2018.
Bobby continued to work on the railways with ScotRail until he retired. He then went to work with West Coast railways as a driver so he could finish up work in the way he started – on the footplate of his beloved steam trains.
He was contemplating a final retirement after this summer season, when he would be 78, but sadly it was not to be. Bobby died peacefully on April 22, after a short illness, at his home in Inverness surrounded by his family and was laid to rest alongside, Moira, and his brother, Charles.