One of Colin's fondest possessions is his grandfather's fifty year service medal obtained as a locomotive fireman, diver/engineer and motorman with the London, Chatham and Dover, the South Eastern and Chatham and the Southern Railways of Great Britain. The medal is now in the Bromley Museum, London. Born close to London, Colin's first job was as a steam locomotive fireman with British Railways during college vacations. Graduating from Reading University with a degree in Political Economy, he joined British Railways and eventually became an Area Manager at Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. He came to Canada in 1968 to the then Canadian Transport Commission and moved to Transport Canada to work in railway policy in 1971. As Director General, Railway Safety, he wrote the Canadian Railway Safety Act and was responsible for the regulation of railway safety in Canada from 1989 to 1995. He wrote amendments to this legislation from 1995 to 1997 and retired from Transport Canada in 1997. Colin became familiar with the Thurso and Nation Valley Railway through the Bytown Railway Society and was active in the preservation of car 27 and the later trips over the line. Railways have played an important part in his life. Colin has had the opportunity, through business and pleasure, to study railways in Britain, Europe, the Soviet Union, Africa, North and Central America, Latin America, the Caribbean, China and Australia. |
