TRIBUTES have been paid to a Fishponds man who worked on the railways for more than 40 years.
Graham Darby, who has died, aged 93, came from four generations of railway workers, starting with his great-grandfather who worked for the Midland Railway in the late 1800s.
Graham joined the Great Western Railway in 1948, aged 15, as a telegraphist (or ‘booking boy’) at Bradford Junction Signal Box, near Trowbridge, helping keep a log for the signalman. Four years later, he became a signalman himself, a job he returned to in 1954 after National Service.
Graham, his wife Pauline and baby daughter Beverley Jane, moved to Fishponds in 1961. He became a relief signalman at Mangotsfield Station, covering sickness, vacancies and holidays at boxes including Shortwood, Westerleigh, Yate Main Line, Rangeworthy, Wickwar, Charfield, Winterbourne, and on the Bath Branch line at Warmley, Bitton and Weston (Bath).
Between 1969 and 1972, Graham was employed as a freight guard at Bristol, Bath Road loco depot and often worked trains into the private sidings at Fry’s chocolate factory in Keynsham. He later worked for British Rail in Bristol until his retirement in 1993.
For 11 years, Graham was a valued volunteer at the Grade II listed Midland Railway Signal Box in Warmley, where he had once worked. It officially reopened in 2013 as a heritage site, following a refurbishment in which Graham played a huge part.
The railwayman took part in many events at the signal box including the centenary event in 2018, the Chocolate Train Heritage Day, the Platinum Jubilee and King’s Coronation events. In 2017, Graham was the worthy recipient of South Gloucestershire Community Award.
He also spent a great deal of time researching the Midland Railway Workers’ Roll of Honour, which commemorates thoser who served and lost their lives in the first and second World Wars.
Even after retiring as a volunteer in 2022, Graham was a regular visitor on Saturdays x0when the box was open.
Ros Pyle, from Warmley Signal Box and Community Garden Group, said: “Graham gave a unique insight into the way the Warmley Signal Box worked. He was well respected by his railway family but leaves a wonderful legacy, through his work at the Warmley Signal Box for future generations. A rose bush, and, commemorative plaques will be placed on a bench and memorial board in his memory.”