A carriage cleaner is retiring after nearly half a century working nights – without EVER having taken a day off sick.
Edgar Medley, 70, is hanging up his high-vis vest after 48 years cleaning train cars for First Great Western and says he was just never ill.
The charismatic great-grandfather, from Bristol, attributes his good health to refraining from ”extreme” indulgence.
He said: ”There were times when I had a bit of a headache but I never had anything nasty.
”I enjoy a cigar and the odd pint of ale, but don’t do anything too extreme.”
Jamaican-born Mr Medley began working on coal powered trains in 1962 after moving to the UK and has been enthralled by how rail travel has changed over the years.
He said: ”The railway is my saviour. It helped me a great deal. It meant I didn’t have time to hang about on the streets.
”It wasn’t much money – you had to live on the job to make it worthwhile – but now it is much, much better.
”When I joined the first job of the day was to stoke the fire to heat the water.
”Now you just turn on a tap to get hot water or press a button. That’s terrific.”