This week, I completed ten years of employment on the railways of Great Britain. Ten whole, unbroken years. Which means that at some point during the last year, my term of employment here became the longest I’ve held a job. In second place is nine years and about 2 months of (mostly dreadful) employment with Texaco. Most of it spent managing their petrol stations. Just over nine years of broken employment. I tried to escape twice. But I ended up coming back like a bad smell. In third place, just in case you’re wondering, was my five and a half years of teaching English in Mexico City.
Of all the jobs I’ve had, the railways has by far been the best. Best paid, best terms and conditions, best working environment, best people, easiest gig. I intend to finish my working life on the railways. It would be silly not to. I have maybe ten to fifteen years more to come. The pension is a good one with defined benefits. It pays to stay. They also throw little rewards your way for length of service. For ten years service? I’ve just had two days extra annual leave added to my entitlement. I top out at just over seven weeks now, including bank holidays. I’ll also get a £100 shopping voucher at some point. This is less exciting than paid leave, but I won’t reject it.
I like a train journey. I’ve used the amazing travel perks to explore Britain and Europe on the cheap, or even for free. But I’m not a train nerd. Or trainspotter, in old money. I couldn’t tell a Class 72 loco from a Class 43. I just know that after ten years service, I’m Class of 2015. There are a lot of trainspotters out there, plenty of whom work on the railways. People do tease them from time to time. There’s a rumor that the T in LGBTQIA+ stands for Trainspotter. I don’t know for sure, but it seems plausible.
And do you know what the collective noun for trainspotters is? I’ve recently had this debate. My guess was an ‘ejaculation of trainspotters’. It turns out that there is no official collective noun, but the more mundane ‘fleet of’ and ‘locomotion of’ are widely accepted. But for all the leg pulling, I happen to think that an industry that employs people who are as invested in it as these folk, is stronger for it.
But I digress. My first ten years is done. Onwards and upwards with the next ten….
The Mexile 