Greater Anglia engineer celebrates 50 years on the railway

Steve Woodcock at Norwich Crown Point depot (credit: Greater Anglia)

A Greater Anglia engineer is celebrating 50 years on the railway.

Steve Woodcock, who works as a Fleet Systems Engineer at Norwich’s Crown Point depot, first joined the railway on 29 July 1974.

He first started work as an electrical and mechanical engineering apprentice learning about every type of locomotive and train type at depots around the country, along with gaining experience working on machinery.

His first promotion came in 1982 after he installed Norwich Crown Point depot’s first computer system that tracked the maintenance of its plant and facilities by use of the Plant And Machinery Maintenance System (PAMMS), over the course of 18 months.

Since then, he has held a wide variety of positions and has been involved in a huge number of ground-breaking projects.

These included bringing the Norwich depot up to a British Standard of compliance in the 1990s and installing a new system in trains that enabled conductors to log faults with carriages by using a data system and phone, with everything downloading back to the depot’s control room overnight so it could be quickly fixed.

He has been involved with station and signal box planning works, rewiring, and developing train systems, while he also saved £40,000 a year in 1992 by ensuring that train cleaning fluids were used in the correct proportions, along with introducing the cleaning and recycling of fluid containers, cleaning cloths, and overalls.

Steve Woodcock chats with a colleague (credit: Greater Anglia)

Since 2007, Steve has been the administrator and developer of the vital Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) computer system, which is used to track a train’s maintenance and repairs to let maintenance controllers know if a train is safe to return to, and operate in, passenger service.

He has even taught himself the JavaScript and SQL coding language and is preparing to take a professional course in Python so he can be more effective at his tasks.

Steve Woodcock said:

“I joined the railway on 29 July 1974, and I’ve never looked back. The last 50 years on the railway have absolutely flown by.

“I am a very positive thinker, never shying away from a challenge and this has set me up well for the work I undertake.

“Looking back on things now, I’m very proud of all the projects I’ve been involved with, from improving the depot back in the 1990s to dealing with contracts for train maintenance and setting up computer systems and their interfaces – these are some of my fondest memories.

“I’ve met all sorts of people and I’ve had a huge number of different experiences from building offices to writing computer code and enjoyed pretty much all of it – and who can say that over the course of such a long career?”

Gemma Browne, Greater Anglia’s Head of Fleet Performance and Planning, said:

“I’d like to give a huge congratulations to Steve Woodcock, who has achieved an incredible milestone of 50 years with the railway.

“Steve is a lynchpin, and his vast experience in various roles over the past five decades greatly benefits our depots and the wider Greater Anglia teams.

“His unmatched enthusiasm for computers and coding continually drives improvements, demonstrating his unwavering commitment.

“Steve is an absolute star and a truly valued member of the Fleet Performance and Planning team, and Greater Anglia as a whole.”

Steve, who loves spending time with his large family, travelling and fixing everything from electronics to cuckoo clocks, plans to retire in 2027.