A person fondly recalls their father’s career as a train driver in South Africa, sharing memories of journeys, the support of their mother, and the strong family bonds that were cherished despite their challenges.
Transcript
A says:
Yesterday we talked quite a lot about your dad and his. And when he drove on the railway. Do you remember we talked about that yesterday?
B says:
Yes.
A says:
And that was so nice, talking about your dad on the railway, wasn't it?
B says:
Yes, I remember my dad as if he was here yesterday.
A says:
Yeah.
B says:
You know, my poor mother had much able not to come to me.
A says:
Yeah.
B says:
Because she was, you know, without any other way of getting to me. But I'm sure she thinks about me. I think about her, too, quite a lot.
A says:
And yesterday we thought about your dad and how he used to drive those big trains, didn't he? And you talked about how you used to sometimes go and go on the big engines, didn't you? Yeah. Yeah. And. And how you used to travel all over South Africa. You've done well with that water. It's just about finished. So you used to travel all over South Africa on the railways, on those big trains.
B says:
Yes, we will. We appreciate our mothers and fathers and others. My brothers died quite young and my mother did too.
A says:
She did, yes. But when you lived in Taos river, that was when your dad was driving all the trains, wasn't he? Yes, he. Yeah. And you said how, Tim, when he was. When he came in, you'd go to the station and you'd. You'd meet him and you'd see your dad coming in. And you told me about that yesterday, didn't you? How you used to meet your dad and sometimes you would go on the engine. Yes. And they'd put all the coal in. And you'd said yesterday how after he'd been on the train and came home, he was always very dirty.
B says:
Yes, well, he was dirty, but he was happy.
A says:
He was happy because he'd been on the train with all that coal. So he didn't put. He didn't put the coal.
B says:
First class driver.
A says:
Yeah, that's right. He was a first class driver. And in the end, he drove the blue train, didn't he? The big blue train in South Africa.
B says:
Yeah, I had good friends and good parents.
C says:
Yes, yes.
A says:
And you said yesterday about your dad, how your mum used to make him a packed lunch to take on the train, so that when he. And then he had a pack, he.
B says:
Didn'T eat it on the train. He raised it when he got off.
A says:
When he reached. Yes, he got off and he ate the pack last night and he went away.
B says:
My mom was like three kids.
A says:
Yeah.
B says:
To look after them while he was gone.
A says:
While he was gone, while he was driving the train and he had a packed lunch. And then you said, sometimes he would stay away overnight.
B says:
Always, always. He always went in a long distance and he always came back the next day.
A says:
Okay.
B says:
And my mum was on her at least once a week, but she got banged. But my mother was a wonderful person, too. She cooked and she did all kinds of things for my dad.
C says:
Yes.
B says:
When he couldn't come himself.
C says:
Yes.
A says:
So she looked after him and she looked after you three children very well, and especially while he was away and. Yeah. And I remember you said there was like a hill behind your house in Taos river, that you used to go up the hill, climbing up the little hill in town. Yeah. Well, that was. That was interesting about your dad, how he used to drive the trains. And then you told me yesterday that when you moved to Cape Town, when your brother had to go to school in Cape Town, then he didn't drive the trains anymore because he retired then, didn't he?
B says:
Yes.
A says:
He reached a certain age and then.
B says:
He was an age and they had to, you know, pack it up.
A says:
Yeah. They couldn't catch it.
B says:
I think it was really. He was willing to be packed up.
A says:
He would reach that stage.
B says:
Yeah. Bang on things on this. Able to be. To live on. It was difficult, but my mother was content with whatever she had and whatever my dad managed to scrummage together.
A says:
That's right. So he was a good train driver and he was a first class train driver. And he drove the blue train in.
B says:
He drove the air engine and he waved bye bye and hello to us.
A says:
Really? From the train. He waved bye bye from the train. Yes.
B says:
When the train stopped.
A says:
Yeah.
B says:
Then he would probably help us and do what he could. He didn't have a lot of money, but he managed to let us know that he feared and he liked after us.
A says:
That's brilliant. That was lovely to hear about that again.