Brian (left) and Silverlink Manager Mick Boyd, both members of The Locomotive & Carriage Institution, at the naming of an Electric Multiple Unit in 2001.
Brian's service records show that he started working on the railway on 4th September 1951 (his 15th birthday) as an Engine Cleaner.
One year later he passed his Firing Test to become a Passed Cleaner and in 1953 was registered as a fulltime Locomotive Fireman.
However National Service intervened in his railway career as he was called up to serve Her Majesty on 10th March 1955. He was posted to Germany for most of his Army service.
March 1957 saw Brian back on the footplate again as a Fireman and on 6th May 1960, in the days of Steam Engines, he passed his Driving Test to become a Passed Fireman and available for spare driving jobs.
In August 1965, already trained in driving diesels locomotives and railcars, Brian gained registration as a fulltime Locomotive Engine Driver.
In 1998 there was a surge of new Drivers requiring training and Brian was asked to become a temporary Relief Driving Instructor.
On Friday 31st August 2001, 'Silverlink Metro' named Class 313 (a dual voltage 25kvac/650vdc Electric Multiple Unit) No.313 116 'Nikola Tesla' at a ceremony which took place at Watford Junction Station on the West Coast Main Line. The name was chosen in recognition of Nikola Tesla's (1856/1943) achievements; a Serbian-American Inventor and researcher who discovered the rotating magnetic field, and also to mark the retirement, after some 50 years footplate service, of Brian Drummond. Brian a member of the Locomotive and Carriage Institution undertook the naming before working the train as a special to Kilburn, which was his final driving turn.
Brian finally retired from the Railway on his 65th birthday the 4th Sept 2001.
Brian still continues to serve as a Council Member of the Locomotive & Carriage Institution.
Brian also organises the annual Reunion of Watford Enginemen at a pub in Watford.
