Darren Milligan, famed for memorising 1000’s of practice elements, retires after 4 many years at Heaton TrainCare Centre.
Credit score: Northern
A person famend for his exceptional reminiscence and dedication to protecting trains working within the North East is retiring after greater than 4 many years of service. Darren Milligan, 59, has labored at Heaton TrainCare Centre in Newcastle for 44 years, memorising 1000’s of 10-digit catalogue numbers, suppliers, and half names used to take care of Northern’s fleet.
Darren manages the depot’s distribution centre, which holds round 5,000 elements, from gearboxes and beginning motors at hand cleaning soap and bathroom tissue. He ensures engineers can shortly entry what they should preserve trains in service for passengers.
“It’s about having the ability to discover the half for the practice shortly, to allow them to get it fastened and get it out for passengers,” he mentioned. “It’s a problem. Typically you need to look by means of totally different methods and it takes you on a little bit of a journey to search out the half and catalogue quantity. However that journey helps me keep in mind it.”
Darren started as a cleaner in October 1981, aged 16. He spent his breaks studying half numbers and methods, ultimately shifting into the storeroom and later turning into supervisor. He and his workforce log each request right into a database, monitoring inventory and updating it with new elements as practice designs evolve.
“As a supervisor, you have to have all the things on the proper time, however not be overstocked,” mentioned Darren. “You additionally need to repeatedly search for new and different elements as a result of trains change and elements change into out of date.”
Colleagues say his reminiscence has change into legendary. Nigel Bendelow, a supplies controller, mentioned: “Somebody will point out in dialog an element that we now have not used for 10 plus years and Darren gives you {the catalogue} quantity and the corporate that equipped it. He’s distinctive, a one off, and he can be massively missed.”
Garry Roseby, supervisor of Heaton TrainCare Centre, referred to as Darren “essentially the most useful individual” he has ever labored with. “He has been a improbable workforce member, mannequin worker and function mannequin to his complete workforce,” he mentioned.
Wanting forward, Darren mentioned he’ll miss his colleagues deeply however is prepared for retirement. “The individuals right here have been like a household,” he mentioned.
