James West

James West

My first experience of heritage railway volunteering was with the East Anglian Railway Museum, I would spend my weekends and school holidays there. Following school, I headed off to Brunel University to study Mechanical Engineering. This led on to a career in the oil and gas industry. After several years working in London, I headed up to Aberdeen to work on a project for a few weeks. Almost twenty years later, I have not left and now call Scotland home.

I am currently the UK Based Technical Authority for all subsea systems for an international energy and water company, that operates in eleven countries across four continents. In this role I am responsible for all subsea intervention works on the UK assets, with a specialisation in Saturation Diving.

After several years in Aberdeen, I started volunteering at the Royal Deeside Railway. I have held various positions within the railway, and I am currently the Chairman of the Royal Deeside Railway Preservation Society.

Physically on the ground, I am an active member of the operations team, being able to undertake several roles including driving and guarding. I also lead the team responsible for running the railways Santa Trains and am heavily involved in all the maintenance of the locomotives at the railway.

Away from the railway, I am restoring a 1922 Steam Roller that has not steamed for over 25 years.

My experience in the workplace dealing with high-risk safety critical activities, and my volunteering at the Royal Deeside Railway enables me to provide a useful contribution to the HRA board.