After almost 50 years and 60,000 sandwiches, Dunedin train driver Les Box is hanging up his hat.
The KiwiRail employee has retired, the last former New Zealand Rail steam engine driver to do so.
Mr Box (65) said he would not miss the alarm clock, but he would not give up his routine completely.
''I love sandwiches and I'll continue to eat them. I've had 60,000 - six a day and almost all of them made by my sweetie,'' he said.
''There aren't any corner dairies on the railway track, although I've had the odd McGregor's pie at night when we've stopped and gone round to the back of the bakery for a fresh one.''
Growing up near the railway line in Port Chalmers, Mr Box aspired to be a train driver and after studying at King Edward Technical College he started work as a cleaner in the steam engine sheds opposite the Oval.
His ''apprenticeship'' lasted 11 years and saw him trained as a fireman for the shunting yard, a second-grade engine driver, an express train fireman and finally a first-grade driver for passenger trains.
He retired as an express freight train driver for KiwiRail and said his career on the tracks had been everything he had hoped for and more.
Highlights included firing locomotive Ja 1250 on the last steam-hauled timetabled train in New Zealand - and being involved in the centennial celebrations for the Dunedin Railway Station.
He was also a driver on the last Southerner passenger train journey.
Mr Box said one benefit of his ''erratic shift-work'' was enjoying sunrise and sunset.
He hoped his retirement would include overseas travel, especially on steam trains.
''My whole career has been a highlight. It's the best job I've ever had, and the only one.''
