A TRAIN has been renamed after a late Warrington Wolves second rower and railways worker.

Homegrown forward Wayne Gaskell starred for the Wire as a member of the all-conquering 1973/74 team, and worked as a train driver alongside his rugby career.

He quit the sport in order to focus on the railways having had a passion for trains since he was a young boy, and served in the field for more than 40 years.

Warrington Guardian:

Wayne Gaskell

Wayne sadly died at work in February last year, having a heart attack while in the cabin of a train at the age of 66.

But on Sunday, July 7, a recently refurbished diesel locomotive was named in honour of the Grappenhall resident by DC Rail during a ceremony at the East Lancs Railway in Bury.

Wife Barbara and daughter Emma Smith pulled back Wolves flags to reveal a plaque reading ‘Driver Wayne Gaskell’, and another bearing his nickname ‘the Godfather.

Warrington Guardian:

Warrington Guardian:

Emma said: “Dad was a train driver all of his life.

“It was all he ever want to be and it was all he ever did.

“Even when he was a little lad he loved trains.

“Everybody used to call him the Godfather because he knew everything – he was an encyclopedia on the railways.”

READ > Primary school named the best in Warrington

Wayne joined the Wire from Woolston Rovers, making 32 appearances for the club between 1973 and 1975.

Warrington Guardian:

Wayne during his playing days

He had a spell in the merchant navy after leaving school before beginning his career on the railways, where he was a worker who ‘would always get the job done, no matter what’.

Colleagues and staff from hotels Wayne stayed in while working away in London were among those who attended the ceremony.

Emma, who lives in Appleton, added: “It was an emotional day – it was quite overwhelming.

“It was more of a celebration, and it means a lot that they thought so highly of him to actually name an engine after him – it was lovely.”

A spokesman for DC Rail said: “Wayne was an incredible railwayman with vast experience, but at his core he was a generous, warm hearted person that would help anyone in need.”