It's the end of the line for heritage railway volunteer Graham Mitchell, who had a cameo role in the classic movie The Railway Children starring Jenny Agutter.

Mr Mitchell, a retired teacher, will hang up his Keighley & Worth Valley Railway guard's flag for the last time on Saturday September 28, after more than 30 years as a member.

He is to concentrate on his role as a Keighley Town Councillor, where he holds the post of chairman of the watch committee on the newly-created authority.

As a 20-year-old in 1962, he became the 14th member of the railway society which was established to preserve the five-mile line between Keighley and Oxenhope. It had been axed in nationwide closures of stations and lines.

In 1970, two years after steam trains started running again, Leeds University graduate Mr Mitchell won a role in The Railway Children movie, which was filmed in the Worth valley.

His speaking part was confined to the words 'Thank you, Mr Perks' spoken to one of the movie's star, Bernard Cribbins.

He said: "I received the handsome fee of seven pounds and ten shillings (£7.50) a day.

"Journalists have said it must have been wonderful to work with Jenny Agutter, but she was relatively unknown then.

"The big stars were really Bernard Cribbins, William Mervyn and Dinah Sheridan."

Mr Mitchell's first job was as crossing keeper at Damens station, the smallest station in the world.

He worked in various other roles for the railway, including chairing the stations, management and publicity committees.

And, returning from a visit to Australia in 1987, he was astonished to find he had been elected society chairman, a role he continued to hold until stepping down in 1999.

He said: "My over-riding memory will be the friendship and support of other society members and the enormous satisfaction of being part of my home town's living heritage."

Working for the railway was a young person's job and many had now taken on active management positions, he added.