Strangely enough, it was insomnia.
I was born and raised here in Leicester. Railway memories include watching steam trains on the Great Central from the footpath between Thurcaston Rd and Birstall Station; the last train terminating at Belgrave Road Station (now a Sainsburys store!); Leicester London Road Station with a full glass roof and the blue Midland Pullmans.
That was it really - I didn't show much interest in the railways as a teenager.
I grew up and worked for a couple of years in London. Willesden Junction with its Freightliner depot was at the back of the house I shared with some mates!
Returning to Leicester in the late 70s I found myself living a few hundred yards away from Leicester London Rd Stn. One summer night, unable to sleep, I drifted down towards the station where the clanking noise of parcels vans being shunted attracted my interest. There I found a few 'spotters' who accepted me into their ranks straight away.
During the late 70s and into the 80s in Leicester we had Class 45s (and the popular double header on Sunday afternoons!) running the St Pancras - Sheffield services, Class 31s on the Norwich - Birmingham service and in the summer - double-headed 20s on the Skegness specials.
One exceptional regular working I
do remember was in the early hours of Saturday mornings when a Class 50 would arrive (light), refuel at the depot and take parcels vans back to Birmingham (Lawlor Street?) parcels depot.
This was also the age of the 'Merrymaker' and affordable RailRover tickets - that was how we got around then! Sadly, I had to leave the hobby in the mid 80s when lifestyle and job demands changed.
So here I am now in 2009 - returned to the hobby and making plans already to do at least a Heart of England + an East Midlands Rover before the summer is out.
