As a very young boy, about 4 or 5 I lived in Bulawayo which was the headquarters of the Rhodesian Railways. My father worked on the railways and so we lived in a railway house at a place named Westgate. Westgate was also a marshaling yard area and trains were shunted 24/7. The nights over there get dark very quickly and it is dark by 18:30 in summer and by 17:30 in winter. I loved to stand at my bedroom window and watch the sparks from the working locos. Rhodesian 12th Class 4-8-2's were used most of the time and they put on a great show. Later on the railways started to use 14th class Garratts which were much quieter and had far better spark arrests. That was the end of the fireworks show.
Syd

Oh... Well, my interest in train is due to my Grandfather. When I was a very very young boy He often taken me to see trains. I lived near the railway (about 500 meters - 600 yds?) and closeness there are: the "Tuscolana Station" and two bridges that allow to watch a lot of moving trains! I don't know why ... but in winter time on Xmas the best gift for me was a train model! Nowadays I changed my house and I live close to the railway (200 mts - 300 yds?) and I become a commuter (is the correct word?). In fact, everyday, I take a train to go to work and to come back home!!

The different types, classes etc of steam locos

Having to pick the spilled coal up off the track to light the fire at home when we had nothing just after the war and thanks to the kindness of the firemen at 24d who used to give us a shovel full now and again, that is what gave me my passion for railways. Also I can still taste the bacon and egg they used to share made in the shovel, great days.

Chris.

Travelling behind steam engines from a very early age.
Visits to the National Railway Museum in York when it was just a railway shed.
Model railways for many years while at school.
Seeing magnificent examples of British engineering in various ports around the world. Some of it very old.

I've always loved big machines, and since I grew up in the 70's it was always class 37, 47 & 55 which did it for me. I always fancied driving trains, but didn't get round to it until 20 years after leaving school.

Speaking of trains not being cool anymore. I was in a shop recently and had to fill in a form. When the young female shop assistant heard that I was a train driver she exclaimed loudly "Train driver - that's really cool". Suspecting that she might be extracting the weewee I asked her for her reasons. She said that everyone nowadays seemed to be in IT or PR, and it was nice to see someone doing a 'real job' .......as far as I could tell she was serious. :confused:

I too always fancied being a train driver and was always interested in the class of train I was travelling on.

I think she probably was being serious John.
In this day and age it makes a pleasant change to hear someone admit to doing a good old-fashioned job. Some of the job titles given by TV games show contestants are unbelievable and I can't believe just how many "managers" there are nowadays.:)

I think she was being serious too.

I had the same experience today.