[oldrailbug]

My interest in trains goes back about 60+ years I think I was about 6 years old, my Mum and Dad took me on a holiday somewhere in the South of England, I can still picture the waiting room on this little station, the fire was burning and our suitcases were standing near a wall, it was a cold and dark night and I kept running to the waiting room door to see if the train was coming, sure enough out of the darkness the train arrived and was blowing steam and smoke as it chuffed through the station and eventually stopped, that was it I have been a train nut all of my life.

From about 1952 to 1957 when my parents chucked a mighty big spanner in the works and moved to Australia I was a fanatical train spotter, most of my spotting was done along the B'Ham - Bristol main line with frequent visits to Naw Street Station and Tamworth.

Train spotting got me into all kinds of trouble at school as I used to wag school and write my own notes, I could not bare the thought of all the trains I was missing while wasting time in school, I did pretty well really but felt awfully guilty when I went home and pretended that I had been at school all day, that ended with a clip across the ears when my Mum found out what I was doing but a couple of weeks later I was at it again.