Chuff chuff!

A while ago I 'outed' myself as a railway enthusiast. I'm not a spotter, far from it, but the railways have always held fascination for me.

As a child...ok, as an adult, I loved the Thomas the Tank Engine series. I've still got all of the original Railway Series books I had as a child, and a full set of the Egmont reprints tucked away somewhere. Thomas had an appeal that hasn't yet released me, yes, I'm a big kid.

Then in my late teens I ended up working for a rail company, a freight operation company in fact, as a train planner. A train planner, in case you're wondering, is exactly what it says on the tin - you plan trains. Coal, waste, cement, oil and cars; I spent three years of my life sending trains laden with these all over the country. I enjoyed the job, but a combination of feeling like I couldn't progress any more and that it wasn't my true calling meant that I decided to move on.

However, I've never really lost that love. You'll never find me on the end of a platform taking pictures and making notes of engine numbers, but I like to read the latest news and see what is going on.

And, just occasionally, when my godson is around, we might just sit and watch the odd Thomas episode... it's for the kids, honest!