Railways

Our family home backed onto the railway just north of Tapton Junction in Chesterfield so it was probably inevitable I had an interest in railways! Whilst living in Reading our house looked out over the Reading to Waterloo line too.

Various model railway layouts has been built over the years including the current Inkerman Cottages Light Railway. Whilst living in Reading I helped operate a huge model layout which needed over 10 people to make it work correctly, it was manned weekly by a group of fellow air traffic controllers with a 24 hour timetable.

I've always enjoyed travelling by train and it is now my preferred way of getting around the UK and Europe, often with my Brompton folding bike. On cycling trips I always try to include some train travel preferably on a steam hauled line.

During our trip around Europe in 2004 we used trains a lot to get around leaving the (large) motorhome on campsites.