Great Rail Tales

Children’s author Matt Crossfield describes how experiencing the hiss, wheeze and roar of the steam railway at Dean Forest Railway for the first time ignited a lifelong passion in him.

Matt started volunteering on the railway at just 8 years old as a travelling ticket inspector at Dean Forest before his first driving experience at Perrygrove Railway. Today he volunteers at Tinton Old Railway station where loves connecting with peop...

Kyla Hislop, interpretation curator for the Iron Bridge Gorge Museum Trust, shares her passion for making our industrial history come alive through telling the stories of innovation and discovery which have helped shape the modern world. She tells the tale of how the invention of the railways allowed fresh fish to be transported around the UK, fuelling the Victorian passion for Fish n Chips, a passion many of us share to this day!

Born and bought up near The Bentham Line, today Gerald Townson is the Chairman of the Leeds Morecambe Community Rail Partnership, which includes The Bentham Line, which is celebrating its 175th year at the same time as the Railway 200 celebrations. The Bentham Line has been become known as the dementia friendly line for its efforts on inclusivity and community for people living with dementia and their loved ones. Gerald describes t...

An active volunteer guard on the Corris Railway and lifelong rail enthusiast, Stephen’s passion for the steam railways started in the 1960’s, travelling from Birmingham’s Snow Hill station to Reading where he would visit his grandad Wilfred.

His enthusiasm for the railway has taken him on trains around the world. But it is his connection to Wilfred, a GWR clock maker that makes this story special and takes us full circle, the clock...

Norman and Marjorie Fairy lived most of their lives in Sutton Coldfield, their house backing onto the railway line. A silver dish on their mantlepiece had always fascinated Rupert when he would stay with his grandparents.

On 23rd January 1955 Marjorie heard a huge crash from the line. She rushed out and looking down the line saw the aftermath of a huge crash. She ran to help, but knowing the timetable she knew there would be a loca...

Founder and CEO of innovative renewable energy company, Treeva, Anjali Devadasan is exploiting the wind turbulence caused by passing trains to generate predictable renewable power on the rail network. The technology has been proven on the roadside and is now appearing trackside.

With double the energy efficiencies and increased durability Treeva’s trackside wind turbines generate enough electricity to power infrastructure like stat...

Executive Director of Finance and Operations at Alzheimer’s Research UK, one of the charities supported by Railway 200, Philip’s love of trains goes right back to Shildon and his school days at the Timothy Hackworth Primary school. His father and grandfather worked at the local wagon works which meant he benefitted from free rail travel.

Family holidays were long train rides from the northeast of England to mainland Europe which op...

As a young boy in Costa Rica while Samuel loved playing with his model trains, he always dreamed of seeing a steam train in real life. His models gave him more than joy though, they gave him hope during periods of difficulty with his mental health.

It was watching the Talyllyn Railway You Tube channel that persuaded him to travel across the world to see his first steam train. Arriving in North Wales Samuel realised he had made the ...

Writer and broadcaster Dan Richards has a fascination with the night. Inspired by his grandfather, Robert Daniel Butler who worked on the Travelling Post Office (TPO) train between Bristol and Plymouth his love of these unique and vital sorting offices was born.

A meticulously planned and timed operation, the TPOs would collect, sort and drop mail while travelling at speed across the country.

Although trains like these ceased decad...

Scott’s mum and dad were crossing keepers at a station so his Great Rail Tale began long before he was born. Day to day and family revolved around the timetable and life at the station they called home for 40 years. By 10 years old, Scott was volunteering at the station and jumping on the trains to go up and down the line with the drivers.

Today Scott is a station adopter at his “home” station keeping the legacy of the station and ...

Father and son, Mike and Andrew Lamport are just the latest generation of Lamports to be working on the UK rail network. Their family’s connection however to the rails can be traced back to 1846 when Mike's Great Great Grandfather became a guard at Waterloo.

Can you trace your family connection to the railways further back than Mike and Andrew?

To find out more about Railway 200 and to listen to more Great Rail Tales visit our webs...

A lifelong passion for the railways led Adam to develop his career on the network. Today he is the founder of the Neurodiversity in Transport network and in 2024 was the Young Rail Professionals Volunteer of the year.

As a systems support manager he has developed a model profile of every tunnel in the UK that examines the acoustic characteristics of each tunnel. But why is this important? For people who may find tunnels distressing...