Thanks very much, David, for your comments. This poem was part of a sequence about the Aln Valley railway that I submitted during my MA course in writing poetry at Newcastle University. My poetry tutors were a little bemused by my long love affair with railways, it's fair to say!

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Original item by Greg Freeman

Hi Greg,

a lovely reminisence of your Grandfather and the 60's. I'm sure to be compared to a Steam Engine is one of the greatest of compliments.

Nostalgia is a great spring board for so many questions and conversations about the present.

David

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Original item by Greg Freeman

Thanks for your comments, Graham and Steve. Up here in Northumberland, as well as the Aln Valley heritage railway, which aims to restore a link from Alnwick to Alnmouth, which was closed by Beeching, and on which I am pictured, we have the reopened Northumberland line, from Newcastle to Ashington, which celebrates its first anniversary today. It has notched up 920,000 journeys in its first year, and is regarded as a resounding success. It has cost over £300 million to reopen, but is already proving its value. Thanks for the Likes, Tom, Jon63, Gillian P, Holden, Nigel, Stephen, Red Brick, Aisha, Holden, and Yanma.

PS The picture is of me, rather than my grandfather. Although ...

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Original item by Greg Freeman

Great descriptions, Greg, and this set me thinking. I do all my journeys around Belgium by train now, though admittedly not in dusty or smelly carriages (usually!). The lure of my 'own compartment' seems to have finished. Full circle, perhaps, as Graham suggests.

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Original item by Greg Freeman

Haha! Greg,
I think it’s why we old ‘uns keep obsolete stuff in the garage in case all this ultra-modern technically advanced stuff stops working one day as it surely will!

Comment is about The pragmatist (blog)

Original item by Greg Freeman