Having grown up long after steam existed on the main line, and the site of a diesel locomotive was almost just as rare, I guess it would make sense that my love of steam trains and model railways would be focussed on the preserved sector.
As a child, I would be a regular visitor with family to my local steam railway, the Nene Valley, and on every holiday we went on we would visit other local steam railways. My layout first consisted of just a simple duel oval of track with the Mallard and a