Hello to all!!!

[woody]

Hello all. Hoping you guys can help me out because I am drawing a blank. I have a son who is 110% in love with all things trains (locomotives in particular). My problem is I have no idea where to start. To be honest we thought this was going to be a phase he went through but his love for them just seems to be increasing so my wife and I have decided we should start taking this passion seriously and we figured we would need some advice to get us going.

For example how do we find out what locomotives will be where and when?? Are there any stations where locomotives frequently come through? We live in Southampton and have been to the Watercress line many times but is there anywhere else local to us?

I have tried to research some of these things myself but as I said I really have no idea what i'm doing so any advice any of you have will be very much appreciated.

[DSY011]

Hello woody and welcome to the Railway Forum. Great to see you helping your son with his new found hobby (it could become a obsession like many of us on this site) A lot will depend on his age. There are many ways to enjoy our love of railways, and many different parts to the railways. He could learn a lot by asking questions on the forum as we have many members who are drivers, signalmen etc. who know a lot more about the railways in Britain. (My experience is from the old Rhodesia Railways) The Bishop's Lydeard to Minehead is just down the road from Taunton and is worth a visit. It is the longest preserved railway in the UK.
The other thing to keep a young lad's interest could be a model railway. Not cheap, I know, but it could last a lifetime. Just ask some of the members on this forum. I'm 70 next year and still enjoy modelling.

[G6 UXU]

Good evening woody and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

[woody]

Thank you for the information on the Bishops lydeard line. Currently looking into as I type this. Modelling is something we have considered also but we are currently trying to decide what sort of thing to start with =).

[TRP]

Hi woody.
Swanage is not too far from Southampton & the Swanage railway is well worth a visit. In the opposite direction is the Bluebell railway & that is a great place to visit for all things steam. Something slightly different is the Hollycombe Steam Collection at Liphook in Hampshire, which has narrow gauge railways as well as traction engines & steam-powered fairground rides etc.
Also worth looking at the following websites: www.uksteam.info gives details of steam-hauled trains on the main line, some of which will be passing through the Southampton area.
Also search for UK & Ireland heritage railways - this is a website that lists & links to all heritage railways in the UK & Ireland - very useful for what's local to you plus others if you're ever elsewhere around the country.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Tony

[boilersuit]

Hi woody and welcome to the Forum.
You don't say how old your son is but I assume he is at a fairly young age. I remember when my boy was small he loved trains but was frightened by the big engines at the major preserved railways. We found a visit to the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch was the perfect day out, because the locos there are real engines – all the sounds, smells and excitement – but one-third scale. Children can get right up close to them. A journey on the RHDR can also be combined with a visit to the seaside: there's a great sandy beach at Dymchurch.

[Beeyar Wunby]

Hi Woody & welcome to the forum.

Like most people on here I was keen on trains when I was a teenager. I went onto other things and thought I'd got them 'out of my system'.

However the 'imposition' of a career change in my 30s led me to become a driver. I've now done 17 years on the footplate and absolutely love it.

If you want to see diesel locos, Freightliner is based at Eastleigh. There's lots of container trains going to the docks.

Here's a link...https://www.freightliner.co.uk/locat...in-crew-depot/

Best wishes, BW