大象传媒

Nearly 30 years ago, the local area group of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway held a special Halloween showing of the 1941 version of 'The Ghost Train'. I was already into steam railways due to my Dad鈥檚 interest in steam traction engines and the Rev. W Awdry鈥檚 Railway series. That night sparked our interest and we started attending the monthly meetings of the group, and I soon became a junior member of the NYMR.

Young Steven on guard duty!

The summer I left school, I didn鈥檛 rush into a paid job, but began working as a volunteer travelling ticket inspector. This was completely new to me, staying in a converted railway carriage at Goathland, working for a week at a time, meeting the public and my fellow NYMR workers.

The year after I started on the NYMR saw major changes in my life, my father died, and I had a minor road accident. I was uninjured, but the car didn鈥檛 survive. This lead to the 'taxi of mum' being required and to my mother, Dorothy, becoming a volunteer as well!听

As the years progressed my range of duties extended. I trained as a booking clerk, guard and signalman. My mother and I spent every weekend at the railway. The old Station Master鈥檚 house at Grosmont was converted to provide more accommodation and this became our 'country cottage' as it did for the rest of the 'gang'. I was not the only youngster, and a group of us grew up together.

Steven, Dorothy and Sandy Campbell.

As the years have gone by we don鈥檛 all spend every weekend at the Railway anymore, but the gang is still close. The workers on the NYMR, both paid and volunteer, are not a bunch of 'anoraks', we are a 'family'.听

I was elected, still under 30, Vice-Chairman of the Trust that owns the NYMR! I also became Chairman of a newly formed committee tasked with adding more special weekends to the railway's programme. One of my proudest moments, on the NYMR was back in 2000, when I was selected to be a guard on the Royal Train used by Prince Charles during a visit to the line.

Steven on guard duty today

In 2003, I became part of the small band working on extending services through to Whitby. After much work by all of those involved this dream was realised and the NYMR is currently the only heritage railway with rights to operate on Network Rail.

The NYMR has been a huge part of my life, a key force in defining who I am. I am now Finance Director, as a volunteer, and my mother and I have been Trust Directors for 15 years. The greatest thing about working there is being a part of something worthwhile, which preserves the past and brings pleasure to literally hundreds of thousands of people.

Steven Hogg.