Some sane people would question if there was any point in a 2 hour visit to York, we would say there are actually lots of points 😆 🥁 Stocking up at monkbar models for our model railway project. These will keep me busy for a while!!

3 months ago, Austin told me that he wanted a break from adventures. I didn't know why at the time but it turns out it was because someone had made fun of him for being into trains. This broke me tbh 💔 but after lots of deep chats, he's over it & going to ignore them. So... 1/2

Leading the way in, and propelling us on the return is 43093 which apparently was the last HST off old oak common back in 2018! Excited for the journey, but aware that this will be our final HST ride in England! End of an era!

There are many ways to pass the time on the train, but you just can't beat a game of GWR Top Trumps 😁 pretty sure he'd play this for hours if he had the chance!

2 years ago today, we were setting off on our first ever sleeper train, the Caledonian Sleeper to Aberdeen. What a trip this was 😁 I'll never forget how excited we both were that evening

👀🇬🇧 755 422 is the first of our units to carry the Great British Railways coming soon branding.

It's been a while since we've had an adventure, and it looks like Austin has doubled in height since we were last at Kings Cross 😆 nice to meet @tank621.bsky.social on our journey in this morning.

I'd wanted to take Austin along to a Duxford airshow for so long and we finally made it today! Although wind stopped a few of the displays, we did get to see some lovely machines including the mighty B17 Sally B. Austin has confirmed that he would like to come back next time too!

We're home after the best ever 2 weeks cruising around the Mediterranean onboard Arvia with P&O. Our first big holiday as a family, our first ever cruise & we loved every second. We've made memories to last a lifetime and I really hope we can make it back one day ☺️ @pandocruises

The final city of our cruise and Austin's 77th in all is beautiful Cadiz. Of all the places we've visited on this holiday, this really is the one you must visit! We've wandered through the lovely little streets and lounged around on the beach. A city with loads to offer!

Morning in Jerez & we were hoping to ride the Alvia to Cadiz, unfortunately, tickets weren't valid for this service but luckily we found out before we boarded! Still, at least we got to see one of the famous 'little ducks'. We'll have to come back for a ride with a valid ticket!

It's not always about the hustle and bustle of cities, sometimes it's a medieval French village on hillside for a bit of peace and quiet 😊

After visiting every English city last year, we were unsure what to do next. We've gradually been ticking off cities here and there and it seems we've now decided to see if we can get to 100 cities 'worldwide'. So here we are, bidding farewell to city number 73, Alicante 🇪🇦

Here we go 😁 we've been looking forward to this holiday for 2 year and it's nearly time to board. Abigail is excited, honestly 🤣 we're off to the Mediterranean aboard P&O Arvia and she looks magnificent! Time for 'Austin's Sail Adventures' 😁😁😁

We've received confirmation that Abigail is sound asleep so that us heading back to the hotel, we enjoyed our walk, especially this little footbridge over a level crossing a couple of minutes outside of Southampton, just sitting there watching the world and it's trains go by

As always, we are accompanied on this trip by some plush friends. Austin has made them little passports to ensure they don't get left behind 😍

Annual leave booked ✅️ School holidays ✅️ Bags almost as big as the kids ✅️ We're off for our family holiday 😁 sadly, there won't be many trains, but we considering a temporary rebrand to Austin's Sail Adventures 🛳 Anyway, here's a 444 to take us onwards to Southampton

Not wanting to miss out after Austin's visit to the inspiration train last week, Abigail was keen to check it out for herself & I'm pleased to report that she got stuck in & really enjoyed herself 😊 she seems to be acquiring a taste for days out by train so watch this space 😉

Inspiration take 2 today, this time, it's Abigail's turn 🙂 we're off for a ride to Lowestoft to have a nose around

That was lovely! You should definitely check out the @railway200 inspiration train when it visits your part of the world. A really well put together exhibition and another success for the railway 200 celebrations. Just enough time for a photo of the loco before we head for home.

We had a really enjoyable visit to the @railway200 inspiration train at Norwich this morning. Lots of really interesting hands on exhibits for all ages. A big thumbs up from Austin and me! 👍

We're at Norwich for some inspiration, but first, we were inspired by #class153 376 carrying out inspection duties. These little units sure do work hard to ensure the network is kept in tip top condition! Covering so many miles each& every day with their state of the art cameras.

One very chuffed little boy 😁 we missed George the Stourbridge junction cat on our last visit but I'm pleased to report that we caught up with him this time & he was on fine form. He was happy to demonstrate how he consumes his treats and inspected Austins friend stripey 😁 day made for both of us!!

We've only been at Loughborough for a few mins and we're off to a good start! Austin was pleasantly surprised to the point that he didn't even seem to mind that his teacake was knocked off the red bag 🎒🌪

I think this will take some beating for value! Child priv single from Stourbridge town to Stourbridge Junction... 15 pence 🤣 follow for more tips on how to make rail travel affordable! 🤣

We're off to the West Midlands today & I let Austin choose which operator we would travel with. Without hesitation, he decided on @chilternrailway and the lovely loco hauled mk3s 😁 the lovely business zone has got to be one of the best ways to travel with a standard class ticket!

Austin has figured out that asking to take the early train means that we have breakfast on the go instead of the boring healthy stuff at home 🤣 so here we are, up at the crack of dawn and on the way with our greggs breakfast!

Mixing it up a bit today 😍

Changing career & joining the railway this year was a big risk & not a decision I took lightly. Never doubted it was the right decision for 1 second but today, if confirmation were needed, it really was the best decision I ever made. I just found this in Austins school books 🥹

We're off on the St Elizabeths Hospice #hoptoit trail around Suffolk today to see how many hare sculptures we can find 😁 although Greater Anglia class 755 423 'pride' isn't part of our quest, Austin thought it worthy of a photo with Abigail.

Homeward bound as @AvantiWestCoast Evero #class805 013 stands ready at Wrexham. We've loved exploring North Wales and it seems a shame to be going home, but we'll be back! Plans are afoot for us to visit our last 2 Welsh cities later in the year and we couldn't be more excited 😁

Sure... you COULD spend 5 mins of your life walking to town, but why would you when you can have a return trip on one of the old underground trains for 80p 😁

We're back at the station after exploring the city of Bangor. But where are we go-go-going next? 😉🤣

Me: "can we have a room with a view for a little railfan please?" Premier Inn: ..... 😍

We've made it as far as Chester and TfW #class197 116 is a welcome sight arriving with it's lovely air-conditioned coaches 🥵 just a short hop here taking us over the border to Wales and to a city we've yet to visit 😁

The best thing about departing London Euston is seeing what's on display in Wembley yard. Today's offerings include an old #class321 and a good few locos including #class66 679 'Evening Star'. A good start to our journey indeed 🙂

Schools out, Dad is on a long weekend... time for an adventure 😁 we're kicking things off in style with our first Evero. #class805 013 stands ready for action at Euston.

Big day today! After 4 months of training and assessments, I've passed and been deemed competent to work trains as a conductor. Couldn't be more excited for the journey ahead! Hope to see you all on board soon around East Anglia. Ps. Please excuse the non Austin related post 🤣

Seeing as we were in the area, it would've been rude not to hang around to see this Eurostar through Stratford International. This really is an impressive sight. This particular train returning from Paris. The saying 'hold onto your hats!' very fitting here for Austin 🧢🤣

Starting to think this unit is following us 🤣 We first saw #class395 012 on its way into London this morning, then it came back and brought us to Rochester, now it's popped up again to take us home! Austin was thrilled, he loves a special livery 😊

Our quest to visit every English city might be old news, but we always felt as though there was unfinished business. Today we're visiting the only place in England to have lost city status! Until 1998, Rochester was considered a city, so we knew we'd had to visit at some point 😁

We're off for a trip out on the UKs fastest domestic trains 😁 the South Eastern Javelins are capable of 140mph! While waiting for our train, we were lucky enough to see two special units working in tandem. But where are we off to? Stay tuned to find out!

Bit of Sunday morning charter action on our patch 😁 Austin was a little concerned that the loco might whistle at him, hence the worried look on his face 😆

What's the collective noun for a group of class 153s? We've just seen about 8 of them as we left Swansea 😁 sadly, no time for a ride this adventure, which means we'll have to come back again!!

We're back at Haverfordwest ready to begin our journey home to Suffolk. We made it here early enough to see what will be our train passing through empty to begin it's service from Milford Haven. Nice little toot from the driver too 😁

We were half expecting to have to head home due to disruption but I'm pleased to report that we've got the green light & we're going for it 😃 off to another new city now and it's one we're excited about. Having a quick look at the local trains before our mega traction arrives 😉

After visiting all of England's cities last year, we are venturing a little further afield this weekend. An over night stop in Swansea with another city to visit tomorrow. Any guesses where we might be going next?

There's a bit of disruption today so to avoid the risk of getting stuck without food, we've opted for a couple of pasties to eat on the way. Stripey can only look on in envy 🤣

We're off on an adventure! We had a bit space in the bag so we've been joined by a new plushie for this trip. May I introduce to you all.... Stripey the tiger 🐅 I can already tell he's going to be trouble 🤣

A family day out is made infinitely better when you stumble across some model 225s 😁😁😁