As we take our last steps out of 2023, it’s time to say thank you to all you readers, who take the time out of your day to read the blog, or look at the Instagram, YouTube and Facebook pages.

Also thank you to my fellow social media authors whom provide me with inspiration, as always, please take time to look at or read their links they’re always a good read.

A final nod of appreciation too, to the manufacturers and publishers of the products we use. In my experience they’re approachable, helpful and enthusiastic about our hobby, without them our ‘world’ would be a much poorer place.

While thinking about reading, my choice of best book for this year goes to one of the above. The Trainspotters Notebook gets it, given as a birthday gift, I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of it. However as Luke Nicholson has massively helped raise the profile of rail hobby interest over the past few years, in a positive way, it obviously deserved the respect to approach it with an open mind.

Well, what a book. An unexpected surprise, a real page turner. It’s written in a simple uncompromising way. You feel you’re sitting in the same room listening to a conversation with Francis(Luke). I learnt stuff from it, what’s not to like?

It’s not written in a nerdy way, the paragraph above is an excellent example of how the narrative reads. That passage took me to climbing above the southern tunnel at Welwyn North, sneaking through the fence (oldschool obvs!) and sitting with a view spread across the River Mimram valley, and at our feet the East Coast mainline. Being able to hear the distant hum of an approaching Deltic, as it crossed Digswell viaduct turning into that familiar drone as it dived into the portal beneath our feet.

As Francis’ popularity grew with his quirky Instagram videos it was fascinating to see the social media commentators, complaining that he was somehow, in effect, being disrespectful to ‘rail enthusiasts’, when the opposite was plain to anyone who was able to breath through their nose. Luke does cover some of this in the book, some of those self appointed hobby experts out there, really need to read this book. I’m not sure however that the subtlety of someone appreciating the hobby in a different manner to Colin of Basildon’s dyed in the wool stereotype, of how ‘their’ hobby should be done or enjoyed will sink in! It’s interesting that my 20’s daughters know who he is, and think nothing untoward about him and his role as a positive ’influencer’. However they don’t know quite so much about Colin from Basildon and his dated opinions…

What I found engaging is how open he is about the buzz he physically gets from trainspotting, particularly the acoustics of it. Again for me this has a hook that I can relate to, for the flat six rumble of a 911, flat four of a scooby, crackle of a tuned 2-stroke will turn my head, not to the same extreme, but certainly ‘Ooh I want to have a look at that!’

Some of you will recognise Nicholas Whittaker’s Platform Souls in the image above, a 20th Century reflection of 60’s and 70’s trainspotting, and a brilliant and emotive book in it’s own right. The Trainspotters Notebook is a 21st Century narrative, which in my opinion earns its right to sit side by side with that book, and is a more than worthy companion. I wonder what a 22nd Century trainspotting notebook will read like?

You weren’t expecting that were you? Thank you again, and see you next year!