Rob Howdle

I live in Darlington and when I walk to the town center I can go the normal way or cut across the railway tracks via a bridge. Since I was very little my dad would always take me over the bridge and we would stop in the middle to watch any trains coming. It was such a great time because it wouldn't matter how long we would wait for, one would eventually come past.

On the bridge there is this terrible plastic type of roof which over the years has been damaged and you can barely see out of it but I do remember this at one point being very clear and my dad would always lift me up so I could see over the side of the bridge and I would wave and the trains and almost all of them gave a little whistle (understandably they couldn't do more, this was right next to the station so might have given mixed signals or something) and then we would watch as the train rode off either past the station or into the station itself.

It was always the diesel trains that went past sadly I didn't get to see any steam trains but it was amazing seeing them and even to this day over 20 years later I still stop and watch the trains and occasionally give them a wave!