Railway buff Keith knows his station

But now the former South Yorkshire rail worker only has to look out of his kitchen window to remind himself of the good old days - because he has built a shrine to his beloved railways in his back garden.

Keith's collection now numbers more than 50 pieces of railway memorabilia, including various signs, paintings, photos and even a signal, which now dominate his back garden in Sprotbrough.

But it's the age of steam which 62-year-old Keith is in love with - and he doesn't collect anything after the late 1960s.

"I don't collect anything after 1968 - that was the last year of steam trains and it's the age of steam that I love," he said.

"It broke my heart when I saw them sell all those beautiful engines for scrap. It really was never the same after that."

Keith, who spent 39 years working on the tracks, said: "I loved every day I went to work - I never went to bed worried about the next day.

"But the funny thing is it nearly never happened. I was working as a welder and I hated it.

"One night, when I was in my teens, I was out for a drink with some mates who were railworkers and they said: 'Why don't you come and work with us?'.

"I was a bit drunk and it seemed like a good idea. So the next day when I woke up, hangover and all, I applied for a job as a cleaner on steam engines and that was it for the next 40 years!

"It even cost me a lot of money - I'd been on 6 a week as a welder when I started on the trains my wages went down to two pound 10 bob!"

During his career, Keith had a variety of jobs on the trains, working as a fireman, engine driver, instructor, inspector and eventually moving into management.

But, when he finally reached the end of the line five years ago, he still hadn't had enough so he started his collection of artefacts from the days of steam.

"I hadn't really planned for it to become a collection - I just started buying pieces I liked," he said.

"I saw a Great Northern-Great Eastern sign on eBay and I wanted it so I put a couple of bids in. I eventually got it for 41. The guy who sold it was from Kettering and I had to collect it - but I still get free travel."