Lads' day out on the train

In March 2002, we joined a steam special at Liverpool Lime Street bound for York, travelling behind Stanier Coronation Pacific No. 6233 Duchess of Sutherland. This was the second time this century that we had been on a lads’ day out on the trains, something we had done regularly as train spotters in the 1960s. Since 2008, it has become an annual fixture on the calendar. If we haven’t found a suitable steam trip on the national network, we’ve been to one of the heritage railways, instead.

The essential ingredients are:

1.       the lads [all now nearer to 70 than to 60]

2.       steam [as in, hauled by]

The conversation gravitates towards:

1.       reminiscences [the sorts of things that lads talk about when they get together, increasingly   football-related, these days, actually]

2.       humour [chuckles, rather than side-splitting laughter, no-one wants to risk a hernia]

3.       food and drink [normal healthy options overlooked for the day]

4.       sporting activities [efforts being made to keep ticking over]

5.       current interests [filling the time created by retirement in the third age]

6.       planning ahead [staking a claim for the next event]