'I've always loved trains - now I'm qualified to drive one'

Logan Smallwood has always been fascinated with trains from an early age

For as long as he can remember, Logan Smallwood has never been far from a train.

Inside his bedroom sits a huge collection of models, some tucked safely away in boxes, others sitting out proudly for all to see.

But the 18-year-old's love for all things locomotive travels far further than his County Durham home - he has now become one of the youngest-known qualified train drivers in the UK, according to his instructor.

It is a step he says which brings him closer to his dream of working on mainland trains across the UK.

"I've always loved trains, I have just loved anything that can move, any kind of machinery, transportation, I have always been fascinated by it," he said.

The teenager, who graduated from Newcastle College Rail Academy with a distinction in his Level 3 Extended Diploma in Engineering Technologies, recently completed his first operational solo shift on the Weardale Railway, a heritage line in County Durham.

Powering a Sentinel shunter, which has a top speed of 17mph and is typically used to manoeuvre railway vehicles in goods yards, he said the experience "feels like where I belong".

The train lover has loved all things locomotive since an early age

"Driving through the wonderful countryside down in Weardale is lovely," he said.

"I really enjoy it but I don't focus on what I feel like, I'm just absolutely loving driving it, loving the scenery."

Logan began volunteering at the Weardale Railway - an 18-mile heritage line which sits in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and runs from a connection with the main rail network at Bishop Auckland to Eastgate in Weardale - in April last year, shortly after he finished secondary school.

"Weardale runs trains that I adore and it has got little steam locomotives for the bigger diesels, which is one of the attractions for me, I love working there," he added.

Logan says he absolutely loves the feeling of controlling the train

"I've always said when I grow up, I want to be a train driver, but there's a lot of different safety aspects in becoming a train driver.

"But Weardale Railway put me through all my assessments and I apparently I picked everything up, no bother."

In the UK, the minimum age to drive a train has been lowered from 20 to 18, which Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced in May as a way to tackle driver shortages.

Logan, from Lanchester, has ambitions to become a mainland train driver and says his family are "proud" of his achievements so far.

"My mum is really proud of me, when she find out I got my shunter certificate she was almost in tears and my family say I am getting closer to my dream," he added.

As part of his volunteering role at Weardale, Logan also takes people on to the shunter to demonstrate how it works.

Logan pictured driving a train for the first time as a child

Wayne Dixon, technical rail advisor at Weardale Railway and Logan's instructor, said he was confident the teenager is one of the youngest train drivers in the UK.

"Logan is an exceptional young man who clearly has a future in rail, he was literally banging on my door when the opportunity came along for him to train as a sentinel driver," he said.

"As well as being able to drive the locomotive, he is also expected to talk to customers.

"I'm sure this is just the start of a long career for Logan and I'm pleased I've been able to help him on his way."

Logan's childhood hobby is helping him into the world of work

In his spare time, Logan takes to the tracks in a different style, as a member of the Blackhill model club in Consett.

He is one of three members who designs full layouts of model railways, with about 60 different model Hornby trains, and about 100 wooden railway trains that form part of his collection.

"I could sit there and watch them for hours," he said.

"Trains are still an older generation hobby but there's a few younger people starting to get into it.

"My great-grandad worked in the mines and he was always fascinated by trains. He gave me a coal model of a Silver Link and I think that might have been what set me off."