Bucket list item ticked off as great-grandma dispatches Great Western Railway train

Wheelchair-bound Rose, 78, who has five children, 20 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren, dispatched a train from Honeybourne, the station where, as a child, she helped clean the Royal Train.

Rose, who dispatched the 1234 service to Worcester Shrub Hill, said:

“I’m an absolute train fanatic and this is something I’ve always wanted to do. I like the Flying Scotsman and I’m also a big fan of the GWR trains which go up to Worcester Shrub Hill – they go great guns!”

It promises to be quite a year for Rose as she ticks off a bucket list created because: “I’m getting older and there’s still lots of things I’d like to do.”

Earlier this year she had her garden in Upton Snodsbury replanted; in October she is going to see Daniel O’Donnell in concert at Scarborough; she is planning to spend a couple of days by the seaside with her husband John; and the bucket list has even included some long-awaited dental treatment.

Trains have played a big part in her family’s life and Rose fondly recalls, as a child, helping to clean the Royal Train when it stopped at Honeybourne on its way to Cheltenham Racecourse.

She said:

“There was always lots of excitement whenever the Royal Train came in with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh on board. We were allowed to clean the top half of the train and it really was something to look forward to.”

Having grown up around trains – her father worked in the nearby shunting yard and one of her brother’s was a stoker – Rose now enjoys playing train simulator video games.

“I enjoy playing on the laptop and taking the train through to a certain station. But nothing beats travelling on an actual train. I like sitting by the window and watching the countryside roll by.”

GWR Station Manager for the North Cotswolds, Billy White, pictured, said:

“Rose’s story proves trains have equal appeal for enthusiasts young and old. It was an absolute pleasure to make one of her dreams come true and she was a natural helping to dispatch the train. Hopefully we’ve been able to make it a special day for her.”