Enthusiast?

It’s the longest 12 inch gauge miniature railway in Britain and the two-and-a-half mile round trip takes about 35 minutes.
It runs through woodland skirting a lake in north west London and is operated entirely by volunteers.
True, it has had a bit of a chequered history in the past, having been built just 70 years ago by the Grand Union Canal Company as part of bigger project to establish a tourist attraction of the reservoir, after the second world war, and sadly at one time fell into decline.
But since it was taken over by a voluntary society some 36 years ago, it has become a popular feature of the reservoir, recreational grounds and woodland, including an artificial beach with sand, although miles inland from the nearest sea resort. The lido itself covers some 726 acres, and the woods offer a perfect haven for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. The 60 acre lake is not only home to ducks, geese, swans, but the huge sandy beach spanning the whole of its southern end provides a delightful children’s refuge. There's also a children's splash pad with water jets, masses of playground equipment.
The railway has been extended from the original much shorter route, and now has a 1.02 mile track around two-thirds of the lake, running from the main car park to the beach area and children’s playground.
So it is clearly intended primarily for children. Or is it. Of course it provides a convenient way to reach the beach area and for the most part it is probably families who make most use of it.  But then there are the big boys, like me, who are fascinated by railways, and especially a narrow gauge operation.
But then I was brought up surrounded by railway paraphernalia, with a father and grandfather both working on the railway. Sadly, the Beeching era put paid to much of Britain’s railways serving country areas, although  many have been rejuvenated and brought back to life by voluntary organisations, maybe on a different scale to this.
Nevertheless, the principles and fascination of railways are precisely the same. I am not sure that I ever held an ambition to be a train driver, although I do recall experiencing the joy of riding on the footplate of a steam locomotive many years ago and some of my best photographs of many years ago were of steam locomotives hauling trains.
Today, it’s all a dream of the past . . .  but I’ll happily pay my £3 return fare to ride this railway.