STEAM trains have always been a great passion in his life and thanks to Dartmoor Railway, Gerald Smallacombe is back in the driving seat at Okehampton Station after 35 years.

Who better to drive the recently acquired steam engine which pulls the Dartmoor Pony service to Meldon but a man who drove steam and diesel trains back in the 1960s.

Mr Smallacombe, 65, said it was wonderful to be back on the tracks again at Okehampton.

'It has brought back a lot of memories,' he said. 'Okehampton Station used to be a very busy place being on the main line from Waterloo to Plymouth and we had branch lines from Meldon to Padstow and Bude.

'I was delighted when it opened up again a few years ago and driving the steam train again takes me right back to the old days when I was a lad,' he said.

The train driver started working on the railway at Okehampton Station in 1952 as a cleaner but later that year he passed out as a fireman, looking after the engines' fire and watering the boiler. He qualified as a driver several years later and moved from Okehampton to drive trains at Slough.

When the Beeching axe fell in the mid 1960s many lines were forced to close and Mr Smallacombe's career changed to HGV driving. He worked for Gregorys in North Tawton and spent the last 20 years with Kerrys in Okehampton.

But his love of steam trains never died and during his holidays he used to drive trains on a preserved railway on the North Yorkshire Moors.

'I spent all my holidays there for the past 15 years,' he said. 'My wife went with me and we stayed in a holiday cottage.'

Within a fews of days of retiring from Kerrys, Mr Smallacombe, who had been watching the refurbishment of Okehampton Station with great interest, was once again in the driving seat.

'I was very pleased to be asked by Dartmoor Railway to drive the new steam train and it is lovely to be back,' he said. 'It is a very good engine and it is getting a lot of interest from visitors.'

Mr Smallacombe said although he had also driven diesel engines, there was no comparison.

'The thing is with diesel trains every one is the same but every steam engine is different. Even the same class engines all have their own individuality.'

Dartmoor Railway's David Payne said Mr Smallacombe was recommended by former Okehampton station master Arthur Westlake who trained him.

'Gerald has been through all the normal training and assessments for the Dartmoor Railway set-up and now he is one of the team,' said Mr Payne.

'He is a very valued driver and nobody knows the route like he does — he drives at the moment with David Barnett and both are ex British Rail drivers.'

Mr Payne said Dartmoor Railway had a very experienced skills base: 'We want to build on that and train new fireman and drivers for the future,' he said.

Okehampton Station was restored and reopened in 1997 as a visitor attraction and runs a regular passenger service to Meldon Quarry. Trains also run to Exeter on Sundays in the summer season.