Train Tea Mug

Everyone has a favourite mug. Tea or coffee mug, in my case it's a tea mug. And I sometimes used it to drink milk too, although never with tea. Tea is never, ever drunk with milk in it, it spoils the flavour and weakens it. So this is my favourite tea mug. I blogged about it before. I'm presenting its other side today. My wife bought it for me in the online shop of the National Railway Museum in York. It brings together two of my favourite things: tea and trains. And it states that I am no second class tea maker.

Eurostar Journeys

 I took this picture last year at the National Railway Museum in York. I am sharing it today as it suits the topic. My wife and I (well, her mostly) are planning our enxt holiday and we were considering Paris. I am not too keen on it, having been there so often in the past, but Wolfie would love to see the city. There is one thing however that I would be looking for, should we settle for Paris: traveling via the Eurostar. It's been long overdue. All train travels are exciting to me, but there is something about going under the sea like this, in the comfort of a train. The Eurostar is a holiday experience in itself.

Future Train Travel

I took this picture last year at the National Railway Museum in York and I am putting it here because it goes with today's topic. So the family is going on a train journey soon(ish) to celebrate one of my wife's cousin's birthday. I'm very happy about it, not only because it's always nice to celebrate, but because we will travel by train. I haven't been on a train since February, therefore it is long overdue. For me, every train journey is always a bit of an adventure and often a bit of holiday in itself. So I am really looking forward to it.

Latest Train Travel

I took this picture last year at the National Railway Museum in York. As I mentioned in this post, they have a balcony where you can do trainspotting. It's great fun. But there is an activity even more fun: traveling by train. I did just that a few days ago: I had to go to a near(ish) city. Not a very long journey, about forty minutes by train. I hadn't traveled by train since September 2025, so a train journey was long overdue. On the way back, it was pouring down, sadly I did not take a picture, that's why I am sharing this one. It has no rain, but you can see the clouds. People may think heavy rains makes everything miserable, but in the comfort of a train, that's charming and atmospheric.

Everything Train for Christmas

You may remember that last year I blogged about the Christmas presents you could buy at the shop of the the National Railway Museum in York. My wife spoiled me last Christmas with, well, lots of train related gifts, among them a Christmas train jumper (which you can see on this picture) and scarf. I think most of the presents she bought me were from the NRM, actually. You know how much I associate Christmas with trains. It is even more so now.

Ghosts on the Train

I blogged before (and a few times) about The Signal-Man, one of the ghost stories written by Charles Dickens. But I saw it on display in the National Railway Museum in York, and this inspired me this post. This book looked gorgeous, but as I already have it in various anthologies, I did not buy it. Anyway, I recommend it this time of year, especially when you are on a train journey. The mix of supernatural and horror with a modern way of transport like trains always brings a special type of atmosphere. Especially since the train has something that is kind of old-fashioned and and elegant that also mixes so well with horror.

Railway Mysteries

Oh the treasures one can find at the National Railway Museum in York! When it comes to books in general and crime fiction specifically, their souvenir shop is just as good as many bookshops. So yeah, I found there The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White, which was adapted into the movie The Lady Vanishes by Alfred Hitchcock. The source material might be a tad too cosy and soft for me, but it's set on a train and I enjoyed the Hitchcock film, so I should like it enough in a few months, after I am done with my spooky reading list, which I have started. Anyway, I could have spent hours in the souvenirs shop and really misbehave, there were so many crime books that caught my attention. Railway and crime just make the best cocktail.

The Flying Scotsman's Bookmark

As you may know, I collect bookmarks. I buy them, I get them as freebies, I am always on the lookout for new bookmarks. It's a hobby like any other, but it's a practical one: it means there is always a bookmark available when I open a new book. Well always... Let's say most of the time. You can never have enough bookmarks, because too often you can end up short of bookmarks. They may be plain, they may be elegant, bookmarks are always useful. And of course, I have my favourite bookmarks. My all-time favourite, as you may remember, I bought it at the National Railway Museum in York. So when I got back there this year, I made sure to see if they had new ones in their souvenir shop. I found this one, another piece to celebrate the Flying Scotsman. I love it. So yeah,long story short, I have a new bookmark and I regret nothing.

The Flying Scotsman

I took this pic at the NRM in York. It is of course the one and only Flying Scotsman, the legendary train which is one of the museum's many, many attractions. I have been wanting to see it again and share picture of it again. So here it is. Also, we will be doing more train travels in the near(ish) future, so I thought this was as good excuse as any to post more train pictures on the blog.

Shinkansen (Bullet Train)

I took this picture on our last visit at the National Railway Museum in York. It is a Shinkansen, also known as Bullet Train. An old version of it of course, the new ones look much leaner. When you enter this one, you can see a video about it and you can have a Shinkansen experience, as if you were traveling there in the 60s. I love old fashhion European luxury trainsand old steamies, but I have also developed inr ecent a fascination for this marvel of Japanese technology. It's just really gorgeous and impressive. If we ever visit Japan, I want to use the Shinkansen.

Signal Box (musing)

I took this picture at the National Railway Museum in York. One of the many objects that caught my attention. I think it is a signal box. I love signal boxes, I love what role they played in the old days of railway travel. Being a signalman was a lonely and demanding job, you had to be skilled, but someone who liked solitude, it might not have been so bad. And from what I understand, they had lots of free time. In a quaint little box like this, bright yellow, it beats office work.

Trains (a Ladybird Book)

It's not because I'm a sucker for all things train and that I spend like a drunken sailor during our time in the gift shop at the National Railway Museum in York that I was selfish. I also bought things for Wolfie, including some very educational book. So anyway, the first item I bought was this book. Yes, Ladybird still publishes new title (this one dates from 2021) and you learn a lot from them, even as an adult (I know I did), from the early age of railway travel to our time. Wolfie and I loved it. So it is one of our latest happy discoveries.

Crimes on the Railway

During our last visit at the National Railway Museum in York, I was like a kid in a candy store, even worse than Wolfie would be. So I bought a lot of stuff in the souvenirs shops. The museum has two: one more aimed for children, one for adults. They have a a lot of books on sales, a lot of educational ones and a rather impressive section of train themed crime fiction novels (a sub-genre in itself). The usual suspects/classics, but also modern ones. One of them, The Train from Platform 2, caught Wolfie's eyes for some reason and he suggested that I buy it. Not sure why this book in partivular, I think because it's set in the London Underground, something that fascinates him. My hands were already full of books, mugs and trinkets, so I thought I had enough for now (especially since books are heavy to carry), but I took this picture as a reminder. I will either buy it, or put it on my Christmas or birthday list. Two things to take from this anecdote: 1)the NRM is really, really, really, my favourite museum in the world, and 2)my son knows me so very well.

National Train Day

I learned on the Facebook page of the National Railway Museum in York that today is National Train Day. I know I had to mention it on the blog and mark it with a picture taken at the museum itself during our last visit in April. National Train Day is on the Saturday closest to the 10th of May and it is to celebrate the history and heritate of railways. I honestly think this is the greatest mean of transport mankind has ever created. And trains are so very cool, so I had to mention it here.

Train watching from the balcony

We discovered something we hadn't seen before at the National Railway Museum in York: they have a special balcony where we can watch trains coming and going to and from the train station. I don't think it was there ten years ago, maybe I am wrong. But it's an amazing experience. It gives a more direct, modern, dynamic aspect to the museum. I know it may sound silly, because train travel is an everyday reality here, it's mundane, but seeing the trains up close, like this, moving, it feels so much different. Like you see them for the first time, in the wild.

Railway Bear

During our last visit to the National Railway Museum of York, we bought a new teddy bear for Wolfie's menagerie. A teddy bear designed for the 100th anniversary of the Flying Scotsman. His cap says he is the engine driver. Cool. Wolfie and I found him very cute, but my wife hesitated to buy it, because the price was rather high (£18.00). But our son used this Wolfism to end the debate: "I already gave him a kiss and a name, so it's too late mummy." So yeah, we have a new teddy bear. His name is Scotty, bu the way.

To York and Back Again by Train

So in case you were wondering, I was not blogging much recently because we went to York. A first for Wolfie, for me it was the first time in ten years. I had missed it. I will write more about our holidays, suffice to say for now that we spent a day at the National Railway Museum, where I spent a lot on lots of nice things for Wolfie and me. My wife not being into trains, I didn't really buy her anything there, but we all had fun. Among the useful and/or cool things, The Big Book of Train Activities. It kept Wolfie entertained on the journey back. So we had a sot of train themed holiday. Anyway, stay tuned for more posts and pictures.

Playing with Trains

 I found this old fashioned engine driver hat in the online shop of the National Railway Museum in York. You may remember that I have been wanting to have a railway themed birthday. I have been wondering if I should not add this hat to the present wishlist, even though it's a children item. I guess Wolfie would wear it. But now, at leas half the presents I receive are truly for my son's enjoyment as well. And I love to have train themed games with him. And yes, I am living another childhood thanks to Wolfie. But playing with trains never gets old.

A Railway Themed Birthday?

My birthday is only in April, but I know for a fact that my wife and Wolfie are already preparing for it and have already bought at least one present. So I thought it is not too early to start planning for it and giving some presents suggestions. Which should not be too difficult. I learned on the Facebook page  of the National Railway Museum in York that they have lots of new (and old) nice things in their the online shop. Last Christmas, I got spoiled by my wife who got loads of cool things from there, I think this might be the case this time too. This First-Class Seat Retro Cushion would be quite handy. But maybe we could be even more daring and take a quick holiday to York and make a day trip to the NRM to celebrate. Okay, so anything train related is not Veggie Carrie's idea of a good time, but she is outnumbered and she would love to get out of the house in any case. Or I can just stick to railway memorabilia for presents.

First Class Tea Mug

 Okay, this is one of the very last time I will blog about Christmas until next year. And this may be my last post of the year too. I had to share another great present that my wife got from the online shop of the National Railway Museum in York. Not directly related to trains, but sort of. This tea mug. My new favourite tea mug and one I may say is very much me. I like to consider myself a first class tea maker. And, for the record, any use of milk with tea is improper milk usage.