TRAIN lover Ernest Mann was certainly on the right track when he celebrated his 90th birthday.

For not only did his friends turn out in force for his big day, they also named a model train after him.

Ernest is a long-standing member of the Fylde Society of Model Engineers who helps run model locomotive rides at Marsh Mill Village, Thornton, each Sunday.

Despite it being a special day for him, he turned up as usual this week and was overwhelmed when society members unveiled a locomotive bearing his name plate.

"It was very unexpected and I had a marvellous day," he said. "We have had that locomotive for years and it has never had a name until now.

"This was really something for me."

Society member Eric Clifford said of the gesture: "We felt we could not let the day go by without some form of recognition.

"We could not think of a better way to reward one of our most loyal supporters and locomotive enthusiasts."

Ernest, from Poulton, has always been a locomotive fan and has built a few models of his own.

Until retirement he was also a railway worker, but now he is happy to climb aboard the smaller versions, especially his very own Ernest Mann.

"It was a wonderful gesture but I have told everybody that they have set a precedent now," he said.

"I'll be expecting the same sort of thing in ten years time."

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