Last Wednesday, 1 November, young train enthusiasts from across the UK had a once-in-a-lifetime experience when they spent time experiencing what it is like to be a train conductor.

The children’s experience was the culmination of West Midlands Railway’s (WMR) Little Train Conductor competition, when 11 lucky winners, aged between four and ten, with their parents and a team from West Midlands Railway, boarded a train at Birmingham New Street station for the experience of being a train conductor.

The competition, which ran during the summer holidays, asked children to share (via their parents and guardians) a video to Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, or by email, explaining what they love most about trains, where they travelled to the last time they travelled on a train, and why they would like to be a conductor for the day.

West Midlands Railway originally intended to choose four lucky winners, but after receiving 150 entries from across the country, the judges decided they should select 11 young train fans to become conductors for a day.

The children’s journey was on one of West Midlands Railway’s new Class 196 trains travelling to Shrewsbury The Little Train Conductors shadowed their real-life counterparts as they carried out typical conductor duties, including checking tickets, greeting customers, and making important announcements over the public address system.

Completing their day never to be forgotten, and to make sure they could carry out their train conducting duties correctly, the children were provided with a uniform, complete with their very own whistle, torch, tie, high-viz waistcoat, and flags.

The 11 winners were Alexander, aged 7, Northampton, Roksana, aged 5, Church Stretton, Oliver, aged 9, Coventry, Benjamin, aged 7, Kidderminster, Charlie, aged 9, Sutton Coldfield, Noah, aged 5, Telford, Sammy, aged 10, Kings Heath, Adam, aged 6, Stourbridge, Zachary aged 7, Walsall, Alfred, aged 8, Wolverhampton and Franco, aged 5, Sutton Coldfield.

Little Train Conductor, Charlie, aged 9, from Sutton Coldfield, said: “Today has meant a lot to me, it’s been a once-in-a-lifetime experience on the Class 196. I really liked making the announcements as I’ve never done something like that before – and was so excited! I’d just like to say thank you to West Midlands Railway for everything they’ve done and for making this competition possible. You are the best rail operator in the world.”

Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director at West Midlands Railway, said: “Our Little Train Conductor event was certainly one to remember! It was an absolute pleasure to welcome our enthusiasts onto our brand-new trains, offering them an experience we hope they hold onto for years to come.

“We were blown away by each and every entry we received as part of our competition and had a very hard task on our hands trying to choose the winners. It’s always a joy to see children as passionate about the railway as we are here at West Midlands Railway. Perhaps in the future, we’ll even see the return of some familiar faces embarking on their own career as a conductor.”