SWISS steam fan Alexander Choremi is so loco about locomotives he paid £1,500 to have the entire East Lancs Railway to himself for the day!

It's the fourth time this year the 37-year-old rail enthusiast has flown in from Zurich to spend the day chugging up and down the East Lancs Railway - and he's planning a fifth visit next week.

"My friends think I'm mad," says Alexander, who even brings his own hat and overalls on his visits. "But I just love the steam, the dust and the smell of the engines." Yesterday he spent the day happily riding the footplate of the 46229 Duchess of Hamilton, on loan from the National Railway Museum in York, pulling 14 tonnes of carriages along the eight miles of track between Bury and Rawtenstall.

"I always dreamt of becoming a train driver when I was a small boy," he said. "I played with train sets when I was little - in fact I've still got one now."

Back home Alexander works on the railways cleaning engines and locomotives, but in 1993 he decided to turn his dreams into reality, and has been visiting the East Lancashire Railway at least once a year ever since.

He said: "I was really excited when I first found out about the great driving experience in Bury. I just love it. There is nothing like this in Switzerland. And the people here are so nice, really friendly."

But he is not the only overseas visitor to try out the 'great driving experience' according to ELR spokesman Graham Vevers.

He said: "We've had folk from Australia, Canada, the USA, Japan and even from the Cook Islands in the Indian Ocean.

"But Alex is a bit of a regular now. He even knows his way around."

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