A retired clergyman is making a 12,000 mile pilgrimage in praise of a heritage steam line.

Nelson Stockbridge, once a vicar in Baildon, is flying all the way from New Zealand to spend a day on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

He is determined to make a detour to Keighley while on holiday in the UK with his wife, Ruth.

Mr Stockbridge will don the special uniform of a ticket collector and work the Keighley to Oxenhope diesel multiple on Saturday, December 15.

In the unpaid job, Mr Stockbridge, 72, who lives in Rotorua, New Zealand, will collect and give out tickets and answer passengers' questions.

He is likely to face quite a grilling because it will be one of the busiest times on the line as it will be holding its annual Santa Specials.

Sara North, the railway's volunteer liaison officer, said: "While many of our members travel regularly from as far as Hampshire, London, the North East and Carlisle to work as unpaid drivers, firemen, guards and track workers, Nelson's journey is much longer - as far as you can get - from the other side of the world."

He will not be working a Santa Special but will be dealing with many passengers aboard the diesel bound for Haworth to catch one of the festive trains.

She said: "Nelson's determination to spend one day of his valuable holiday in the UK helping run the railway shows the dedication of our volunteer workforce.

"He keeps up-to-date with changes and developments through our weekly staff newsletter which is e-mailed to him in New Zealand."

Mr Stockbridge is no stranger to working on public transport.

He was born in the capital, Wellington, and, before he took the cloth, worked in the city as a driver of the cable tram and trolley buses.

He joined the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway when working as an Anglican priest in Baildon where he had moved from Cottingham between Beverley and Hull.

On retirement a few years ago, he returned to his native country and settled in Rotorua.

The railway travels for five miles between Keighley and Oxenhope and is run by volunteers It was the location for the classic 1970 film The Railway Children.