Norman Taylor can see steam trains pass his Haworth home every day throughout the summer.

But it's more than two decades since the 75-year-old travelled on the Keighley and Worth Valley line.

And it's around 40 years since he rode on the footplate as a fireman when the line was part of the national rail network.

Norman was given a chance to relive those days this week as a guest of the volunteers who now run the railway.

He sat in the cab for a nostalgic trip up and down the line between Keighley and Oxenhope.

He saw the journey as a chance to turn the clock back to what he terms the "golden days" of rail travel.

Norman, who lives at the Thornfield sheltered housing complex, in Station Road, joined British Rail at the age of 17. He served for many years as a fireman, based at Manningham Sheds and served on various local lines.

Norman retired soon before the Worth Valley line was closed by British Rail in 1961, but retained an interest.

He attended the 1962 meeting -- called by then Keighley MP Bob Cryer at the Temperance Hall -- that established a railway preservation society.

Norman served as a volunteer and committee member for the first few years of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway.

He returned to the railway this week at the invitation of Paul Brown, the society's present chairman, who drinks in the same Haworth pub.

Mr Brown said: "I was chatting to him in the Royal Oak about how he used to be a fireman. I've known him about three or four years. It's a pleasure to bring back many fond memories for Norman of his days as a fireman."