Say it with steam!
NOT only did regular Swanage Railway volunteer Nathan Au get down on one knee to propose to his girlfriend Rhianna Webb at Norden station on August bank holiday Monday – but he brought his own named train along to help him do the job!
Maunsell U 2-6-0 No. 31806 proudly carried a headboard proclaiming ‘Will You Marry Me?' – and the headcode disc said ‘Yes'.
At the railway's adjacent successful Roads to Rail steam rally, steam engines sounded their sirens and blew their whistles from the field.
A railway statement said: “We send massive congratulations to Nathan and his fiancée Rhianna from the whole of the Swanage Railway family!
“It can be hard to find unique ways to ask that most important of questions in the 21st century, so how better to do it than by driving your own ‘named' train to greet your partner!”
Nathan is chairman of the railway's 563 Locomotive Group, which is working towards returning former National Collection LSWR T3 4-4-0 No. 563 to steam for use on the Purbeck Line.