As a child in the 1950s David Buck loved nothing more than visiting Ipswich railway station and noting the numbers of the Britannias and the LNER B17s and B1s passing through.
He died last month at the age of 80 and is known by rail enthusiasts across the country as one of the great figures of the steam revival.
He moved to London in the 1960s where he literally made his fortune first as a television engineer and then setting up a business making films for cinemas.
But his love of Ipswich, and of trains, never left him - and when he sold the business he was able to realise his life-long ambition and bought the LNER B1 locomotive Mayflower.
It had run after being retired by BR, but mainly on preserved railways, and he funded its overhaul to enable it to run on the main line hauling steam specials.
Mayflower was launched as a mainline steam locomotive in February 2015 with a trip from Norwich through Ipswich to Windsor - where Mr Buck lived.
It had been overhauled on the North Norfolk Railway at Weybourne.
At the time he told us: “I loved going along to the station and watching the trains. In those days the Britannias were just coming in – but there were still a lot of B1s like Mayflower on the express trains from London to East Anglia.
“I am really looking forward to bringing it back to this line – it will be the first time an engine like this has been on the line for many decades.”
Mr Buck travelled most of the way on the footplate, keeping an eye on the driver, fireman and traction inspector in charge of his locomotive - it was a one-way tour with diesel bringing it back to East Anglia because Mayflower was then based in London hauling steam specials.
Three years later Mr Buck bought the Steam Dreams rail charter company which specialised in rail tours out of London and the home counties.
Mayflower - which was by then already a regular on the company's trains - became its main locomotive and he ensured there were several trips each year along the Great Eastern line through Ipswich to places like Lincoln or York.
Mr Buck also had a nameplate made in the style of the LNER's "Football Clubs" names that were put on some B17 locomotives for his beloved Ipswich Town - even though there was never such a loco.
He built his own private line in the grounds of his large home near Windsor - where he owned a Finnish steam locomotive that was too large and out of gauge for UK lines but he was able to shunt it up and down a short length of track.
Steam Dreams was founded by Marcus Robertson, and he continued to work with Mr Buck after the takeover and the two were close friends.
He said: "David Buck was one of a kind - unrelentingly positive with no room for negative thoughts, a good friend, always generous, and a 100% enthusiast for all things steam.
"For all of us who knew him, his passing will leave a big void in our lives but especially so for his marvellously supportive wife Patricia and their children and grandchildren."
Mr Buck was diagnosed with cancer several years ago and that prompted him to sell Steam Dreams and Mayflower in 2022 - but the company is still operating as part of the Locomotive Services Group and still runs occasional tours through East Anglia.
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