He adjusted the angle, and Michael saw that the train was actually moving. It was pulling into a village station, where it was immediately surrounded by children. There was no sound, and he found himself peering into a little world of joyful waving – the children were in fancy dress, wearing Victorian-style bonnets and waistcoats.

‘Where is that?’ he said.

‘That’s the Dales, that is – just outside Settle. Look at the pistons, though.’

The camera was closing in on the wheels.

‘Four thousand horsepower, near enough – and there’s two of them.’

‘Are you an engineer?’ said Michael.

‘More of a mechanic, really, but it’s become quite a hobby—’

‘Where was it going? Today I mean.’

‘What?’

‘The steam train. Where was it going?’

‘Milton Keynes.’

‘Did it have passengers? Was it—’

‘Oh, God yes. The tickets went months ago. Months ago.’

‘You should have bought one.’

The old man laughed.

‘Not this time,’ he said. ‘You can’t go every time, can you? I have in the past, and I will again. Today I just came out for a few photos – it’s an occasion, isn’t it?’

He tapped something, and Michael found himself inside one of the compartments, looking out at a level crossing. Again, people were waving, and the excitement made him feel slightly bewildered. Michael tore his eyes away, and inspected his new acquaintance more carefully. He was even older than he’d thought, and frailer too. He could have been eighty, or even eighty-five, and his teeth were so perfectly white they had to be dentures. Sure enough, the upper plate slipped, and he saw that the man’s face was unnaturally pale and beginning to crumple. He wore a dark grey cap, and what hair Michael could see was ragged and random, as if white clumps of dirty white cotton-wool had stuck to the sides of his head. His eyes were watery and he had a skinny throat.

‘I was going to take my great-grandson,’ he said slowly. ‘Then we realised it was during school, and he told me he wasn’t interested anyway.’

‘Wasn’t interested?’

‘In seeing her. He said it was a bit boring, trains.’

‘That’s a shame.’

‘Well… there’s so many other things now, aren’t there? Phones, for example – computer games.’

‘Yes.’