A rail fanatic who spent four decades building up his massive model collection is now travelling along the very tracks he laid.

Peter Hurst’s death from dementia in January caused a creative spark in his son’s mind to give him the perfect send off.

Simon Hurst, from Leeds, asked William Whitmey Independent Funeral Directors, in Sittingbourne, to place his father’s ashes inside a model coal locomotive truck to take a trip around the huge track based on the Great Western Railway.

The 53-year-old said: “I just thought it would be a nice touch. My dad lived in a four-bed house in Leeds and in this house he has a massive model railway laid out.

“He built it up from 1972 when we moved here and it was all based on the Great Western Railway as it was before it was all privatised.”

Peter, who was 88 when he died on January 20, was evacuated to Blaenavon in Wales during the Second World War and grew fond of the rail links and scenery.

It is in a Blaenavon truck where the ashes have been lovingly placed.

The former customs and excise officer moved to his Burgess Hall Drive home in 1972 when Simon was aged just eight.

When he moved in he began building his own version of the GWR complete with realistic scenery.

Simon, a brewer at Goachers Ales, said: “His ashes have been put in a coal locomotive and that runs around the track that he built himself.

“It was a weird idea I came up with and I didn’t know how the family would react to it.

“He was evacuated to Wales during the war and he got an affection for the Great Western Railway.

“His model was a bit of a hidden gem and he didn’t show it to many people.”

Following his father’s death Simon and his brother Paul are now faced with a challenge to find a new home for the huge model railway, which their father made scenery and houses for.

Simon added: “Me and my brother have to sell the house and hopefully we can sell the model railway on to somebody who will look after it.”