I WOULD not want you to think I'm becoming an anorak in my old age, but I have to report that I made a special journey on Saturday morning to see a steam locomotive.

And you know it's not like me to disagree with the late, great Samuel Johnson.

But I must insist that this event was not only worth seeing but also worth going to see – unlike Sam's alleged verdict on a tourist attraction which he admitted might be worth a look but was not worth "going to see".

It was the last outing in my territory, before major overhaul, of the only running example of the finest engines ever built in Britain. Unfortunately, thanks to duff info, I missed it.

So you will forgive me if I temper this huge disappointment with a certain amount of excitement at the news – revealed in the Post & Times today – that the railway connecting Cauldon Lowe, Oakamoor and Leekbrook to the main line at Stoke is to be reopened for commercial use.

At least, that's the plan and we must hope that it works. For a start, they'll have to clear a young forest from much of the track before so much as one of those two-man pump trolleys beloved of comedy film makers could make a through run. But this is a serious proposition which has been under discussion for a long time. The first step will be to reintroduce freight from the Cauldon Lowe cement works.

The capacity of this rural branch line to carry huge loads was amply demonstrated in the late 1970s, when it transported blocks of limestone for the London flood barrier.

Each block was almost a lorry-load in itself, but one goods train could move as many as 50 in one go, thus reducing traffic on the roads.

The next stage will be to reintroduce passenger trains, with the ultimate aim of creating the often-discussed connection to Alton Towers.

There will obviously have to be a lot of co-operation with the volunteer-run Churnet Valley Railway, whose members have worked prodigiously to bring back trains between Leekbrook and Froghall. But at the very least, one can envision a tramway-style commuter service between the hoped-for new station on the outskirts of Leek and Stoke Station.

We are fortunate that the line from Leekbrook to Stoke has been left intact since the last sand train ran down it in 1988.

You don't have to be a paid-up member of the greens to see the benefits of a revived railway.

It was a close call that the section of the Caldon branch from Bradnop to Leekbrook did not become part of a Leek road-bypass. Good news for rail but the bypass, of course, is a sad story for road users.

It is not often recognised that Cauldon Lowe was the start of the second oldest railway in Britain, the tramway to Froghall authorised in 1776. But even I wouldn't suggest that the tramway could be rebuilt to create a round trip from Froghall.