The man who helped 500 Ipswich Town fans enjoy one of the best days of their lives in 2000 has died after a long career running special trains across the country.
Ray Davies, who was 76, ran NENTA Traintours for nearly 40 years - taking passengers from Norfolk and Suffolk on days out across the country.
He ran four special trains sponsored by what was then the Evening Star in the late 1990s and early noughties.
And he continued to run six or seven trains a year until the Covid pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 programme.
But for Town fans, he will always be remembered for the 2000 Evening Star Wembley Express which was fully decked out in Blue and White to take 500 apprehensive supporters down to London - and brought back 500 ecstatic fans.
Mr Davies was born in Burnley, Lancashire and moved with his mother to Norfolk in the 1960s - but he never lost his Lancashire accent.
He worked repairing televisions and then as a window cleaner - but he always had an interest in railways.
He was a member of the North East Norfolk Travellers' Association (NENTA) in the early 1980s and decided to organise train tours to support it.
His trips usually started in Norfolk - some from his home station in North Walsham - but also picked up passengers in Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, and other stations.
The day trips ran all over the country - to Edinburgh, Plymouth, Yorkshire, North Wales, and the south coast.
Trains to Carlisle across the scenic Settle to Carlisle route were always popular.
Mr Davies was always at the heart of these trips - he would meet and greet passengers, many of whom were regulars that he came to know personally.
His son, Stuart, helped on the trips. He said: "Everyone seemed to know him personally. He loved that - and once it finished he rather missed having the phone going with people booking tickets all the time.
"It could be quite difficult - things could go wrong during the trips causing delays but nothing seemed to stress him out."
Mr Davies ran the trips with his wife Sarah. In recent years they divorced but remained good friends and she continued to help him organise the trains.
Stuart said: "Dad's health has been declining over recent years. He was in hospital for some weeks last year and then went into a care home - mum was still visiting three times a week."
In all Mr Davies ran four trips sponsored by the Star - which started from either Felixstowe or Ipswich.
There were trips to York, Minehead in Somerset, and Durham or Beamish open-air museum in the north east as well as the Wembley Express.
Former Star editor Nigel Pickover said: “Ray was a pioneering railway adventurer and brought joy to tens of thousands with his superbly-organised special trips.
“He discovered a brilliant formula of local pick-ups and splendid destinations for his trips which ran to a precise formula with Ray’s green-jacketed team giving advice and insight as the journeys progressed.
“On top of that he was a warm and genial host with a smile for everyone, a real legend of the tracks and a true gentleman.”
He added: “I fondly remember using Ray’s extensive railway knowledge to organise the train when Ipswich Town played Barnsley in the the Blues’ successful play off final appearance - the last club game at the old Wembley in 2000.
“It became a sell-out triumph with 500 Ipswich fans travelling to London in style. The journey home saw a victory singsong which Ray organised on the train's tannoy system.”
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