A boy has travelled across Europe especially to celebrate his 10th birthday with his namesake resident diesel locomotive ‘The Duke’ at the Lappa Valley Railway in Cornwall.

The 10 1/4 inch diesel which was built in 2014 and named “The Duke”, it was originally a resident at the now-closed Wells Harbour Railway, before moving to Lappa Valley in 2021.

By coincidence, this locomotive was also celebrating its own 10th birthday, which culminated with festivities last weekend.

Kaiden Duke and his family are moving back to the UK, having lived in Spain.

On a previous trip to the UK, they visited the Lappa Valley Railway.

Since seeing the locomotive with his family name on it, and being told by his mother that it was the same age as him, Kaiden was adamant that his tenth birthday should be celebrated alongside the locomotive the same age as him.

“We’re moving back to Cornwall and we gave him the option of either spending his birthday in Spain or coming back here – he chose Lappa Valley!”

“I went onto the website and I saw that it was The Duke’s 10th birthday too so I thought, wow, it’s fate, isn’t it?”

Amy, Kaiden’s Mum

It seems to be a year of celebrations at the Lappa Valley Railway, which itself celebrated its 50th anniversary year.