I've been a member on here for about three years now, but only started posting a couple of weeks ago, so I guess it's time to introduce myself.
I'm Jonathan, I'm 26, and I live in Congleton. I've also lived in Cornwall and Gloucestershire, and spent the first nine months of my life in Birmingham. I work for a supermarket chain and am based in the petrol station, but help out in our main store when I can and also support other stores in the area if needed. My other main areas of interest are theme parks, F1, football (I'm a Manchester United fan), and the Eurovision Song Contest.
I suppose my interest in railways started back in 2000, shortly before my 7th birthday, when my family went to London for October half term and I was first introduced to the Underground. I just found it fascinating for some reason, and as I've grown, I've come to really appreciate so much of the history behind it. Favourite station on the network is probably Westminster. There's just something about descending into the depths to access the Jubilee line which I just find so awe-inspiring. As mentioned elsewhere, I successfully completed the Tube Challenge last November, but only just - I still blame the District line for breaking at THE worst possible place (Earl's Court) when we needed it to work. :P First time I ever travelled long-distance by rail was back in November 2011, and I think that may be when the rail bug got stuck onto me. I've zero desire to get rid of it.
Unsurprisingly, my closest station is Congleton, so I have to deal with the 323s whenever I want to go anywhere. To be fair, I don't think they're too bad. I do love the 390s, of course, and the one thing I love about living up north is being able to get to London from my house in about two-and-a-half hours if you include the time spent travelling to the station. When I was in Cornwall, it was probably at least double that, though at least the train passed along the Dawlish Sea Wall, which is simply stunning. I've a soft spot for the HSTs, as I spent many journeys on them going to and from London, and I quite like the 172s used on the Snow Hill Lines. Best rail journey in Britain for me has to be the West Highland Line from Glasgow Queen Street all the way out to Mallaig.
I already know a couple of people on here from a forum dedicated to theme parks, and I'm looking forward to finally posting more on here.