Felix The Railway Cat

Chris Briscoe, Felix’s ‘grandfather’, happened to be working at the station that day and was witness to the ensuing chaos his kitten caused. What a palaver! Felix caused quite the scene. There she was, gaily gambolling about with the rabbits, while further up the station there was a train stuck in its tracks, customers wondering what was causing the delay, and a railway team up in arms trying to sort it all out. Felix had brought the whole station to a standstill. In all likelihood, the moment she heard the train’s engine start, she would have run for home, but the driver was so frightened of running over the popular station cat that he wouldn’t move his train one inch.

Eventually, Felix finished with her fun and lolloped back up the ramp to safety, completely oblivious to the chaos she had caused. The train’s engines roared, the driver was waved on, and the station started running at full speed again.

‘Who are we going to put this down to?’ the team asked crossly as they filled in their forms; they had to account formally for any hold-ups.

All eyes turned as one to the little black-and-white cat.

‘Felix,’ they said in unison.

15. The First Farewell

That was the one and only time Felix ever brought the station to a halt. Like any kitten, she tested boundaries and had her fair share of cheeky and mischievous antics – but this kitten was undeniably growing up. By now, her blue kitten collar had grown too small for her, even with its adjustable strap, so just before Christmas Angie Hunte gave her a new one, this time a glittery pink number, in which Felix looked dolled up to the nines. It coordinated with the pink heart tag perfectly. Felix would certainly look smart on Christmas Day.

Where Felix would spend her first Christmas was a topic of some concern to the team. Huddersfield station is staffed twenty-four hours a day and almost 365 days a year, but is always closed on Christmas and Boxing Day. Felix couldn’t possibly spend the festivities on her own in a deserted station, so Angie started asking the team which of them might be prepared to host Felix over Christmas.

She would have loved to take her herself – though she joked that if she did, the cat would probably never come back to the station, being held hostage at home! But Angie’s daughter was asthmatic, so she wasn’t able to do it. With so many of the team having their own cats at home, it proved quite tricky to find someone who had a feline-free household and was willing to take her. In the end, Andy Dyson, one of the team leaders, offered his home and Felix spent her first Christmas in a domestic, family environment.

Gareth clocked off on Christmas Eve pleased to know that Felix would be in safe hands. He really wanted to have her at his own home, but he knew that Cosmo would not be keen on the idea. But there was a special reason Gareth had wanted to spend as much time with Felix as he possibly could, for Gareth Hope, after all these years at Huddersfield, had got himself a new job. His last day at the station would be Friday 6 January 2012.

Throughout the autumn, Billy’s words of warning had rattled round and round in Gareth’s head. In the end it was Paul, the station manager, who had given the young announcer a bit of a leg-up. Knowing that Gareth had a background in computer programming, he’d asked him if he could use his experience to help improve the announcing system. Gareth had therefore been involved in developing a new announcing programme that the network had installed, which had required him to spend some time at Control and to go down to Leicester to test the new system. In November, a new job had come up at Control and – perhaps partly thanks to Gareth’s recent experience there and his developing the programme – he’d got the post. He would be a customer information controller, based just outside Manchester Piccadilly. It was a fantastic promotion, one that would really challenge him and test his skills.

‘Well done, lad,’ Billy had said when he’d heard the news. He didn’t smile, or anything so extravagant as that, but Billy just didn’t smile; it wasn’t his way. He gave Gareth a proud look, though, locking eyes with him as he nodded his grizzled head. ‘That’s grand,’ he said simply.

Gareth knew in his heart that he was ready to move on, but that final week at work he suddenly wasn’t quite so sure. He was really clingy with Felix all week, insisting that she spend his shifts with him in the tiny announcer’s office, which she was quite happy to do. She’d adored Gareth ever since she had arrived at the station, and the two of them were best buddies.