Felix The Railway Cat

Andrew thought the live radio interviews were the worst. At least ITV had been a pre-record, so if he made a mistake the crew could stop filming and he could start over again. But he found himself sitting in his office, listening down the line to BBC Radio 5 Live and hearing, ‘And we’re now joined by Andrew from TransPennine Express who’s going to tell us all about Felix the cat,’ and then suddenly he was live on national radio.

In between the filming and the photos and the live radio interviews, the media continued to call up, asking for quotations, so he and Felix and Chris were giving soundbites, both visual and audio, to the assorted press. Felix had never done so many photo shoots in her life. Just as the traditional media interest started to die down, the internet media caught up: another wave of Felix-focused stories from The LAD Bible and others followed.

And amid all this liking and sharing and tweeting and reporting, something incredible happened.

Felix’s fame went global. And she didn’t just hop across to France on a booze cruise – she went properly international: jet-setting-superstar global.

The first Felix’s family knew of it was when some of her Facebook fans started posting foreign media clippings of her on her page, saying that that was how they had discovered her. Following the coverage of her well-deserved promotion in the UK press, she hit the headlines in Taiwan, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and many other places. Andrew was bowled over when he learned that the ITV footage featuring Felix, Chris and him had been re-used by an American broadcaster – Felix the railway cat was on Good Morning America! Australia joined the party, as well as Japan and China. Felix was a bona fide international icon, with fans in France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Lithuania, Estonia … The list went on and on – and then on!

The staff at Huddersfield had always known she was special, but this was something else. Angie Hunte thought it was absolutely super. ‘To me, she’s always been famous,’ she said proudly. ‘But, you know, it doesn’t matter how global she goes, she’s still my kitten, my baby.’

It was Dave Chin who summed it up in a nutshell: ‘She’s just a little star.’

And her new, worldwide fans seemed to agree with him. With all this happening in February, Felix was soon the flattered recipient of many Valentine’s Day cards. Perhaps it was just as well that the stray black cat, her ‘boyfriend’, had not been seen on the station for a while, for he might not have been able to control his jealousy at this flood of not-so-secret admirers. But the love-themed billets-doux were only the start of Felix’s fan mail. As the year drew on the team found their mail bags becoming full of post for Felix.

Angie couldn’t believe it when all this stuff started arriving. Felix had letters from Canada, America, France … Her fans were sending her all sorts. Somebody even sent some catnip from Ireland.

Parcel after parcel after parcel was brought to the station mailbox by the local Huddersfield postman. They were simply addressed to: ‘Felix, the Huddersfield station cat’. The global superstar was sent gourmet suppers and laser toys, cat bowls with her name on them and heart-shaped dishes, posh turquoise collars printed with pink cupcakes – and even a supersized cat-treats tin from America. She was mailed a bumper pack of goodies from her favourite food brand ‘Felix’, as well as sardines from John West. She was even contacted by the famous Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, who gave her a special branded bowl.

That was the one that got Angie. ‘Wow’ was all she could say as she stood in the office, reading the message from the celebrated rescue centre.

Other cats ‘wrote’ to her to inform her of their vermin-catching capabilities, as though Felix was a pest-controlling cat idol in the feline world; one resented the ‘intervention by human’ that had decreased his tally to only three mice and one sparrow. Many told her how much they admired her work at Huddersfield, and she was showered with congratulations on her promotion. Letters were signed by humans and cats, dogs and rabbits, the ‘x’ of affectionate kisses often accompanied by the sketch of a pawprint too. Lots of children took the time to draw her colourful pictures, while others sent her postcards from their holidays.

Perhaps the most special letters, however, came from other station cats. It seemed there was a collegiate feeling among the members of this railway kitty club. Felix received correspondence from Batman and Metro-Miez, German station cats from Cuxhaven near Hamburg who sent her ‘signed’ pictures, as well as from Jojo, the Southend Victoria station cat. Jojo, another black-and-white moggy, kindly sent Felix some treats and told the Huddersfield cat how she had the British Transport Police, who cared for Jojo down in Essex, wrapped around her piebald paws. Felix knew that feeling well …