The Macedon Ranges resident is the vice-president and carriage maintenance manager of 707 Operations, a railway preservation organisation based at the old Newport railyards workshop. In Melbourne, it is known as the West Block.

The volunteer group started in 1980 to restore a steam locomotive, R707. Its membership now has grown to about 70 members.

"Basically, there was a number of drivers who wanted to preserve steam engines after they were replaced by diesel," Mr Jinks, 59, says.

"I'm a fifth-generation railway man, so let's just say [the interest has] always been there. My great-great-grandfather built a railway. My great-grandfather worked on a railway. My grandfather was a driver. My father was a fitter and turner. And I was a Victorian Railways bridge engineer.

"When I was a kid, we never had enough money for me to have a train set. I used to live near Strathmore so, from the age of 5, I'd sit there and watch the trains go past. Big boys like big toys. [The R707] is up to 500 tonnes so it's certainly a big toy and, we think, worth preserving".

The group's aim is to preserve the skills and work practices associated with historic railway rolling stock. Information: www.707operations.com.au