Horsham boy, 10, gets special birthday message thanks to eye-catching train cake

Benjamin, 10, spends hours most weekends watching trains at Balcombe station, his mum Carie-Louise Gray said.

And the young train spotter, who has special needs, asked for a specific birthday cake for the first time this year.

Carie-Louise designed him a sponge cake which replicated the Thameslink NHS train and posted it online where it caught the eye of the boss of Thameslink.

Tom Moran, managing director of the rail firm, filmed a special birthday message for the young lad, which Carie-Louise said made his day.

She added: “I didn’t expect Tom’s message. [Benjamin] was delighted when I showed him. He was like ‘wow’.

“He just loves trains. He was really, really, really excited. He was just thrilled.”

Tom said it was the cake which first caught his eye.

He added: “The care and love that had gone into the cake that his mum had made him – it’s not often you see one of your own trains replicated in sponge cake and marzipan.

“As soon as I saw it I thought the least I could do was send birthday wishes.”

Carie-Louise said: “We were very grateful. We were quite humbled by it and quite overwhelmed by the fact that someone had taken their time out even if it’s just a few seconds to send a message.”

Tom added: “When you’re a kid trains are really cool. It’s great to be reminded of that.”

Carie-Louise also praised the ‘amazing’ staff at Balcombe who let them watch trains at the station.