Thomas the station cat hopes to fill Alfie’s big boots

Alfie passed away in June 2017. Three years later, new cat Thomas is welcoming visitors to the Rushden heritage railway station.

And Thomas, according to the BBC, is on track to be a very popular station cat.

Thomas lives in the station bar. He was found as a stray and was donated to the station owners by a cat charity.

The owners of both Alfie and Thomas said the "new station cat already had the run of the place", writes the Beeb.

Alfie's demise

Alife turned up at the heritage railway in Northamptonshire in 2007. He became famous as the station cat and accrued thousands of followers on socials.

Sadly, Alfie died in 2017.

"When he died, people kept asking, 'When are you going to get another station cat?'," Fiona York, who looked after him, told the BBC.

"But we always said Alfie came here because he wanted to, and if we get another cat it has to be because he wants to be here too."

Thomas' arrival has not gone unnoticed and he hopes to follow in his predecessor's tracks.