NOT quite the same as christening a boat, the new mayor has marked the start of his time in office by naming a model train.

Cllr Geoffrey Walker, the new mayor of Waltham Forest, visited the Chingford and District Model Engineering Club (CDMEC), in Ridgeway Park, off Peel Close, Chingford, on Sunday, May 29, to name their new petrol locomotive.

Mayor Walker continued the tradition of naming the trains after flying insects with the name ‘Demoiselle’, meaning damselfly in French, to sit alongside their existing trains Firefly, Blackfly, Mayfly and Schmetterling (German for butterfly).

Cllr Roy Berg, chairman of the group, said: “It was a great honour to have Geoffrey here. It’s only the second act he has done as mayor so it was splendid.

“I’m not quite sure why we name our trains after insects but Demoiselle does sound good.”

The mayor and his party were then driven around on the train by Cllr Michael Lewis for its first official ride.

The CDMEC is open for the public to ride every Sunday between 2pm and 5.30pm until the end of September, with rides costing 50p or £1.