FOR a lifetime rail enthusiast it is the ultimate tribute. Hornby created a special model train in memory of Edinburgh's famous One O'Clock gunner – Tam the Gun.

And every one of the £99 limited edition sets has been sold, with a percentage of the proceeds going to a cancer charity.

City toy shop owner Bob Baird persuaded the model-making giant to produce the train dedicated to his friend, Staff Sergeant Thomas McKay.

GNER has already named one of its Edinburgh to London locomotives after Tam, who was a lifetime rail enthusiast and model train collector.

Mr Baird, from North Berwick, who manages Harburn Hobbies on Elm Row, came up with the idea for the foot-long model of the Mallard train with Tam's name on the side.

He said: "Tam always wanted a train for himself. He used to work on the railways as a steward in the restaurant cars before he joined the Army.

"He was always a model railway enthusiast and he was a friend and a customer since the mid-70s.

"Tam had been talking to GNER for a couple of years. They named the train just ten days after he died. I had the contacts with Hornby, so I asked them about a model train. We thought it would be a very appropriate way of remembering him."

Mr Baird has sold 50 of the train sets himself, raising £500 for Bowel Cancer UK.

The remaining 450 have been sold by toy shops throughout the country and on the internet. Mr Baird, 60, said: "I think they have been so popular because of the man himself. So many people knew Tam.

"He was such a lovely man, so warm and affectionate. He was so inspirational and enthusiastic. The youngsters in the shop would always shout enthusiastically: 'Tam's in!' The stories he had. You could stand and chat for ages."

Mr McKay was the longest-serving district gunner since the firing of the One O'Clock Gun began in 1861. He died in November 2005, after a battle with bowel cancer.

His widow Joyce said she had told him about the train before he died. She said: "Tam would have been thrilled that people wanted to have them.

"He worked on the railways and had a great interest in model trains. It's very appropriate.

"I've got a train set myself. Hornby made it and presented it to me with a certificate of authenticity. I know friends in America and Norway who have them."

She said Mr McKay's six grandsons, who live in Edinburgh, all had their own train sets.

The district gunner was a popular figure with visitors to Edinburgh Castle, where he often led guided tours and shared stories. He even published a book of anecdotes about his job.

He was made an MBE in 1999 for his services to the Territorial Army.

Mrs McKay unveiled a cannon dedicated to his memory in Bergen, Norway, earlier this year, where the couple had many friends and celebrated their wedding.