This week's Bushracks Best is Ben Costa, our wonderful Artisan Locomotive Engineer.

Ben has been working on locomotives since 1979, an impressive 39 years, and his knowledge and expertise on the workings of locomotives, and steam trains in general, is unparalleled.

Ben has overseen the restoration of all our locomotives, and trains as a whole, and he is extremely passionate and proud of his work. "You have to strip them right down. No detail is too small. Before you fit the wheels, the frame needs to be perfect. There is no room for error."

Here are some messages of congratulations regarding his work on the Bushtracks Africa Steam Trains:

"Well done Ben Costa. You one of the few Steam Loco artisans around. People must appreciate that skill and knowledge." - Donovan Jones

"Wow Ben very well done, the amount of work to restore an old locomotive back to new is amazing, congratulations." - Mark Querl

"What a fantastic renovation of the fabulous train. It looks brand spanking new!!" - Rozanne Winter

Ben is truly a genius. It takes extreme dedication and commitment, as well as astonishing skill, to make these kinds of remarkable transformations:

Besides being a highly accomplished steam train and locomotive specialist, Ben is also has lovely, pleasant energy and believes in the effectiveness of teamwork, "I want to express my gratitude to everyone for the compliments. This achievement was only possible with the participation of the entire workshop team. Therefore, I want to share this moment with them." He is fascinating to talk to and is always willing to share some of his vast knowledge.

Without Ben our two beautiful trains, The Royal Livingstone Express and The Bushtracks Express, wouldn't have been possible. A huge thank you to this and locomotive whiz for all his hard work!