I so want to say that driving the Lotus should have well prepared you for driving a steam train....but only because I am deeply jealous!

The hierarchy of driving experiences therefore has to be:

No 1 : MX5
No 2 : Steam train
.
.
.
No 32 : Lotus Elise

(In case you were wondering, driving a ride-on lawnmower is at 31).

Phil Morris from NCC used to volunteer on a heritage steam railway line, I think at one point he was training to be a fireman.