This guy’s genius use for his model trains will have you rummaging through boxes for your old set

Christmas is one of the year’s most indulgent times – when feasting upon mountains of food and drink is not only acceptable, but encouraged.

It’s common to hit a wall at some point in the day – a stomach stuffed with sprouts, chocolates and lots of liquid can make it hard to move. Which is where Tim Dunn’s model train hack comes in.

The travel historian and broadcaster had friends round at the weekend and came up with a novel way to serve their gin and tonics.

The London resident used 40ft of track to set up a route between his kitchen, where the drinks and snacks were loaded, through the dining room, out behind the sofas in the sitting room, and “across the floor to the optimal unloading point!”.

It may have taken a couple of hours to get working properly, but it proved very worth it.

Tim said: “I reckon we shuttled a good 30 or 40 trains of gin, wine, mince pies and crisps. This was an important Christmas service.”

Tim and his boyfriend opted for a strict no red wine policy, given their light carpet, which turned out to be a good idea.

“There was a horrible incident where we wasted a whole train load of Hendrick’s Gin on the curve behind the dining table. It was a bit upsetting,” he said.

It’s not the first time the model trains, which Tim has had since childhood, have been used for this purpose either.

Here’s a video of vodka shots going round Tim’s apartment at a Eurovision party – with guests having to grab one every time a song stopped.

He said: “Those trains, ’00 Gauge’ size could only carry shot glasses.

“This one for Christmas was much larger: the brief was that it had to carry at least three G&Ts. All the best trains have a bar car, you see.”

The weekend’s trains had a special timer unit, so that they’d shuttle end-to-end every two minutes.

“Drinks got made in the kitchen and were sent out automatically to friends across the flat,” he said.

The videos have proved so popular that Tim’s colleagues at Trainline “have demanded we build one around the office for Fridays. Challenge accepted!”

So will the rest of the festive period see a continued service?

“A few more trains before I head off on holiday, for sure,” Tim said.

“But I’m travelling by steam train around Devon and Cornwall most of the Christmas holiday, so I’ll be happily drinking aboard full-size trains instead.”

Sounds possibly even better.