The young man who was tragically killed after looking out of a train window on the way to Victoria station was a rail engineer who had landed his lifelong dream job.
24-year-old Simon Brown from East Grinstead, West Sussex, died from serious head injuries on Sunday (August 7).
The tragedy occurred on the Gatwick Express as it came close to Wandsworth Common Station in south London.
Friends and family of Simon, who worked at Hitachi Rail Europe's North Pole train maintenance depot in the Hammersmith and Fulham borough, paid tribute to a 'lovely' man who would 'help everyone' and 'wasn't reckless'.
A Justgiving page has also been set up to raise money for a headboard of flowers, with the tribute reading: "Simon was a great friend of ours and a real light in the railway world.
"He was always smiling cheerful and would bend over backwards to help anyone.
"There's now a massive hole in our close knit community where he was.
"I want to have this memorial train in his coach that he spent hours on and I want to help ease the burden of the cost of the funeral for his parents."
'Warm, loving individual'
Simon began his railway career aged 18 as an apprentice for Southern - the train firm that operated the Gatwick Express service he was travelling on when he died.
He also volunteered at Bluebell Railway and had recently fulfilled a life-long dream by gaining a job as an engineering technician with Hitachi.
Reuben Smith told the Mirror Online: "Simon was always happy, he was that friend that always had a stupid grin on his face.
"He was always there if you needed him and saw the best in everyone. Trains were his life. He worked on the Bluebell Railway since he was a kid and that's how we met.
"I woke up to the news from friends, didn't believe it at first. It started sinking in when someone from work and someone from the Bluebell rang me to tell me. I felt awful."
In a joint statement with her boyfriend's family, she said he was 'a warm, loving individual' who had an 'unbounded passion and enthusiasm for life and all things related to trains of any kind'.
A former colleague at Southern told the Mirror Online that Simon may have looked out of the window because of his 'fascination' with trains.
The friend, who did not wish to be named, said: "He was a nice, decent bloke. I remember him starting as an apprentice.
"He wanted to buy a flat with his girlfriend, they had all these plans. He was looking forward to the future with her. He was a clever guy, he loved his trains. We're all cut up about him.
"I just can't understand why someone with his knowledge of trains would do something like this."
Yesterday, police described the incident as a tragic accident.
British Transport Police (BTP) said it does not believe the victim meant to harm himself when he suffered a 'serious head injury'.
A spokesperson said: "His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by officers.
"The man sustained serious head injuries on board a Gatwick Express train travelling to Victoria from Gatwick at around 5.30pm.
"Ambulance crews attended the scene but despite their best efforts, he sadly died a short time later."
A BTP spokeswoman said the man's death is not thought to have been a suicide, adding: "It is believed to be an accident.
"The circumstances are still being investigated."
Some reports initially claimed the man was "decapitated", but Inspector James Tyrrell from BTP denied this in a statement, saying this was not the case .
The force is still trying to determine what the man's head struck.
A Govia-Thameslink Railway spokesman said: A spokesman said: “Simon started with Southern as an engineering apprentice and worked his way up through to a technician grade.
"He was with Southern until June 2016 . He was well liked by all his colleagues and was a talented engineer with a very bright future within the rail industry.
"Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this sad time.”
Hitachi Rail Europe, with whom Simon had only recently started work, said in a statement: "Simon's death comes as a great shock to everyone and, in particular, to people who knew him and worked with him.
"Our thoughts and sincerest condolences are with his family and girlfriend. Simon joined us as a team technician at our train maintenance centre in west London in June this year and brought a clear passion for the railways to his work.
"He will be greatly missed."
