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The Luscombe Valley Railway, a 5" gauge line in Sandbanks, Poole had their Christmas open day today (in aid of Julia's House). My sister recommended it (they visited in the summer), so we took the little ones & met up with them. Now this is very much the serious end of garden railways, real engineering rather than modelling (though I tend to think that my 16mm stuff is somewhere in-between). Very impressive though, quite a number of routes; computer signalled throughout, & a fair bit of civil engineering / earthworks to achieve a level run on a sloping site. I think it made my family realise my line is fairly 'low impact' on the garden by comparison!
They were very busy today, with half-hour queues for a ride. There were something like half-a-dozen locos running; mostly diesel-outline electric, but there were two live steam locos running. We had an enjoyable run hauled by a class 59 diesel-electric. We look forward to going back to the next summer open-day - recommended!
A crisp & clear winters' day today, so finally a chance for some running after all this rain. Mortimer was chosen, as apart from anything else, with the single fill system you can just set her running & pretty much let her get on with it (and with a little one toddling around the garden, this makes life somewhat easier). After raising steam & clearing the cylinders, she set off running light at a nice steady pace. It was lovely to just stand back & watch her gently run round the circuit, and with a nice plume of steam in the cold air - magic! Although I've only run her maybe half a dozen times, I am finding her very consistent and enjoyable to run.The bridge arrived from the eBay seller; well packaged but still a little bent, but fortunately easily bent back. It is very nicely put together so I'm looking forward to installing when I get time.
Yet another wet weekend; no chance of running today, and the yahoo weather widget on my desktop suggests no chance tomorrow either. Some good news though; I won a small aluminium bridge on eBay yesterday, which should look good on the single track beyond the triangular junction. Here's hoping for some dryer weather so I can get it installed once it arrives.
Well, no narrow guage or model live steam this weekend, but instead, the full monty! We boarded a Steam Dreams charter from London (OK, Staines) to Bath as a (slightly belated) celebration of our first wedding anniversary! The 11 coach train was hauled by A4 no. 60009, Union of South Africa (sister to record breaking Mallard), and what a fantastic sight she was too. Of course, as far as my daughter was concerned, UoSA was in fact Spencer from Thomas and Friends. We had a chance to admire her from the platform at the watering stop at Newbury, which was pretty busy. Whilst taking the photo above, the safety valve lifted,which was one the loudest sounds I have ever heard (and I'm no slouch behind a set of drums - this was CHUFFING LOUD). I only wish we could have seen her running at full tilt from the trackside; must have been an impressive sight!
Bath was characteristically soggy, and absolutely heaving with Christmas shoppers. Fortunately we had a nice meal before our return trip in the dark! The Steam Dreams stewards were great, and despite some hassles getting on & off the coaching stock with our buggy, a good time was had by all, large & small. Jane sold this week, meeting her original reserve :-) She's been parcelled up & sent to her new owner, who I hope will have lots of fun.
The Luscombe Valley Railway, a 5" gauge line in Sandbanks, Poole had their Christmas open day today (in aid of Julia's House). My sister recommended it (they visited in the summer), so we took the little ones & met up with them. Now this is very much the serious end of garden railways, real engineering rather than modelling (though I tend to think that my 16mm stuff is somewhere in-between). Very impressive though, quite a number of routes; computer signalled throughout, & a fair bit of civil engineering / earthworks to achieve a level run on a sloping site. I think it made my family realise my line is fairly 'low impact' on the garden by comparison! 
They were very busy today, with half-hour queues for a ride. There were something like half-a-dozen locos running; mostly diesel-outline electric, but there were two live steam locos running. We had an enjoyable run hauled by a class 59 diesel-electric. We look forward to going back to the next summer open-day - recommended!
