Having a quick tug in the middle of the town...

I drove a train!

The train in question is James Finister's Tug, running on Steve Purves's There and Back Light Railway. The line had been laid at the top of the Parade, in Leamington Spa. A message on Facebook made me drop what I was doing, and head into town to see it. 

On arrival, Steve was running trips up and down the line, then it rained, and the crowd hid. The sun came back out and Steve offered me a drive without passengers to drum up interest again. I'm not that big on driving trains oddly enough, but having had a go on his Scamp some time ago, the larger Tug looked like it should be simple enough. 

And indeed, it was. The basic Pheonix loco has been fitted with a tramway type controller that is really lovely to use. I'm told this is about a third of the price of the loco - but it's worth every penny. The handles feel properly chunky, and it is just like driving a real tram. 

Despite being electric rather than diesel, the loco has plenty of grunt for a couple of bogie coaches. The route here includes a low speed bump, which you don't even notice. The whole thing is smooth and easy to use. Even a novice driver like me finds it easy, especially as the conrol acts and a brake when you notch back. After a couple of attempts, I felt in charge, in a good way, when I reached the end of the track.

For big, fat blokes, Tug is a much nicer drive than Scamp. You sit in it like a proper narrow gauge engine, rather than perching on top. In fact it looks like a proper NG engine. And would make a nice model. Mind you, with the price being similar to one of the better 16mm scale live steam engines, I can see the appeal of owning the real thing!