Playing trains in church

 

As part of the Bournville Heritage Weekend, Andy Christie had organised a live steam railway in the St Francis of Assisi church, and asked me if I'd help out. It seemed like a nice chance to take a train ride, and have some fun. As a bonus, when I arrived, the Carillon was playing, something I'd not heard before. Although it's a peal of bells, the sound is quite different to that produced by bell ringers. 

The "layout" was a couple of circuits of 45mm gauge track, with connecting crossovers and a bank of sidings. By the time I arrived, everything was set up, we just needed to fuel and fire up locos, and get on with entertaining the public. 

I was a little concerned that no provision was made to protect the Parquet floor, but as this isn't the first time Andy had organised such a display, they were either not worried, or he'd got away with it in the past. As it was, apart from some slightly oily water, which was quickly mopped up once we removed the track at the end of the day, it suffered my ill effects. 

We had three locos, two radio-controlled and one manual, and three of us for most of the time. Pretty quickly, we became slick at servicing a loco, while the other two were running. A certain amount of gas and water topping up took place while running too, so for most of the day, a two-train service operated. 

The public, especially the kids, loved it. The adults always asked if they were real steam engines, and we were happy to explain how they work. Most of the time anyway, while derailments were rare, there were a couple of incidents caused by the track sliding around a bit. We'd stuck some down with tape, but more of this was required later in the day.  

By the end of the six hours we operated, all of us were tired, but the track had to be dismantled, while Andy went off to sort out some of the other bits of the event he had organised. By the time he came back, we'd created piles, ready for him to load in the car and take home. It was fun, but challenging. Next time I'll negotiate a car pass and bring along extra locos, perhaps even something a battery in it to take the pressure off. 

Of course, I'd been tempted by the promise of homemade cake, and the vegan raisin and sparkly topping was every bit as good as it looked. 

 

TINGS haul

 

TINGS might have been a work trip, and I did buy a bit for future magazine projects, but it's a toy train show, so I can't resist adding to my stash, just a little. 

For a change, it was mostly good, useful material. Sheets of Plastikard at £7 for 9. How is this stuff still in the Anorak's Anonymous feeding bins late on the second afternoon? This shows how the hobby has changed. Admittedly, this is 15 and 20 thou sheet, but still very useful, or is this just me? I did pick some 60 and 80 thou sheets up from another vendor too, as I was completely out of those.  

The electrical tester will form a rant another day I fear, so we'll move on to the Peco goods shed, which is a nice little model and puts something back in the N gauge box, which emptied a little for the last issue of BRM. 

Finally, an American Gas Station. We'd looked at this for a future mag project, or rather, I'd looked at it and thought it was a good idea, my boss was less impressed. I'm sure it could be anglicised, but I think I'll build it as a fun little diorama as is. Looking in the box, there are lots of bits, always a good sign. 

And finally, some plastic shapes from Cheltenham Model Centre. William Morris said, "Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful", and there is something childish in me that bought them because the colours make me feel happy. 

 

TINGS 2026

The International N Gauge Show is always a bit of a work trip. I'm on the lookout for layouts that will photograph well for BRM, and this year, despite being a little emptier than normal, the show delivered. I think there were 5-6 that I'd like to point a camera at properly. 

One of the highlights was Kato's "Oscar" - a tiny 009 locomotive which is very near being delivered. 

It really is tiny, with a very useful-looking chassis built around a coreless motor and brass worm gear/flywheel combination. Running was superb, and I can see a whole raft of 3D-printed bodies being produced for it. 

You know I like weird stuff; well, the Japanese layout Tsuro no Michi provided this with a CatBus on the roof of one of the buildings. 

Inspired by the CatBus, I've booked a trip to see My Neighbour Totoro on stage in London. Not what I expected to be inspired to do, by a model railway show!

And of course, cake. 6 out of 10 for the Victoria sponge. It was a little stodgy, but perfectly edible. 

I arrived as the doors opened, and left just before chucking out time. In my mind, this makes for a good day out, and excellent value for money. 

All the photos are over on Flickr.  

Saturday Film Club: Was this the Midland Railway's Most Beautiful Locomotive?

Maybe. But it's no Sea Lion is it? 

The golden fishplate

 

With Andy and Louise's BBC Gardener's World Live layout in the current issue of Garden Rail, I should show you this souvenir of the show - the Golden Fishplate. 

Laying all the track for this mammoth project took many days, but by Wednesday afternoon, a few hours before the judges were due to arrive, Andy finally connected up the last bit of the circuit. With a clean fishplate, the golden (OK, brass) one. We all cheered, and then went back to work. 

At the end of the show, we pulled the tracks apart as quickly as possible. There was a lot to dismantle, and while LGB stuff will stand up to abuse, it's probably not going to like having real railway sleepers dropped on it. 

We stripped the layout in an hour, and at this point, I found myself presented with the section fitted with the Golden Fishplate. 

I'm not sure what to do with this next - maybe put it in a frame of some sort as a reminder of a very special event. It's touching that Andy decided to hand it to me. After a couple of days of hard playing trains, it was very welcome!