Playing trains in Bournville

 

The weather looked mixed, but a group of us decended on Andy Christie's 45mm gauge railway to play trains and entertain the visitors to his Open Garden. 

The line itself has expanded since I last visited, a couple of years ago. There's a lengthy continuous run, rather than a U shape, so we could let the locos do their thing - often with three trains following each other around. 

I'd taken along the Peckett and Ragleth. One is very pretty, and the other has radio control, which turned out to be very handy on congested tracks. 

Sadly, thanks to some buffer-locking, the Peckett took a tumble, resulting in a little chipped paint. Nothing terminal, and she was running again later in the day. 

I also had the chance to try a live steam Accucraft 'Mannin' (and see the 'Peveril' above) which was interesting. My IOM locos are electric, partly because I wasn't convinced I'd enjoy steam versions. As it was, this one was interesting to run, those big wheels mean she rattles along at a fair old rate. 

Obvioulsy there was cake, and very nice it was too. As you can tell from the photo, there was also rain. For about 40 minutes, it hammered down - not ideal when you have a loco in steam! After the shower, I restarted running with my IP Engineering railcar. Not the best run as the rails were greasy, and wet plants hang down more, getting in the way!

When the sun was out though, it was a fantastic time and much appreciated by those visitors there to see the garden.