After having been in Berlin for the biannual railway exhibition Innotrans, I spent time working in my Trondheim office and then went straight to four full days of narrow gauge impressions at the 34. Internationales Feldbahnertreffen in the United Kingdom. The major annual event for vintage narrow gauge industrial railway enthusiasts was hosted by Moseley Railway Trust in Apedale not far from Manchester. Other railways provided support and co-hosted the event.
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| Moseley loco 29 'Vanguard' (Ruston & Hornsby 195846/1939) on the brick tip at Apedale with a train of skips. Just one of many trains running during the four day event. |
As usual the event had four days filled with networking, presentations, train rides and visits to usually off limits workshops and storage buildings. All host railways provided plenty of trains, steam, petrol and diesel traction. The weather ranged from very good to decent with very little rain and few clouds (except from the ones made of steam or unburned coal and diesel!). The main host was the Moseley Railway Trust with the West Lancashire Light Railway, Statfold Barn Railway and Amerton Railway supporting the event with an extraordinary amount of traffic, locomotives and friendly volunteers.
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| 'Sybil' (Bagnall 1760/1906) arriving with a passenger train at the main station. |
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| Something I really like: A diesel locomotive shunting skips. Here it is WLLR 36 (Ruston & Hornsby 339105/1939). |
As most of the participating enthusiasts are practical people, themselves keeping alive narrow gauge railways, a lot of inspiration is shared. Tips on track building are passed on, a wish for measurements on a particular flywheel is noted and a lot of shoulders padded for the latest achievements on the home railway. Apart from the networking a lot of train riding on the host society’s railway is on the programme.
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| In typical English landscape and autumn light is Statfold loco 'Howard' (Hunslet 1842/1936) waiting to take a full load of European enthusiasts to Statfold main station from Oak Tree Halt. |
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| Statfold loco 'Sybil Mary' (Hunslet 921/1906) being readied for service. |
As usual the event provided a good view into other organisations' methods, collections, track equipment and volunteer base. I made several observations that may be useful on the vintage railway where I volunteer myself. As a modeller I also saw things that I can probably use on Nystrup Gravel and some ideas have begun to develop in the back of my head.
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| Going up hill at Apedale is loco 102 (Simplex 60SD754/1980) with a vigilant crew. |
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| It's morning and a bit chilly, but the three steam locos are hot. They are no. 9 (Hudswell Clarke 1238/1916, 'Jennie' (Hunslet (Statfold) 3906/2006) and 303 (Hunslet 1215/1916). To the left is Moseley loco 104 (Ruston & Hornsby 19287/1940). |
Apart from inspiration and 850 images on the camera's memory card, I brought home some self-quarried coal from the upper Apedale seam and books enough to completely overwhelm my rucksack. It was with a heavy burden on my shoulders that I left the 34. Internationales Feldbahnertreffen and the United Kingdom!
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| Amerton 746 (40SD501/1975) passing the railway's signature tree before reaching the main station on the line. |
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| ‘Lorna Doone’ (Kerr Stuart 4250/1922) with a passenger train passing a small lake. |
In the coming months I'll probably be burdened a little less on my work and no travelling is planned for the next month. That should leave a little more time for modelling than this past month. I will be working on figures and the Baguley-Drewry. Just so you know what to expect.
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| Most of the participants assempled for the traditional group photo. |
