5th June 2010 James (midwalesstokie), Philip (Railwayman 198)
A beautiful day for a visit, spent the afternoon in the garden with 4 in steam up and down the Highland extension, full use of passing loops and run-arounds
Thanks for coming, a great excuse to get out in the garden and play
James' excellent Cheddar Hercules, powerful and a long-runner
At the half way station passing loop, passing Buzzard (katie) leaving in the other direction
the more asute amongst you will notice that a lot of improvements have been made to embankments and cuttings using recycled slate [from N Wales] , in various guises, from when we had our roof re-done
Hercules arriving at the top station where Russell has already run around its train ready for the trip down
Philip's impressive Gunga Din going through the horseshoe bends
there's still a lot of landscaping to do
Past an area of completed scenery, albeit modified by the moles
Hercules letting off steam under the bridge
the whistle is under the tender
A heavy load downhill on the 1:33, Russell in the background at the top station with a W&L style timber train
Phil and James please feel free to add your pics here if you so wish
O.k. Paul I'll move my pics from the 'Saturday' page to here. The only snap I took of the original flat section of the line was this one which could double as a 'spot the legs' competition,
Then there was an overhead view of the nicely challenging hill - I can't wait for the summit section to be completed...
Charlie working out the options to avoid a collision on the spiral
And a shot of James' Hercules drifting downhill, looking very handsome
Thanks again to you and your family for a great day out.
A couple from me. Here's the view from Hercules at the top to Paul at the bottom
Philip's beautiful Gunga Din
Russell running as an 0-6-2 as Paul tries to recreate it's last days in Dorset (actually the bolt had come loose and they pont truck had fallen off!)
It's a fantastic line and one that you have to drive, you can't relax, especially with four trains heading up and down the hill!