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Visits to other railways

Out and about with the HLR. Just goes to show how sociable these 16mm folk are!

Rummaging about in the archives, I found a few pictures of these ‘meets’ to be going on with.
(* indicates that there is a slide show link from the entry.)

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Brookwood & Amberley - Peter Elliott

20 July 2003

Peter Elliott lives “just round the corner”. His 45mm gauge railway has been in existence for quite some while now, but in the last couple of years he's added an extension down the side of the garden to a new terminus. Despite its close proximity, it's a while since I visited the railway. So Tin-Tacks visited in July and had a good time. But here are some pictures of Peter's Roundhouse ‘Bertie’, which he got at Stoneleigh back in 2000, but hadn't run very often.

Left: ‘Bertie’ had a few cobwebs, so to speak, and we had some fun getting him going again. But here he is - steam at last.
Right: Once he got going, ‘Bertie’ did well. Here, with a short train of Mamod stock. Battery powered J.D. Models Sir Theodore of Glyn Valley Tramway fame lurks behind the ivy.

Left: A quick wipe with the oily rag (or is that a handkerchief?) by Peter, and ‘Bertie’ is off again. The girder bridge is there for the benfit of the lawnmower, but looks rather fine all the same.


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19 June 2004

This was something of an ‘unofficial’ visit. We were actualy celebrating a mutual friend's birthday, but Tim decided to take his tram engine, Barney, along to keep himself amused amidst the ‘grown up’ conversation.

Left: From the real Brookwood station on the ex-LSWR Woking to Basingstoke line. Apparently, a friend of Peter's in the 1960s noticed that they were replacing the signs at Brookwood, so they gave the foreman half-a-crown (2/6 in real money, or 121/2p if you're under 40ish!), and each returned home with one of the old signs! The inset picture of Brookwood station was taken a little before then, in 1952.
Right: When Peter built an extension from the main circuit to a terminus at Amberley, he created a run-round by using a turntable. It's cunningly made from an old tea tray and the turntable, pivoted on a large bolt, simply bears on the rim of the tray. It's pretty obvious from this picture that Barney still needs a boiler to hide all those bits of wire and other gubbins. Now Tim's GCSEs are out of the way, perhaps he'll get round to it!

Left: Barney poses for the camera on the girder bridge.
Right: The Playmobil® ‘Express’ in this picture seems pretty indestructible and was enjoyed by the (much) younger generation, until the batteries eventually ran out. Forest, the diesel-outline engine in the foreground, was made quite a few years ago by Peter's son (also called Tim) as a school metalwork project.


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Chidham Light Railway - Keith Brown

28 December 2003

An invite from Keith Brown meant that a visit to the Chidham Light Railway was something to look forward to during the Christmas break, although given the weather over Christmas, it nearly didn't happen. Nevertheless, the 28th was bright, if chilly. My wife decided to get some fresh air too, so together it didn't take us long to find Keith's house where a good time was had by the select band who had braved the cold. Thanks, Keith, for the opportunity to run on some different rails.

Left: Keith, our host (with runny nose and toilet roll in pocket!), prepares to take a picture of Richard Seager's Lord William while its owner looks on.
Right: Tin-Tacks steams past the water tower on the Chidham Light Railway in the wintry sun with a short mixed train; goods wagons to the fore; to keep oily steam off the newly painted coaches!

Left: Keith's Accucraft ‘Excelsior’ Brownie, waits patiently in the passing loop at Quarry Side Station.
Right: Another of Keith's visitors that day was Sean Cullen, who brought along his ‘Yak’, a product of Colin Binnie's workshops. A splendid beast!


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28 December 2004

[There is a slide show of this visit.]

A year to the day and I find myself running trains on Chidham metals once again. A cold bright day meant that Edward Pease, the HLR's visiting loco, took ages to get up steam, but produced very satisfying (and photogenic) clouds of steam. Thanks, Keith, for your hospitality, once again.

Left: Keith's PPS De Winton, named after his good lady, Tracey. The picture also shows one of the rather nice carriages from Perfect World, which seems to be a preferred supplier to the CLR these days.
Right: Edward Pease, looked good at the head of the mixed train of I.P. Engineering “Lollypop Farm” stock that accompanied it.


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Little Corris Railway - Bob Petch

26 August 2002

Bob Petch's open day in 2002 was a busy time, with lots of activity on his superb line. I tagged along with Tony Lee and had a good day out with Tin-Tacks, running on Bob's superbly modelled line in their lovely garden. I guess this must have been my first ‘official’ garden rail open day.

Left: Bob's Earl of Dulas arrives at Pont Dulas station on the Little Corris Railway. Bob is obviously as taken with the buildings produced by Off the Rails as I am.
Right: Tony Lee's ‘Countess’ (named Virginia) from Pearse Locomotives Ltd leaves Pont Dulas station with a train of W&LLR mineral wagons.

Left: A quiet moment in a busy day. Slate working on the Little Corris Railway.
Right: Tin-Tacks heads round the bay pulling the HLR's one and only goods wagon (at the time) and a couple of Welsh Highland coaches, courtesy of Tony Lee.


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31 May 2004

[There is a slide show of this visit.]

Bob's open day in 2004 seemed to be doomed; the weather forcast was foul. But the Met. Office got the timing wrong, and Bank Holiday Monday was dry until late in the afternoon. Bob had been up since the early hours getting everything ‘just so’, and when Tim and I arrived at about mid-day, the Little Corris was looking superb.

We were almost the first to arrive; only Paul Smith had beaten us to it. While he was busy getting up steam, Tim gave Barney, his new tram engine a run. It behaved well, plenty of power and no sign of batteries running out by the time he retired to let Tin-Tacks take over. By this time there were plenty of other engines in Bob's new MP depot and a busy service ran for the rest of the day.

Just a couple of pictures here; lots more in the slide show.

Left: Tim's new tram, Barney departs Pont Dulas station on the Little Corris Railway.
Right: Bob's new loco depot was well used throughout the day by a whole variety of engines. At the front, Tin-Tacks cools down after a long run.


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Whitchurch & Litchfield Light Railway - Tony Lee

The W&LLR (the one in Hampshire, that is!) is a wonderful railway in a lovely garden. It's a privilage to be able to visit Tony fairly regularly and be able to let my locos stretch their legs. The first couple of pictures were taken on one of these occasions. After that, are some pictures taken one day in the summer of 2003 when Tony invited a few people to come and ‘play trains’.

Left: Tony's ‘Countess’ (named Virginia) from Pearse Locomotives Ltd passes Tin-Tacks at Larksbarrow station pulling a superb rake of W&LLR (the other one!) coaches. Tony uses JigStones for most of his buildings with individual card slates generously soaked in wood preserver before being stuck down. The results look superb.
Right: The Gaunless with a short mixed train passes the standing stones on W&LLR.


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26 August 2002

Left: Tin-Tacks passes through Tofton station. This was Tony's first venture away from JigStones. The station building here is from Off the Rails.
Right: Back at Larksbarrow station, Bob Petch's Earl of Dulas with goods train waits while Tin-Tacks heads through (with section token hanging in rather cavalier fashion from the cab handrail).

Left: Visiting Roundhouse Darjeeling ‘B’ Class with rake of rather fine Talyllyn Railway coaches.
Right: The same Darjeeling ‘B’ Class passes Paul Smith's Accucraft ‘Superior’ with a string of tippers.

Left: Paul's ‘Superior’ with tippers in ‘open country’. This view gives just a small idea of the superb setting for the W&LLR.