Midland Meanderings
Entry posted by 2mm Andy
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The weekend began at an ungodly hour on Saturday morning - I was helping on the 2mm Scale Association stand at the International N Gauge Show, and it meant getting up early in time to set up the stand before the show opened. This is the first time I've been to this exhibition, and it was well worth the 2.5 hour journey from York. I took the shunting plank layout (which had been wired up the night before!) and had a class 24 running up and down 6 inches of track (I had to chose between the wiring and making the point blades, so the only bit of track available was the siding) most of the day. In between playing trains and talking to the visitors, I managed to get a wagon part-assembled (and then found that the chassis I'd made didn't fit the body!) It was nice to see a few friends from RMWeb at the exhibition.
Apart from admiring the latest releases from the likes of Farish and Dapol, a few new goodies from the smaller manufacturers came home with me. Nick Tilston of N Brass Loco had some Ross Pop Safety Valves available - just the things to replace the cast mazak "stumps" on the Jinty. He also had a turned brass air reservoir which looks as though it will fit on either the 04 shunter or the 02, so one of those was duly acquired.
On my way back to York on Sunday I paid a visit to the Midland Railway Centre. It's been a few years since my last visit here, and some impressive progress had been made since then on a number of fronts. The Midland-style station at Swanwick Junction is almost complete, with the main building now weathertight and the footbridge just waiting for it's staircases. Some approaching stormclouds made for a rather nice photo.
In the museum, the rake of private owner wagons had grown with this impressive example of restoration.
At Butterley station I found a Blue Pullman!
This is one of the saddest sights I have seen for some time on a preserved railway. This is one of the original Pullman coaches that were shipped across from America in the 1870s to run on the Midland Railway . Looking at the state of the roof and bodysides, I doubt if restoration of this coach is still possible, and I wonder how long it will be before the whole thing collapses. It's neighbour (which I didn't photograph) is in slightly better condition, and a third is in the museum at Swanwick, also in unrestored condition (but at least it's under cover).
Having booked the week off work, I'm off for a few days walking/sightseeing in North Wales tomorrow - hopefully to sample the delights of the Welsh Highland and/or the Ffestiniog railways. I may even find some time to fit in a bit of modelling in the evenings!
Andy
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