We had a very good turnout tonight, a dozen or so paying members.  Good to see Paul back from Japan – with a suitcase of new Japanese goodies, including more bullet trains and Kato Uni-track.  Also Sean and Martin – Martin enjoying his last day of paternity leave before getting back into the cab of his Eddie Stobart truck.

Amongst trains running were Derek’s departmental stock with a research laboratory rake.  The red and blue livery of these trains always looked very smart.  He did have a little trouble with a yellow Railtrack bogie mega-box wagon.  It seemed to stop all trains moving when on the track, and turned out to have one wheel set that was uninsulated on both sides, shorting everything out.  Back to 3-rail, I suppose!

I had invested in a Dapol Class 26 diesel, a bargain on their web-site, and a rake of Blue Spot fish vans for it to pull.  The Class 26 ran very smoothly out of the box, with a little lubrication, and the train looked good, with a Stove 6-wheeler at the front to carry the kippers.

We also had time to talk exhibitions, and Paula kindly dropped in to discuss the catering.  It should be up to the usual standard – as long as we keep serving real coffee, we’ll be OK!