More Garden Railway Rallies - 3 meetings in only 4 days

Shortly after a very busy week described in this blog post, our members were involved in running Garden Trains on several occasions again. These times there were not the usual 'Trains & Coffee' or 'Trains & BBQ' meetings, but meetings with some sort of other purposes.

Swap Meeting at Pletten Railway

First out was Thomas who invited the public to a 'Garden Railway Swap Meet' and a running session (to set the scene) at his Garden Railway; Pletten. 

I've experienced that my Heeresfeldbahn HF130C Diesel has reduced battery capacity since I mounted the rechargeable battery 2 years ago. Ok, I've used this loco for about 13 hours the last 10 days on very wet and slippery rails or a hauling a heavy rake, both on inclines, which again is taking a toll at the running time between each recharging. -But from about 3 hours to 2 ???!!!???

-So  for this session I decided to bring my Heeresfeldbahn Diesel for another outing, but with a shorter and lighter train this time to see if the length and weight of rake in combination with steep inclines and slippery rails was causing this problems. An armed and empty goods this time, for a pick up goods close to the demarcation line are getting ready in the fiddle yard:

A nice thing with the combination of swap meeting and running session is that you can try the 'goods' before buying them. I found a heavy model of a Caterpillar tractor with rotating metal belts. I think it's been kept outside as it looks 'naturally weathered'. I tried it as a load, and found that it looked so much like a 1917 5 ton Artillery Tractor that I decided to buy it as I got a good price. So the question is to paint it and weather it, or not? Since it's loaded on a German train on the Eastern Front it's probably some captured Soviet lend - lease equipment originally from the U.S. that my empty goods train picked up this day. Now my 'empty' wasn't so light anymore:

Since this was a swap meet, did I buy anything else except for that '1917 Artillery Tractor'? I got these couple of wagons as a real bargain. They're very well used, missing some pieces here and there and awfully painted. It looks like I'm having some (Heeresfeldbahn-) projects this winter:

Thank you Elaine and Thomas for the invitation and hosting this swap meeting and running session and for your hospitality!

Did the running time improve much on the battery? It's inclines on Pletten Ry. too, but the weather and tracks were dry, and the rake not too heavy, so I'd expect running time close to 3 hours. In 2 hours and 15 minutes the battery was discharged. Luckily I have another one, so I can swap when needed. 

Running trains for a Reportage at Opsundbanen

Heine was asked by the Swedish model magazine Allt om Hobby if they could come and make a reportage and article of his Garden Railway. He was delighted and wanted to add traffic to his layout while the journalists was there, so he invited to an 'early bird' running-session. I don't think I've ever been up this early before just to run trains in a garden before. According to the fiddle yard there were many early birds this morning:

Since this 'audience' is new to it, it would be another re-appearance of my trusty Heeresfeldbahn train again. This time my Heeresfeldbahn Diesel ran flawless on only one charging for the 2+ hours of this venue:

I'll also added my Live Steam War Department locomotive to add some variation and interest. This time loaded with my newly acquired Artillery Tractor I bought 2 days earlier:

I let the editor of the magazine run my W^D train, which allowed me take some photos and videos of it while running. It takes so much concentration to run a Live Steam locomotive, so this is actually the train I have less photos and videos of whilein action:

There was actually more trains on the line that I could record them all this morning, but here are some impressions:

This Rätische Bahn work train is scratchbuilt by Arne. It has a lot of functions, just like the real thing:

The Main Character today was naturally Heine who has constructed this amazing garden railway, and keeps inviting us over for running sessions and are actively contributing to this active garden railway society:

Heine served coffee and breakfast in the garden this morning:

Thank you for inviting us over and for your warm hospitality Heine!

Running trains at Gylmer's Garden Railway during an "Open Garden" arrangment

The following day Gylmer was having a nearby 'Garden Society' over for a visit and an 'Open Garden' arrangement. This was coincidentally the same day as our regular club-meetings so Gylmer invited the members over for a running session to add traffic to his Garden Railway. One of the purposes by this arrangement was to show the members of this 'Garden Society' that trains can be added to a lovely garden just to make it even more spectacular. The weather was also lovely for running trains outside.

3 days earlier Gylmer acquired some G-scale buildings from the 'Swap Meeting' described in the first paragraph in this blogpost:

He had already serviced them and placed them on his layout ahead of the 'Open Garden' arrangement. It looked really good! Just compare these recent photos with photos from last time we visited Gylmer's Garden Railway:

Even if we've been to Gylmer's lovely Garden Railway before, I haven't made any Cabview video of it. Yet. But here it finally is, both the outer and inner circuit:

Since the outing in Heine's garden the day before, I didn't have time to unpack my trains at home (like several other members). So this was another outing with my German Heeresfeldbahn- and my British War Department trains. They were 'new' to this audience anyway. The W^D livesteam locomotive seemed popular among the spectators:

The Mallet locomotive in the foreground is actually also a German ex-Military Heeresfeldbahn locomotive. 20 were built during WW1, but all were scrapped. A 'replica' was made in 1925 and is the only one left. I wonder when Heine is going to paint his locomotive 'Grey'...

This time I kept my rake light and short and combined with that there isn't so steep inclines on Gylmer's layout, my Heeresfeldbahn Diesel was close to 3 hours of running time again. It didn't actually discharge at all during this day out.

I was so busy driving trains that I almost didn't have time to take photos or videos this time:

There were about 50 people visiting Gylmer's garden this afternoon:

It's really 'hard' to run trains in the garden, so refreshments were received with gratitude:

And it was not only the 'scale staff' our hosts cared for:

Trains & Coffee (and 'LuftwaffLe'). -And actually it turned out to be a 'Trains & BBQ' arrangement as well: 

This day was actually also the 'International Dog Day', so this is to honor our pawed friends:

This time I noticed a small scene or cameo on Gylmer's layout, reminding me of our accommodation at the small mountain farmhouse during the Grand Opening of Hummelfjellbanen in Dalsbygda. It's a prototype for every thing 🙂

Thanks for the invitation and your hospitality Gylmer. We had a great day out in your garden!

The members in our model railway club have attended 3 garden meetings and running sessions in only 4 days. -And the weather has been warm and sunny and perfect for such outdoor activities! We usually run trains no matter weather, but it's always nicer to be outside when it's hot and sunny. -We were lucky, because the day after the last running-session in this blogpost it startet to rain for a period. 

I guess these meetings was also to mark the 'Seasonal Finale' for our running sessions.

This Blogpost is dedicated to Thomas, Elaine, Heine and Gylmer who has invited us and hosted these days out. Your hospitality is warm and highly appreciated! I am grateful!! Thank you!!! 

Blog PostScript 

At the final stages of writing this blogpost there was another phenomenon that was about to trend Facebook again. This time it was AI generated images of box art from "what-if" Airfix 1/32 figure sets, never actually made. There are surely a lot of creative people out there, but there was 'one set I missed', so I decided to make a contribution my self. Too bad Airfix never made this as it would be nice to add along Z-scale and T-gauge model trains:

I tried to 'stretch this phenomenon a little further' by trying to add some contents to the suggested Airfix box of 'Garden Railway Enthusiasts':