A (cold) Day Out

It's been a while since I've been running any trains in any gardens lately. My friends and fellow model railway club members have arranged a couple of outings this autumn, but I haven't been able to attend to them due to work. It's been so long so I've actually start missing it. So when Heine invited to a running-session last weekend, which was off work because he knows my working hours, I was delighted and in off course. He warned to us to dress to something suitable for a wet and muddy ground as it's been raining here for 3 weeks. 

When I woke up it was cold, and the wet ground had frozen hard. I'm quite not sure if this was the last autumn running session, or the first winter running session as there was 4°C below and the ground was frosty and the tracks icey. 

Luckily Heine can de-ice large parts of his layout  with 'ice remover'...

...in a custom built de-icer tank wagon which deposits de-icer from the tank to the tracks through the pads. A very clever design:

So today's first train was a short de-icer train:

Thereafter the others were ready to run their trains. This engine made it's maiden voyage and first outing:

Another charming short LGB-train:

Heine's Harz Bahn rake:

One member also brought his Märklin Gauge 1 models (1:32) which also runs on 45mm gauge:

I brought 2 trains to this day out. One of them was my 1:19 scale German military Heeresfeldbahn train. I ran it with various numbers of wagons at various times throughout the day due to the weight and some inclines were slippery due to ice in the beginning, but not anymore when the temperature was rising:

The second train I brought this day was my 16mm Sm45 British War Department live steam engine. It's so heavy that it wouldn't experience any problems with slippery rails. A nice thing with running live steam in cold weather is that the steam/ smoke gets very visible. It takes so much attention to drive this train that I don't manage to take many photos of it while running. And no videos:

Ice in the turnouts could cause derailments...

...and ice on the track traffic jams in the inclines:

So it was just to 'Keep Calm' and enjoy a cup of coffee in the meanwhile:

It was not BBQ season now, but due to the cold weather Heine lit the fire-pit in the background:

-And added hotdogs to it (!):

The generous hosts and Chef himself, Heine:

A lot of people visitied Heine's garden today, both train operators and visitors. It looked like all enjoyed themselves.

Thank for your invitation and hospitality Heine!

So, when is our next day out? It's not decided but the forecast for next week says snow. Perhaps I should start preparing a rake for winter (-warfare)?

Blog PostScript 

When browsing Facebook or online newspapers different adds the advertisers think I'm a potential customer for keeps rolling over the site. They couldn't be more wrong. The last one I read I actually consider as totally unrealistic and 'How NOT to build an army for wargaming'!!

Just to get an idea, this price equals to £ 1703,50, $ 2240,74 or € 1925,11.

And that's for a single figure on 'black week' sales!!