Saturday was Steam and Industry Trains day down at Apedale - an opportunity for some of the lesser-spotted diesels to stretch their legs on the mainline with a freight train. The inevitable star of this event was the newly-restored Hudswell Clarke diesel, in its gleaming paintwork. Unfortunately, this particular star was rather shortlived due to a fractured coolant elbow leading to a loss of coolant from the engine and a loss of happiness for the driver. No serious harm done, and hopefully a simple repair. The loco was stabled in the yard with the doors open in a rather ungainly fashion. Comparisons to
VTOL F35s were made but it can be confirmed that the Hudswell cannot take off vertically, no matter how hard it flaps the doors. Something to do with thrust/weight ratio, apparently. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the yard, frenetic preparations were being made for a loco and wagon (two wagons, actually) to attend the
War & Peace Revival mega-event at Folkestone next weekend. Perhaps inevitably, this is a bit of a curtain raiser to our own
Tracks to the Trenches event in September. The lorry will, hopefully, return with the first of the visiting locos for the September event. The second wagon is just visible insider the large "D" class; it's a water carrying wagon, mounted with a rather splendid barrel. The barrel has an "interesting" aroma, variously described as Vimto or Vintage Port. The descriptions clearly indicate the various social strata from which the Trust draws its membership. As ever, get in touch
here, and if you ask nicely, we'll let you Sniff the Barrel.
