Wednesday 24 August 2016

Bressingham

Bressingham has been on my to do list for a very long time. OK, most things have. I've never visited before because it has always seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, but then that is where we have moved to so it makes sense to it now it is, if not on the doorstep, at least within easy travelling distance. So the East Anglian Garden Railway Show provided an excellent excuse to pop over.

I'm extremely glad we did, since we had an extremely enjoyable day.

My kind of railway scene

The Nursery line was a bit of a disappointment to travel on, but is very picturesque on the sections within the main site 

Who can resist taking a photo of the horses on the gallopers? There is something so magical about them. 

Chevalier is rarely modelled in 16mm but it has a certain charm. A large number of the layouts were scenically much improved on  the 16mm layouts you used to see at shows, but still let down by silly thingd

I can't remember any details of this small 7mm layout. It struck me the other day that though I've no compulsion to model in the scale, at least for standard gauge, it does produce some very photogenic scenes.

I'm a sucker for a wing tank/inverted saddle tank

Who is watching who? Once again Issy was entranced by Timpdon.

Early trips to R&ER, Dudley Zoo and Fairbourne have made me a sucker for  15" gauge mainline diesels

The Waveney Valley really needs a loco like Rosenkavalier but is still an excellent trip. The newish 7 1/4" line is obviously not very exciting for drivers.

Exmoor locos are sometimes excellent , and sometimes a bit, well, unattractive. And I think this falls into the latter group

The Gardens at Bressingham remain impressive and inspiring, if slightly dated

Good news is that this standard gauge Garratt might soon be restored to steam

A highlight of the day was seeing Martello in operation

Oh yes, and the cafe.... it might not be slick but it has that old fashioned greasy spoon charm




4 comments:

  1. Garratt restored? Tell me more!

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  2. It was in a recent issue of either Heritage Railways or Railway Magazine.

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  3. Great photos and that looks like a fascinating visit...somewhere I have always wanted to go and have a look at, esp with the narrow gauge and the "Royal Scot" (or has that gone now?) The "garden" aspect of it really turns me off though, as I have a pathological hatred of flowers of any sort (and I am not joking). Good news about the restoration of the Garrat, that will be exciting!

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    Replies
    1. The Royal Scot is back on the mainline. Bressingham got/gets some stick for the stuffed and mounted locos, but at the end of the day Alan Bloom's vision has helped protect several key locos. Gardens are useful for putting railways into.

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