Ruritanian Railways - 2011

[whatlep]

Many enthusiasts were relieved to see the hoppers back in service, following yesterday's "near miss":

The special train reached as far as the border and, after a photographic Mallet run-round, was stabled on the goods shed siding for a slap-up Ruritanian national meal of pork scratchings, black pudding and mustard, washed down with lashings of ginger beer:

A final photgraphic session followed, before the train returned to Zenda. Happiness is Mallet shaped!

Ruritanian Railways, where customer service means that little extra!

 

[yb281]

Did the enthusiasts visiting the invisible ballast crusher have to wear invisible bump hats??

Brilliant pics Peter .






BUT ............. ginger beer????????........... ginger beer?????? YUK!!!!!!!!!!! :wits::wits:

 

[flyingsignalman]

First unusual stop was the invisible ballast terminal, where the enthusiasts were invited to observe the process of crushing invisible boulders:

I bet the visiting enthusiasts said they'd never seen anything............




........so amazing

 

[owlpool]

impressive pics, esp the pootank hurtle

bit worried about the invisible ballast crusher, though

:crying::holdon:

 

[annieshalt]

you just got to admire this mans taste in locos. not one , not two, but three lovely mallets.:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:

 

[Neil Robinson]

impressive pics, esp the pootank hurtle

bit worried about the invisible ballast crusher, though

:crying::holdon:

I'm surprised that "The Crack Express" doesn't get stopped and searched at the border for "certain substances"!

 

[whatlep]

you just got to admire this mans taste in locos. not one , not two, but three lovely mallets.:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:

Thank you, but you've undercounted.....

 

[New Haven Neil]

Lovely stuff, Tiggs!!! I'd love to have a bash at Pootank with one of my steamies!

 

[Nemo]

Nice, Nice, Nice and very Nice, I've only got the one Mallett....:crying: at the Moment...

 

[steve parberry]

you just got to admire this mans taste in locos. not one , not two, but three lovely mallets.:crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying::crying:

Thank you, but you've undercounted.....

Why i did see four... Thats just being [strike]Greedy[/strike] very foutunate

 

[owlpool]

impressive pics, esp the pootank hurtle

bit worried about the invisible ballast crusher, though

:crying::holdon:

I'm surprised that "The Crack Express" doesn't get stopped and searched at the border for "certain substances"!

crack and poo go so well together
stopping at the border reminds me of a certain reluctant turtle

 

[whatlep]

Lovely stuff, Tiggs!!! I'd love to have a bash at Pootank with one of my steamies!

You're welcome any time! The Pass is the supreme test of locomotive ability. Just ask 3Valve......

 

[trammayo]

Nice pics (and locos!) - no Euro bale-out needed for Ruritania then?

 

[whatlep]

Nice pics (and locos!) - no Euro bale-out needed for Ruritania then?

Ruritania is not in the Euro and does not seek EU membership (we prefer our own debts, not someone else's, thank you), though we are members of EFTA.
Our currency is the (Austro-Hungarian) Crown. HSH Prince Rudolf's froebears saw no reason to change simply because the empire disappeared.

 

[Westcott]

HSH Prince Rudolf's froebears

Is that the Ruritanian version of the Swiss bear?

 

[whatlep]

Ruritania held a national Open Day today. Many and varied distinguished guests were present. There were also several members of GSC.

Dave's wedding present (to himself, for the ceremony in July!) looked very much at home in charge of The Ruritanian express:

Pootank Pass was managed, but only if the amps were kept down. Seems a Massoth L chip gets overloaded at more than half speed with 6 coaches on a 1 in 20 (5%) slope!

No such problems with Westcott's immaculate Pennsy A-B-B-A set. What a splendid train!

Somewhat more diminutive American outline power from Bram with his battery powered cutie, substituting for WGLR steam power. I like it lots!

 

[whatlep]

Gareth (3valve) has had some very bad experiences with locos on Pootank Pass, but we don't want to remind him of those here. See them on Youtube or last year's Ruritanian Railways thread instead.

Happily, his 2091 diesel has been in the workshops over the winter and had its skates removed. This simple change meant it could haul 5 heavy LGB 307x coaches with no problems at all. Result!

Unhappily, ambition got the better of judgement and the Corpet - though looking drop-dead gorgeous - had to be rescued from the bottom of Pootank Pass after trying to return this rather natty rake of coaches to Zenda:

Finally, a photo of Bram's sublime "Frank S in black". Modified to be battery powered, with batteries, Cliff Barker receiver and weight added to the (motorised) tender, plus a motor in the loco too. Effortless haulage and damn pretty too. I want one!

Ruritanian Railways thanks all those who visited. It was, as always, a true pleasure to see the various locos and stock and have a good natter about trains. The intention is to have another Open Day later in the year - probably September.

 

[jameshilton]

Looks like you had fun today!

 

[Bram]

Many thanks for a fun day and your hospitality Peter, much appreciated

 

[Steve]

Brillaint Pics , very suprised moving the skates has made so much diffrence.