The first ever Big Trains, Little Trains weekend was a resounding success, blessed with warm sunshine and a steady stream of visitors. The first day, saw hundreds of people coming through the gates to enjoy the model railway exhibition and rides on both railways. The Gunpowder Railway ran five trains, practically full on every trip and the mini-railway ran 28 trips up and down!
The team worked tirelessly to set up the displays, uncover wagons, and top up fuel tanks for the locomotives. The Railway Works tours proved popular, with five groups taking part and offering enthusiastic feedback. Behind the scenes some of the routine maintenance was able to continue with mechanical work continued on the Wickham trolley, painting began on the 18inch hand-propelled powder wagon along with new roof panels being fitted and covered in cotton fabric. A new driver was introduced to Tinkabell (and we then struggled to get them off the locomotive and back to work as they were having too much fun), meanwhile efforts to clean detritus from the diesel tank continued. In the main exhibition area, model railways showcased the “little trains” side of the event, and the traction engine Peggy drew crowds eager to learn about steam tractor power.
The second day saw even more visitors, with five trains again running at completely full capacity and similarly busy on the mini-railway too until a derailment late in the day drew proceedings to and early halt. The Gunpowder Mills management expressed delight at the turnout and are already planning next year’s event to be even bigger and better. As with everything its not quite right the first time and as the days progressed some changes could be identified for the future.
It was a weekend of hard work, enthusiasm, and teamwork. An impressive showcase of both big and little trains that left everyone proud of what had been achieved. If you would like to join the team please do consider volunteering with us.
Also, reminder to all tickets are Season Tickets even those from the Big Trains Little Trains event – meaning you are most welcome to come back EVERY weekend until the end of September (do check which Sundays the Gunpowder Railway is running on our operating timetable) to ride the trains, enjoy the tractor tour and see the rest of the museum – and maybe even spot some of our deer herd.
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