9th May

Today's engine was the Little Ruston. But despite the fine weather in the afternoon, there were not many passengers about. However, it did the Ruston good to run all afternoon and its exhaust was nice and clear by the end of it.

With long waits at the Abbey station, I had chance to mess about with my camera and take some 'artistic' pictures of the train out of focus with some of the wild flowers in the foreground. Probably a bit amateurish if your a professional photographer, but they still look quite nice.

This picture was taken from on top of the sleuce gate at the top of the mill race next to the Abbey station. It is a view not often enjoyed by us volunteers.

The scrap drive also continues, unfortunately with the scrapping of some sort-of historic items today. Druid's original cab has been cut up for scrap, along with some Fordson tractor parts. It does seem a shame, but when nobody wants to buy these things (and they have been offered for sale many times) the options are either leave them and risk having them stolen, or weigh them in ourselves for scrap and make money from it, so we have done the lesser of two evils. Them money raised from all this scrap is going back into the railway anyway in the form of parts for the O&K and Muir Hill.