Moreton Pit Light Railway

Yes, it’s been raining almost non-stop for a fortnight and Mr and Mrs (not so) Fat Controller were starting to worry whether the Open Day would happen at all!  The cakes were being made, the extra supplies got in and still it was raining.  Until on Sunday morning the sun broke through those clouds and didn’t stop shining until it went down about 9 o’clock in the evening!  What a day we had.

We had 4 visiting locos and what a lovely time they all seemed to have!  Here’s Thunderbolt (Roundhouse Lady Ann) just arriving at the Moreton Pit Station and what a lovely crowd it had to greet it too!

Not long after, came along ‘Esme’ (Roundhouse Katie) with a fine set of carriages!  Mrs (not so) Fat Controller really took to these.  She liked the colour scheme very much!

Here she is dropping off some passengers at Lavender Hill Halt.

Quite a crowd was starting to gather at Lavender Hill Halt so we went to investigate….

We might have guessed that the Adderbolt Morris Men would appear on a lovely day like this.  Looks like they were having a jolly time too.  I think we will see a lot of them this summer!  But, it wasn’t just passenger trains visiting the MPLR.  There soon was a very unusual sight on this railway.

This lovely diesel had no problems with the MPLR’s tight curves and undulating track! Sorry , never got a name!

Then came a loco close to the Fat Controllers hearts, a Regner Konrad.  They are always a jolly sight!  Here it is snapped at Chafford Gorge.

And again, just passing Moreton Pit Station.

So, just for your pleasure here are a few more photos taken on the day …….

Let’s just see those lovely carriages again…

Well, it wasn’t just about enjoying ourselves (which of course we did), but also the MPLR decided that it would be a good idea to collect for a charity, which we did last year for the RNLI.  This year we collected for Guide Dogs.

So the MPLR would like to thank all those who came along on the day and donated to such a fine cause.  Many people did not realise that our dog Inca is Mr Fat Controller’s own guide dog and that Mr F Controller is a fully qualified guide dog owner.  So here is Inca in his working harness.

We thought we would show you this photo below but we decided it probably wouldn’t do Inca’s reputation much good as he looks rather manic, but it was taken at the end of a rather hot day!  He is a real guide dog, honest!

Thanks again to all our visitors for making it such a lovely day and a great success.