U.K. TRAINMEET:
By Mike Stella

My recent trip to England was planned well enough in advance that two weeks into it we would meet up with our friends (met through Ebay!), spend three days at the BlueBell Railway camping out and helping with the table sales, and then plan for our return home.

Steam train stopping at our station

My wife getting sick delayed our return by six weeks but I still spent the weekend at the BlueBell Railway buying a few 7mm ("O" gauge) trains, watching the steam trains (about 5 different ones in all), watching the tables that were set up right on the main station platform, sleeping in the coach cars at night, and calling the hospital every few hours to monitor my wife's condition.

My friends Bob & Hazel selling on Platform

The camping part of our vacation didn't turn out quite as planned but it was a terrific train meet held under sunny England skies and there is nothing like a few steam trains running past your table every hour to lighten up your spirits. I took a few photos at the BlueBell Railway to share but waited until our return home to shoot pictures of the trains I picked up on my camping trip.

I hope you enjoy them.

This JEP French electric was my first purchase of the meet and was brought over from Paris by the seller that very morning	An 0-6-0 in Southern Green but a different RR then ran in the U.S.
A great looking Great Western 2-6-2T Prairie	The last loco I found is also my favorite of the meet and was sitting buried on my friends table the entire day before I spotted it