Neon Gecko wrote
I still can't get over the level of detail, not just on the engines, but on the overall system, added to my bucket list and I'm not even into trains... ?
The RHDR is really surprising. I remember pulling into the parking lot at New Romney and catching a glimpse of a train and thinking "oh look... they've got a toy one for the kiddies to ride on open days." Then you get to the platform and reality dawns - but it's a false reality because you think that you're on a toy railway. Wrong! You're just on a SMALL railway. Everything is done properly and, as you say, with great detail. It's quite amusing to see the traffic stopping at the level crossings for these tiny little trains. Ride on it for an hour or so and you start to see how everything's been done properly - the signals, the points etc etc.
When the RHDR was launched in the 1920s they got the top railway engineers of the day involved in the design. So it's all properly done.
Still a private company, though the directors take nothing out and plough the profits (and there always is a profit) back into the line. They do a deal with the local authorities so that school kids get a train pass which the LAs pay for. They also run steam train driving courses.
Being narrow gauge speeds are not high. The RHDR is limited to 25mph, and drops down to 10 in some urban areas.
There are several narrow gauge lines in Wales, going through much prettier countryside, but I don't know if they're THIS narrow.
