Playing trains in church

As part of the Bournville Heritage Weekend, Andy Christie had organised a live steam railway in the St Francis of Assisi church, and asked me if I'd help out. It seemed like a nice chance to take a train ride, and have some fun. As a bonus, when I arrived, the Carillon was playing, something I'd not heard before. Although it's a peal of bells, the sound is quite different to that produced by bell ringers. The "layout" was a couple of circuits of 45mm gauge track, with connecting crossovers and a bank of sidings. By the time I arrived, everything was set up, we just needed to fuel and fire up locos, and get on with entertaining the public. I was a little concerned that no provision was made to protect the Parquet floor, but as this isn't the first time Andy had organised such a display, they were either not worried, or he'd got away with it in the past. As it was, apart from some slightly oily water, which was quickly mopped up once we removed the track at the end of the day, it…