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I'd been vaguely aware of this little railway for a while - and was reminded by an entry in the Railway Magazine's Narrow Gauge News - "Abbey Pumping Stn, Leicester railway day". I tried some web research. Not easy - there's very little on the web about the railway. The Leicester Museums' site explained that the station "pumped Leicester's sewage to the treatment works at Beaumont Leys. The grand Victorian building and beautifully decorated beam engines were a cause of great civic pride". The Leicester City Council's "What's on in Leicester" site promised a "Classics and Railway Day...Enjoy a working railway day with steam train rides and a display of classic road vehicles from private collectors and the museum’s collection. Small charge for train rides."  The IRS 13EL listed several diesels - and Leonard, Bagnall 2087 of 1919. I thought perhaps we'd better pay Leonard a visit.

The museum is easy to find - just follow the signs for the National Space Centre (yes, really - it's next door). Our first sight of action was a bright yellow Motor-Rail (SMH 40SD515 of 1979), bearing the name "Dandelion", and playing with a rake of v-skips. We followed Dandelion around the U-shaped layout (shades of Cadeby, and not much bigger...) to the other end of the line - and there he was. One of the operating team explained that he was none other than the Leonard I'd met more than 30 years ago - in the late Birmingham Science Museum in Newhall Street. It's good to see former "stuffed and mounted" exhibits in action again. Leonard is, of course, a close relative of Cadeby's "Pixie" - and yet another reminder of Cadeby was the green Lister by the entrance - "New Star" L 4088 of 1931. ex-Teddy Boston's collection.

I did my best to record the movements of Leonard and Dandelion - including a ride along the line. The bright sunny day was rapidly deteriorating, and by the time we'd had a look at the very fine beam engines, it was raining steadily. Time for home.

Video Clips:
all 360 x 288, Windows Media

	Leonard A series of clips of the Bagnall in action 3,188k; 2m 26s
	Dandelion Action with the Simplex and the skips 2,282k; 1m 45s
	A ride down the line ...in the company of Leonard 1,663k; 1m 16s

Links:

• Abbey Pumping Station Leicester Museums' website

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