The Great Gathering 

More than 140 trains were gathered at Alstom Derby Litchurch in the UK last weekend for the Great Gathering, which was celebrating 200 years of the first passenger train service. Suffice it to say that my spouse is enough of a railway enthusiast that a trip up north to Derby was warranted. Around 40,000 people attended over three days and they could have had another week – it would have been filled. Tickets sold out quickly. 

Alstom’s site in Derby is one of the most historic train factories in the UK, and has been building trains since the 19th century. The factory remains the only facility in Britain that designs, engineers, builds, and tests trains on a single site, according to the BBC. It was the first time in 50 years they had opened it up to the public.  

We did manage to get there on Sunday (getting tickets was like Oasis, but cheaper) and my only complaint is they didn’t have enough coffee vans. There was an ice cream van, however, doing steady business. They even had an Elizabeth Line train (built therein Derby), which I use most weekends. It was fun to go on and see the whole event on the test track, while being on the train. I even tooted a steam train horn, while the people behind us discussed the various pieces of that particular train. There is some joy in being around people who are passionate about their jobs and their hobbies.  

And what’s the connection to dairy? Well, although I did not see a milk train, from the 1930s to the 1960s, British milk was transported around the country by rail. Milk trains took the milk from the countryside to the cities. The loads were heavy and so they would have to use high-powered express locomotives, Wikipedia informs us. And, catching the milk train still means to get a very early train here in the UK.  

• Suzanne Christiansen, editor, Dairy Industries International.
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