2025

IMLEC 2025 began on Friday 20th June, with run No.1 heading off at 11:30am, the weather for the weekend was hot and sunny, with only a slight shower on the Saturday. Fareham's track poses a challenge for even the most experienced drivers, and this showed with a total of 11 retirements.

The early leader was Peter Wardropper with his 3.5" LBSC "Betty" who led from the start before being deposed by a fine run from Alasdair Croft's A4 "Kestrel" on Saturday morning. Later on Saturday Ben Pavier took to the track with his 5" LNER Q5,. Choosing a load of 5 passengers, observer and driver, Ben confidently climbed the first incline, with nods of approval from the onlooking crowd. Laps were consistent, if not at the quickest pace we had seen so far. I managed to glance a look into the cab a few times, and although the boiler pressure looked quite low, Ben appeared in complete control. Firing was infrequent and I only saw him take water onboard once, an indication that we were in for an efficient run.

At the finish line the work done was 210520 Ft.lb with only 1.175Ib of coal used, this was more than enough to send Ben to the top of leaderboard by over 0.200%, a position he would remain for the rest of the competition.

Danny Hayward put in a brilliant run to finish in 2nd place with his "Pansy" and Alasdair Croft held on to 3rd place to complete a clean sweep of the top 3 for Southport members. Peter Wardropper took the Best 3.5" prize ahead of William Powell, the other 6 3.5" entries all retired, proving what a challenging track it is at Fareham.

This was Ben Pavier's 2nd IMLEC victory having taken the title in 2011 at the regulator of Rod Ainsworth's Britannia, but this one will taste even sweeter as it completes the IMLEC "holy grail" of building the loco yourself, driving it and winning the competition.

The Fareham society put on a superb event, with an informative programme and regular announcements and updates during the weekend. They dealt with any issues, big and small, quickly and professionally, making the event run smoothly. Refreshments were provided with Bacon rolls in the morning and a BBQ for lunch. Ice creams were seen being enjoyed in the hot weather throughout the weekend. Saturday night included a Fish and Chip meal and live music entertainment in the marque as visitors enjoyed running their locos around the track.