Jiving, jitterbug, and other 40s dancing...

There was a 'do' at the Epping, North Weald & Ongar railway line. Part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Underground, one line finishes at Epping.
Sadly, the steam loco had given up the ghost after the first steam run of the weekend yesterday, so today we had to settle for a diesel and associated carriages...
it was very slow, with several stops in the countryside en route, so it was a real taste of what diesel travel used to be like...and smelly. There was a partcular smell that went with diesel trains which isn't half as nice as the steam train smell.

At North Wield station the Yanks had arrived with tents, jeeps, trucks and music. A great dance was taking place in the yard, with about 20 couples dancing - and they really knew what thet were doing.
I hadn't realised the craze for all things 'vintage' had become so major... you can go to a 40s event / dance every weekend if you want to.

This couple were great..

Later on there was a very old gent (pushing 90) who had been brought out for the day by his family (I guess) to have a look. He was being helped across the station yard, looking really tottery, when his feet began to move with the music.
Two of the women dancers (this one included) came over and danced with him. The family could hardly tear him away.
Lovely.

We walked up the road to look at the little North Wield Aerodrome museum. Still amazes me how brave and how young the pilots of both WW1 & WW2 were. People who we'd think of as children did extraordinary things.