Foxfield Railway Steam Gala - 16th 17th July 2016

This year's Summer Steam Gala at the Foxfield railway will be held over the weekend of 16th and 17th July and will be themed around the Lancashire coalfield's Walkden area.


It will feature the usual demonstration coal trains on the 1 in 19 of Foxfield Bank and passenger services between Blythe Bridge Caverswall Road and Dilhorne Park stations, alternating between the standard service set and the restored 1880s North Staffordshire Railway heritage train.


Locos in action from the home fleet will include: 0-6-0ST Whiston, 0-4-0ST Bagnall 2842, 0-4-0 crane tank Dubs.


Visiting loco subject to confirmation: 0-6-0ST Norman (currently running as N.C.B. 35), courtesy of the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway.

A second visiting loco is being negotiated and will be confirmed soon.


The One Legged Shunter will be open all weekend serving a selection of real ales and the buffet will be open all weekend offering hot and cold food and drinks. Limited camping available.

 

looks like it's confirmed now on FB- will be good to see 'Cranford' finally turn a wheel under its own steam at Foxfield after all the years it was on site becoming increasingly derelict until restoration began,

Jon

 

Timetable for the gala is just being finalised. When it is ready it will be available here or on arrival at Foxfield on the gala weekend.

 

Visiting locos due to arrive this week in preparation for the coming weekend. Timetable will be up on here in the next 24 hours.

 

Looking forward to this.

 

Deleted.

 

Austerity NCB no 35 arrived today and is looking good.

Avonside Cranford arrives in a few days, few people will have seen this loco in steam yet following its return to steam a few months ago.

 

I know I can buy a full working timetable once I get there but what time is the first freight up the bank on Sunday please? Will give me an idea as to what time I need to set off from home.

 

I haven't seen the timetable but the first locos usually arrive at Foxfield around 09:00 - 09:30. The shed at Caverswall Road is normally open from around 08:00 for visitors to photograph preparations; driving from there to Foxfield is normally about 15 minutes. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks. I'm quite au fait with the railway and the locations in relation to one another but I've got to plan around a couple of small tasks so knowing what time the first freight is up the bank will help me. If it's after 10:00, I can get the tasks done and be there in time for the first train.

 

Sorry folks, couldn't get this finished yesterday, here's the timetable for the gala this weekend.

 

Timetable now up on here

 

Cranford arrived yesterday and will be undertaking its ftr and line clearance run on Friday, 35 will also have its ftr on Friday but won't require a line clearance as we already operate with austerities!

The miniature railway will also be in operation over the weekend and the 'One Legged Shunter' station bar at Caverswall Road has had all the beer delivered for the weekend.

 

Excellent. Looks like a 7:15 departure for me on Sunday morning.

 

Looks like I might be leaving @ 5AM -- notice that things start moving
just after 6AM -- IS THIS A PRIVATE CHARTER PERHAPS???
anyone advise PLEASE
TIA Neale

 

Can anyone advise what the ticket prices are for the event please?

I've had a trawl through the website & I can't find any ticket info anywhere other than a day rover has to be bought to gain access to the colliery site which I totally agree with but just want to know how much.

Cheers

 

On previous galas they charged photographers at the Colliery site for access and to the field. There was a lot of low life who refused to pay and the staff got a bit of verbal abuse and I'm not sure if they do it now. I think it was only a fiver.

 

I think I will probably go Sunday as the forecast isn't fabulous for Saturday.

 

I think you'll find the charge was levied on those who hadn't bought a Rover Ticket for the day but arrived expecting free access to site and field. On my previous Gala visits I buy my Rover at Caverswall Road, spend time around the shed for a bit then make my way to Foxfield Colliery for the rest of the day - without travelling. My Rover ticket provides both parking at Foxfield and field access and I presume the same will apply tomorrow.

 

I went Saturday and had a good time. Field acess was free. Some advice for Sunday. The path from Dilhorne Park to the colliery is impassible. Even in wellies people were saying it was really dodgy due to 8 inch deep mud everywhere on the path and a couple of people had a soggy tumble. My advice is use the free bus from Caverswall road station to the Colliery. Even the fields either side of the bank from Foxfield where the photographers stand were very very wet.