SVR Pacific Power 22nd-25th September 2016

My footage of the Pacific Power event filmed on Friday. Featuring of course Flying Scotsman and Tornado but also Bradley Manor and Taw Valley. Enjoy.

 

Give me a Manor over a Pacific any day of the week, a Manor on 8 trumps a Pacific on 10 for noise and excitement...

 

hello
managed to get scotsman in the sun !! and my feet wet !!
some pictures at www.stevebottrill.zenfolio.com or https://www.flickr.com/photos/15931796@N00/?

 

It must have been you I was talking to at Falling Sands this morning.

 

I did hear a secondhand report that some photographers in a field waiting for FS actually booed when the Manor came through. All seems a bit childish.

 

I stopped at the NRM for lunch today (on the way home from a weekend trip) and I must have heard 4 or 5 different people asking 'where is Flying Scotsman?'. Got to hand it to the NRM's PR - they have certainly raised the profile of the loco to something unprecedented. I think the SVR have been caught out by this - I think they booked 103 for the gala last year and hoped it would draw the crowds but not maybe on the scale of what has happened. I personally would welcome another 'Pacific Power' type event so long as it was additional to the ASG and the ASG retaining its traditional spot in September.

 

Spent a lot of the weekend at the event. Was a very different atmosphere at Kidderminster station on Saturday waiting for the 5.45pm, definitely had the feel of a festival - including the announcer singing New York, New York over the tannoy. Definitely looked like there was more people out for Flying Scotsman - even after dark - than Tornado. Not ridden on the teaks before - very comfortable, especially in the first class compartments!

Was out on the lineside too over the weekend - plenty of families (and dogs!) about which was great to see.

And - of course - a few photos here from a sunny Sunday at Safari Curve.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davestubbings/

A very good weekend - well organised and I think the right decision to go for this event with the number of people I saw.

 

Went linesiding on the Friday and Saturday, was busy both days but not as chaotic as I feared it might be. I think the SVR did a good job in organising parking & spectator areas along the route, the cost made me choose to leave the car in one place and proceed on foot rather than drive to different locations. I spoke to one resident of Northwood Lane who said there has been issues down there with cars blocking the road, she said the police had to intervene.

Managed to find a spot all to myself for 60103's lunchtime run down to Kiddy, just south of Northwood Halt on the Friday.


Saturday I parked at Eardington Station, walked over to the fields to join the many spectators on the hillside. This was about an hour before FS was due:


When looking at my shots of FS at home I noticed the loco was adorned with various cameras and what look like microphones attached to the top of the tender. DVD coming to the SVR gift shop soon I wonder?


Saturday afternoon I walked over to the field at Hampton Loade, and having enjoyed a pork bap took some more photos. Plenty of spectators here as well, some of who I will be removing in photoshop later...


Re. the timetable, I do wonder if Scotsman could have switched places with Tornado to do two chimney first runs before sunset instead of one, not just for the benefit of a photter like myself but for all the public spectators. Even they prefer to get their photo of it going 'forwards' rather than 'backwards', just seemed a bit odd to me that so much of provision was made for spectators all coming to see 60103, for the loco to just do the one daylight run down to Kiddy at lunchtime each day.

Overall I'm glad I came out for the event, certainly was a different experience and atmosphere which I doubt will be repeated. Was a case of supply and demand, and Scotsman is in a league of its own for public interest - just compare this weekend to last year when 60163 & 46100 were running at the same time. It is what it is, which is not an enthusiast gala but hopefully good PR and a financial boost for the railway, and from what I saw a boost for the pubs, shops and cafes along the line! Hopefully the November Gala will make up for this replacing the ASG, I for one am looking forward to it.

 

It seems there's going to be a documentary on BBC 4 covering FS's visit so it might be something to do with that.

 

Will it be another one of these 'Slow TV' things like the bus through the Yorkshire Dales? If so I might see myself on the telly!

 

Would have thought the NRM might have had thoughts on a 'Scotsman, the first year' DVD maybe? Saying that if it's something for BBC 4 then it should be good.

 

As long as it's not one of those jeopardy documentaries -
"If Fred doesn't put enough oil in the axlebox the wheel might fall off and there could be a catastrophic accident!!!"

 

Just been reading the SVR Online forum - highly entertaining. It seems like a total of 15,000 tickets were sold for this event which is twice as many as the usual Autumn Steam Gala. A phemonenally successful event by any measure and yet there are still those who like to think that the railway will suffer in some way because they chose to stay away - incredible. As to all those who say it wasn't an "enthusiast event" then yes, it wasn't geared specifically at "enthusiasts" but I like to think I'm one and I enjoyed it. When you have 6 locos in steam including the two most famous locos in the country, gorgeous scenery and good weather what is there not to like?

 

34053 on Sunday.

 

Its not a documentary. It is a 1 hour, real time journey of FS from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster with no commentary or music. Each footplate crew from Wednesday to Sunday were wired for sound. The loco was covered in cameras and microphones. Multiple shots of the loco across Vic Bridge, shots from ground level leaving Bridgnorth, drone footage along the railway aswell. Due out around Christmas.

For all the nay sayers. This event has proven a huge success for the railway. Working over all 6 days was a long slog. Saturday and Sunday were, as expected the busiest days. Tornado was very much the bridesmaid to Flying Scotsman. To sell 15000 tickets and make a good profit, were as the ASG makes a minimal profit. Yes it is unfortunate the ASG had to be moved but it was the position we were put in by the NRM. Chatting to the public who specifically came down to see the loco. Some of whom live less than 5 miles away and have never visited but fell in love and became members there and then.

There will be a long debrief for this event. As there is for every event we run. There are points in which we can improve and whats the point in being perfect anyway?

 

Excellent! Last Christmas or thereabouts we had the "sleigh ride", before that it was the canal boat journey, and more recently the country bus through the Yorkshire Dales.
Lets hope the SVR (or the BBC) also release it as a DVD eventually.

46118

 

60163 at Falling Sands on Sunday morning and again at Oldbury Viaduct in the afternoon.

 

I think there are a group of people who were never going to be happy about the event which has got loads of free publicity for the railway new visitors who will hopefully come again.
The whole purpose of the event was to make money which goes to the up keep of the infrastructure of the railway.
The only issue is what do you do next year

 

Hopefully the fares charged for the Scotsman/Tornado trains were set at a level to cover the basic costs of hiring the two locomotives for the event, so other revenue such as shop sales and passengers on the non-Scotsman trains will have put some money into the SVR coffers, no doubt to be spent eventually on expensive infrastructure work and loco overhauls.
We all know that as a business case, operating steam-hauled heritage services just does not add up, so any opportunity to boost the cash inflow has to be welcome. Overall this event looks to have been a success.

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