Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Steam Gala - 9-12 March

Not inside the boundary afaik, there's a fence that goes along the edge of the headshunt which you can make out in that shot

 

I totally agree with you, great action from the locos, and I am amazed the railway still ran the event on Thursday and Friday given the forecasts.
Well done and thank you to all the volunteers who must have had some difficulty getting to the railway to undertake their turns. A high spot for me was No.85 restarting the 6 coach train after 52044 knocked off at Haworth loop to go on shed.

 

Final day of the KWVR Steam gala on Sunday 12th March, finally got up the hill at Keighley to take some photos

It was a bit disappointing when 45596 Bahamas & 45212 made a very poor start, they were down to walking pace by the time they passed me, they were dragging 75078 on the rear as well
https://tinyurl.com/44rzbxf8

Neil

 

This gala turned into a steam and snow event!! The weather made it more exciting and challenging. For any of the volunteers and all party’s involved Thank you. Keeping this short and brief.

 

First visit to the KWVR for a very long time and yes, the weather forecast wasn't great, but the snow appears to have fallen at times that didn't affect the event too adversely. It made for spectacular scenery from the train and didn't seem to have dented attendance.
We arrived Saturday afternoon and hung around Keighley Station which was a hive of activity and shunting maneuvours, great fun.
On Sunday, we travelled until about 2pm when unfortunately we had to depart. The timetable was about 30 minutes late by this point and we had 2.5 hours of motorway to get through and a connecting train for me to make back to Mid-Wales from Wolverhampton. Just as well we were cautious, as the M62 was at a stand still for an hour and I made the train with just minutes to spare..
My mate was very impressed with the railway and we both felt the railway was very welcoming, well presented and had an air of professionalism about it. We were sorry to come away and could have happily stayed on the trains for longer - next time we will make a longer weekend of it. Just a shame it's such a long journey for us. The East Lancs is not that far from KWVR as a crow flies, but seems much easier to get to - those darn hills!

 

I agree the KWVR may only be five miles long but it packs a lot into that length. Good to see a a positive outlook with no talk of reduced services etc. The journey over the hill from the E Lancs takes about 45 min on an icy road early on a Saturday morning as I found out last weekend.

 

I think the difference for me is that the East Lancs is very accessible by train, even from Mid-Wales. I can be in Bury for 10am. It would have been early afternoon for Keighley. It is a shame, as this line definitely has a charm about it.
I picked up an issue of Push and Pull, seems last year was considered successful financially with a £100k surplus, but they are entering this season with a big note of caution and are having to acknowledge significantly increased costs, eg coal at £500 a tonne rather than £200. This is the same for all railways and can be multiplied up by length of line.
The gala looks profitable and they have a visit of a certain LNER Pacific to look forward to - good luck to them.

 

Presume to get to Bury for 10 you are in Manchester by 930. There’s a 921 Victoria to Hebden Bridge 951 and the B3 bus from the station at 1010 to Oxenhope for 1040.

 

There’s been a couple of occasions when myself and my Dad have had a night out that’s started out in Rawtenstall about 6ish, yet we’ve still made it home for a few before last orders and a curry care of Virgin West Coast back in the good old days
I can only echo @Johnb’s comments about what a small but perfectly formed railway the KWVR is though, I’ve really enjoyed seeing the photos and videos from this weekend, so a huge thank you to all those who not only have made it possible but to those who have shared on here.
As an aside the last time I made it up to West Yorks in 2002 I worked out I’d done something like near enough 260 miles between Keighley and Oxenhope! Not to shabby for a 4 and 3/4 mile branch line over 2 and a bit days!

 

Congratulations to the KWVR for operating this gala under some very trying weather conditions
I think I read somewhere that all costs were covered by late Saturday so well done again to all the staff involved in this gala
Who will forget the near blizzard conditions late Thursday morning on the first day of the gala
I took these 7 photos at Haworth shed with my phone
https://tinyurl.com/3wn8keat
to
https://tinyurl.com/2p969hpy

Neil

 

I agree, don't know what was going on there, 45212 was using its sanders but a very timid start. No other trains had problems, clearly no significant adhesion issues, in fact some of the best starts up Keighley Bank I have seen in years.

 

Just out of interest can anyone pls confirm what depth of snow had actually fallen by
the Friday???

 

About 4 inches I think.

 

6 inches by the new flats/houses between Haworth and Oxenhope

 

From the numerous superb photos and videos, the locomotive exhausts look very clean. Plenty of steam, but very little smoke. Does anyone know which apparently excellent source of coal they are using?

 

Three images from Sat' .Well worth the 375 mile round trip via ELR on the return.