GCR LNER Gala 08 - 10th October 2010

The Great Central Railway are holding their annual Steam Railway gala from Friday 8th - Sunday 10th October, this year with an LNER theme.

Taken from the GCR's website;

"This year is full of Eastern promise, with three guest locomotives which have never been to the railway before, BR built J72 number 69023, 2-6-0 LNER K4, 61994 The Great Marquess and the very elegant D49, sole surviving 'shire' class locomotive. The three day event on the 8th, 9th and 10th of October will feature the famous Saturday night steam show at Quorn and is sure to be one to remember. More details soon!"
(http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/Events.aspx?ID=242)

Lewis

 

Moving to Leicester in September so will attend if I can!

 

I'd heard about the D49 attending but the K4 certainly is a surprise.

 

I allways attend this gala and recommend it .last year was cold but sunny and it will be great to to see a "Shire" have not seen one for many years indeed a very elegant loco

 

The GCR are now expecting an additional significant guest engine announcement very shortly...so the GCR's website states...

Turning out to be a very exciting gala

Let's hope for a great surprise

Lewis

 

Where is best to park for this event ? Hoping to attend the saturday for my first GCR event for a long time. Hopefully the D49 gets a go on the TPO

 

Quorn is good for parking. It costs £5 but is refundable if you purchase a ticket.

 

Is 60007 still visiting?

 

Excellent, thanks Matt. Are WTT available as well? Haven't been a GCR Autumn Gala before so don't know much for this event.

 

passenger timetable (inc. TPO times) will be on the website

A full timetable should be purchasable from the booking offices.

 

It has now been announced that 71000 Duke Of Gloucester is attending the gala! This is going to be one hell of a spectacle!

Lewis

 

Surprised with an Eastern theme that 48305 isn't running as an LNER O6.

 

Does anyone know if any of the visitors will be staying on for a while after the gala?

I see from their website that there's anothe enthusiast event at the GCR in November...

 

Can anyone confirm if Morayshire is booked to work on the Friday or not please? The sale of a day rover ticket, spend in shops and my flexi at work depend on the answer!

 

Apologies for taking this slightly OT, but the "Windcutter Display" suggests they may not be in operation for the event (unless it is a restoration display?).

Now it doesn't really matter to me if they run or not, as I won't be able to attend this particular event, but having never seen them running, I would like to make a visit to see them next year. For those who know the line well, when is the best time to see them? I like to photograph all types of demo freights at galas so wondered if there is a particular gala that has a high number of non-passenger runs?

I would normally pull out some old timetables and find this information out for myself but as the GCR timetables are worth money, I have only ever seen Diesel Gala timetables on the net!

I am more diesel inclined as well [forgive me ] and have seen images of diesels on the Windcutters in the past. During which galas does this happen? If I want lots of freight, is a steam-only gala best?

Cheers in advance!

 

Chris,

to take photos of the freights you need to buy a timetable; they're not that expensive, especially if you're not travelling. Because of the capacity afforded by the double track, the GCR are able to run freights throughout the day on a gala day, not sporodically or at quieter times of the day like other railways. There's normally three non-passenger trains out; the windcutters, a mixed freight set and a TPO set. At the big galas, all three will be out. At mini galas, it depends but the TPO gala usually has the TPO set out with the windcutters if memory serves.

The next big gala should be early January next year. Not sure when the schedule is published. A lineside pass it often useful (otherwise go to Kinchley Lane).

 

To be fair, I don't think he ever implied he wasn't willing to buy a WTT, just that he wanted to know whether or not freights would be running before travelling to the line and purchasing one...

 

This is correct. Once I "decide" to do the event (based on the rough itinerary) I usually book the full advance rail ticket (to get there), pre-book gala ticket (if offered) and timetable. I also usually do a mix of travel & photography, as the rover ticket fully supports the railway/event.

While it can be difficult with so much going on deciding whether to travel or photograph (having been involved in events briefly myself) I feel its important the railway earns money from those who take photos from the event, whether its by travelling or the purchase of the valuable lineside pass. I think the majority on here would agree.

Tony - many thanks for your pointers regarding when the Windcutters are usually out to play, I think I shall have to try one of these "big galas"

 

Timetables are now available for the event;
http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/Timetables/2010_WTT_for_Website.pdf

Does anyone know which carriage rakes will be in action, as well as freight sets?

Cheers,
Lewis

 

Carriage Rakes are usually;

Maroon set with Mk1 RB 'Griddle' TSO4662,SO4788,RB1695,BG81343,25366,TSO4982
Green Set with Mk1 RMB, TSO4914, TSO4857,14026, RMB1852, xxxx poss TSO4630(maybe used as this)
Blood and Custard Dining set, FO3126/3042, RKB1526, FO3079, BFK21242, (RMB1852)TSO4948 as used this weekend RMB maybe put into green rake, 3126 maybe inserted bake into the rake to replace 3042, as it is waiting to leave Rothley Carriage works after recieving attention to its bogies.
Local Set, 21184, 16070, xxxx

Windcutter Rake
TPO rake,
Mixed Goods
Not so sure about pick up goods rake will be used for the gala

Hope this helps.