Peak Rail 'Blazing Saddles' Austerity weekend 9/10th March

Timetables now up

Sat: http://www.peakrail.co.uk/documents/9thMarchTT.pdf
Sun: http://www.peakrail.co.uk/documents/10thMarchTT.pdf

Roll on Saturday!

 

These don't seem to be any different to those posted by Chris on 21/02/13 at a glance?

Any changes?

 

Opps did not see Chris's post!

 

Just 2 days to go now..promises to be something special..don't miss it!
http://www.peakrail.co.uk/blazingsaddles/

 

Looking forward to the gala this weekend, hoping to get some pictures to, ive never visited before, is there any good photo locations along the line that could be recomended.

 

Darley Dale station should be good...trains will be crossing there..also there's a good view up the line towards Church Lane signal box.

 

Lots of photo locations on here as theres a path that runs alongside the railway as far as Matlock Riverside Platform. I planned to do some lineside viewing but looks like i'll be riding the trains most of the day as it's forecast heavy rain.

 

Top day today chaps, very well done. Especially the last run, best noise i've heard come out of a loco in a long time.

If you're free tomorrow THIS is the gala you need to support!

 

Seconded!

 

Agreed, really enjoyed that last run up to Rowsley, as they say in Scotland "some of they sparks are nae doon yet!" (With apologies to our Scottish friends)

Dave

 

Just called in this morning at Darley Dale, the freight train looked really well and sounded even better when returning from Matlock through Red House Cutting. I've got to say that I was quite impressed with what I saw

 

Thanks to those who supported us,had a couple of long,but very enjoyable,days crewing 3883 'Lord Phil'!

 

Enjoyed Saturday, especially driving WD150, and the last train, but there are a few things the railway could work on before your next gala.

It wasn't always possible to change sets at Darley Dale, due to the first train in often departing immediately after the arrival of the other one. This caused confusion and resentment amongst passengers who are used to such options on other railways. A couple of minutes extra there would have made a huge difference, as we often therefore ended up back at Rowsley South, kicking our heels in the cold having been evicted from the coaches during the protracted watering of the locos.
The communications regarding the cancellation of the 1544 ex Rowsley were very poor. I drove to Darley Dale from Rowsley, having been unceremoniously chucked out into the cold, with over an hour to wait before the last train, to find the station staff and loco crews there unaware of the cancellation some 15 minutes after we did. It was then another five or more minutes before the train waiting there was allowed to proceed, adding to the delays that the cancellation was supposed to overcome.
Perhaps a slight easing of the timetable would have increased reliability? You could probably have run the same number of trains, as you actually did, but without the frustration that the cancellation caused.
Given those problems, I would be reluctant to drive from Cardiff to you again, as the edge was certainly taken off the day by them .

I hope that you didn't hurt Lord Phil on the last train on Saturday, as that was a fair load behind him, and he seemed to be working very hard.....

 

I Agree, On the whole a good gala let down by a few simple points, One being unable to change sets at Darley Dale. My frustration came by sitting at home waiting to go (my 4.5 year old son has a limited interest when its cold!) and then arriving at 12.00 at Matlock, getting on the train and only then finding they had cut the last two trains out of the timetable (leaving the big one to run at 1600 instead of 1500) Had we known this in advance we could have planned accordingly. We were told when we bought tickets this was due to loco availability, but then found out it was due to forecast of snow (or lack of it). From this point on we was on the back foot trying to 'get' everything. Making the 'super set' up for the last train took nearly half an hour longer than planned, making a very cold 4 year old, nearly an hour on the platform is enough for anybody when the stock is just sat in a loop in front of you! The loco crews obviously unimpressed by the lack of organisation during this. Also as I read the timetable the last train had 4 loco's leading and one trailing in both directions, this was not the case. Had I know about this, I would have parked at Rowsley not at Matlock and been able to enjoy the 4 loco special, rather than a plod by Wilbert with something in 'Big Valve' pushing from the rear and then watch and listen to something special disappear off into the distance!

All in all, Excellent subject but let down by the execution. Best sound goes to Mech Navvies (or Lord Phil entering Matlock). Must try harder Peak Rail, it will take quite a gala to convince me to return.

Steve

 

Some very fair points made there which I'm sure will be taken on board for future events. It's a shame Royal Pioneer's ticket rather dictated the date as a few weeks later might have been better - longer days etc. I have to say that many galas (at various railways) do not seem to be able to keep to the timetable in my experience, but that's no excuse of course.

Dave

 

Personally I've come to expect a bit of faffing about on a visit to any preserved line - dealing with volunteer labour, it comes with the territory. So long as other elements - in this case loco handling - make up for it, it's not the end of the world, is it? If I wanted an efficiently run but dull trip through nice scenery I'd have stayed on the unit at Matlock and gone up and down the branch all day! Granted, turfing everyone off the rake to allow it to run forward a train length to water the Matlock end loco seemed unnecessary, but it'll be the noise from Lord Phil, not the standing around, which will stick in the memory.

Full on industrial gala next year guys?

 

I would agree with previous comments that this was a good gala, but let down by a couple of irritating minor issues. I enjoyed the day, my first visit to Peak Rail, and contrary to a previous poster, having also driven to the railway for the day from South Wales, I would certainly make the effort to attend a similar event.

The driver for a fiver option was great fun, and something which I think should definitely be done again at future events. The evening train with 8 coaches and 5 locomotives was a memorable spectacle, especially the return working from Matlock on Saturday! Lord Phil's performances were a particular highlight of the day as well!

On the other hand, it seemed to me that there was a paranoia about trains running late from the operational staff. This led to Rowsley-bound services leaving Darley Dale within seconds of the arrival of the Matlock bound train, leaving no opportunity for those like me who wished to change trains to do so. Another result of this seeming 'paranoia' was the cancellation of the 15:44 service from Rowsley "due to late running" - leaving intending passengers with no option but to wait for the 17:00 departure, which actually left nearly half an hour late, meaning a wait of over an hour and a half in the cold for some passengers (including me!). There was no indication that the 15:44 was to be cancelled until we had boarded the train, and even then, it was only 15:50 at the time - perhaps a little bit excessive? It's not as if there are penalties to be accrued for late running! To reiterate, I really don't mind if a train is 15 - 20 minutes late! Incidentally, the time 'gained' by this cancellation was soon lost due to the fact that the other train was waiting at Darley Dale for at least 15 minutes for a train (and a single line token!) that wasn't coming!

With hindsight, I think it would have been better to either have cancelled the 15:10 departure, and run the 15:44 on time (allowing some of the shunting for the 17:00 to take place earlier), or to have just carried on running the advertised timetable 15 minutes down.

Having said all that, well done Peak Rail for an imaginative and original event. I enjoyed it and I will come back for a similar gala. Please do it again!