East Coast Giants at Barrow Hill Roundhouse

Went up on friday night for the Neil Cave charter, what a superb evening, Barrow Hill you have done yourselfs very proud!


A Hatrick of Streaks by matttoms, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/115023160@N03/12380875655/in/photostream/

Enjoy

 

Not a bad day out, and a good place to go if you like your diesels... Also a repository of some 'hidden gems' from the National Collection, which I hadn't been able to see before due to the constraints of geography. Very blustery, however. Beer was good, a large crowd in attendance and interesting to see the various new-build groups having a chance to display their wares.

 

An interesting day at Barrow Hill. Some nice light at times too. A bonus for me was to see 251 outside in the sun and to hear 4489's bell being run.

251 by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

 

Had a good day out at Barrow Hill yesterday, the weather was a bit iffy but periods of sun did occur. Lots of opportunity to snap all three A4's together with 'Blue Peter'
My only light criticism is that a Deltic wasn't in the 'Giants of the East Coast' lineup.
Well done Barrow Hill

 

You are not alone in thinking this. Several people were surprised to see the Deltic tucked away up the side of the shed.

 

Glad I wasn't the only one who was a little surprised

 

We thought the Deltic welcoming people to the show at the gatehouse would appeal - not sure I'd describe that as "tucked away"? With the brake van rides and Bittern on the passenger trains, we simply couldn't fit the Deltic in the line up!

While I'm here, on behalf of Barrow Hill could I thank everyone for their kind comments and support of this event and for sharing some amazing photographs and videos. We had a wonderful weekend - even the weather was kind to us (contrary to the forecast, the sun actually shone!) albeit a bit chilly. For Barrow Hill in February, we were very lucky - we've had a foot of snow on the ground in previous years! Attendance exceeded all our expectations, somewhere north of 6,000 people came to the Roundhouse to see the East Coast Giants.

Thanks again everyone and see you at another Barrow Hill event soon!

Alexa

 

A brief outburst of sun on the Sunday, amidst the rain.

 

Hmm, looking at the pictures, it seemed a 37 was in the way of where a Deltic could have been..??

 

Alexa, thanks for the explanation about the big (two tone) beastie.............................. I think everyone, myself included were expecting to see the pair lined up somewhere near the A4's, so that decent shots could be had, one or both could have gone on the same road as the Ivatt............instead of stuck in the platform with no decent shot to be had! (now I'm no fan of boxes, but this aint a box its a DELTIC, and even I wanted to get a decent shot to educate a mate as to what a proper diseasel looks like!!)

Still, I had an enjoyable day (and so did my reluctant mate, he's glad he made the trip!), saying it was breezy is understating things, the cloud cover was moving that fast it made for challenging photography!! (pic's up when I've been through them!)

Oh, and by the way Alexa, I "WAS" joking about yourself and the BH Crew doing a sun dance, but I'm glad you did! it would not have been a good experience for anyone if it had rained..............................

And Anthony, that Steam Roller you were getting excited about.............................. I had a fascinating chat with the owner on Saturday, it was completed in June 1916...................... and he restored it over 10 long years from a complete wreck, and boy did he have some tales to tell!!

So roll on the next "biggie" at Barrow Hill, and this time I don't think my mate will be so reluctant!

 

Thanks for this. I take your point about the Deltic welcoming visitors but to have had one in the lineup would have added greatly to the experience for some people. Have sent you a pm regarding ideas for another gathering.

 

You've just pricked my ears.............................. I'm intrigued!.....................................................

 

Went up on the Sunday, mainly to take video but I did manage to snap a few photos as well. My personal favourite shot of the day, 'Blue Peter'. This was the first time I'd seen her, I have technically seen her before, but that was many years ago at Didcot and I was too young to remember.

Should have the video going up around 5pm tomorrow

 

Thanks for your comments gents. I guess we were never going to please everyone so please accept my apologies with regard to the Deltic. If only we had another 10 roads at the top of the yard, then maybe we could put on a line up to satisfy everyone - well as long as you all had special wide angle lens of course (runs for cover)

Anyway, as for me, I'm moving on to beer - not drowning my sorrows I hasten to add. Just the small matter of a beer festival to attend to in 14 weeks' time - a mere 200 real ales to 'line up', along with cider, wine, bottled beers, food, steam trains, live music.....

 

Just a quick question, if you know the answer, what type of air compressor did you guys use to get the bell on D of C working, and at what psi? was it hidden behind the Cods Mouth?
I would like to know the set up for future reference.
Cheers,
Peter.

 

While I was there the compressor was on the ground close to DoC's cab on the drivers side with a length of pipe connecting it to whatever controlled the bell.

 

My footage from the Sunday of the gala...

 

We went on the Saturday morning and were first in prepaid queue.
Disappointed about the Deltics, what a missed opportunity! Very poor and bad planning, what a poor start.
Now the chimneys have gone, the rest of the yard is just one big tip now, commented by many at food bars, expensive for what little was on show properly.
You cant please them all they say, well here is a few that won't ever visit Barrow Hill again. Unless it gets sorted and organised better!
Will have to get them all lined up outdoors together at Shildon.

 

I went, along with three friends. We all enjoyed ourselves and the Beer was great. Went to the Fab4 gala in 2012 and would go again for a similar event , despite it being a 360 mile round trip for the day.