WSR Autumn Steam Gala 1 - 4 October 2015

Tornado is too long for the turntable at Minehead, I believe. IIRC, she's about 2ft too long.

James

 

Are all the others going to be turned so all smokebox first running?

 

So no freight workings on the weekend? :-(

 

As far as possible, yes. The restriction is that if there are ballast trains at Norton on the Thursday or Friday, locos will not be able to turn on the triangle.

Correct.

 

Thats okay then as I am going on Saturday so I can now start to make plans!

 

By my reckoning, the overall wheelbase of Tornado is just under 62ft, but this does not leave enough room on a 65ft turntable to balance the engine. There would also be a significant overhang at each end. Also the overall weight is above the limit for the turntable unless the tender is empty. I believe Tornado could only be turned at Minehead by splitting the engine and tender which is not a practical proposition during a gala.

 

Pics by Martin Southwood taken in 2009.

See http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=2009/06/160609_3_mso

More of this operation at www.wsr.org.uk (around 300 images in...)

Steve

 

We cannot turn Tornado as it will not fit on the turntable at Minehead.

 

Loco News from the CME; 2857 has left the SVR and is on it's way to Bishops Lydeard!

 

See in Steam Beano that there maybe a couple of Blood/Custard Mk1s repainted in time for this event - is this correct or is it more next year's wish?

On a similar note how close are we to seeing one of the GWR coaches running on the WSR?

Also any chance of the Dean sleeper getting an airing - sure it was used in a demo Goods a few years back?

 

Any news on when tornado will arrive from mainline

 

http://www.wsr.org.uk/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?h=Snapshot&p=2015/09/145

Update: WSR tell me "No 5030 is at the up end of what will be Set D over the weekend. This might change but it might be helpful for those who wish to photograph this throwback to 1976."

Steve

 

TSO 4419 has finally been finished at West Somerset Restorations and will be moved to Minehead this week for use at the gala, however it has been finished in chocolate & cream.

GWR 6705 is in for painting at Williton.

The sleeper usually gets an annual outing to the Steam Fayre at Norton Fitzwarren. I believe it does not have operational brakes so can only be used in a goods train, but I think it would look rather silly in a freight train!

I believe the 'blood & custard project' will be spread over a period of time, it is only the dual-braked coaches which are being repainted thus, and other stock may be higher up the list for a repaint in chocolate and cream.

 

Cheers for the reply! Blood/Custard to break up the Choc/Cream will be nice to see, though can appreciate the length of time needed to achieve this.

Looking forward to seeing a GWR set come to fruition, take it 6705 isn't far off? Shame the sleeper brakes haven't been sorted, I remember in 2009 this was on the to-do-list but obviously other prjects must of got in the way. Much appreciated for the update though, best of look with everything!

 

Tornado is moving today, 29 Sep.

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/U50648/2015/09/29/advanced

 

Reported 56312 on the front.

 

Tornado has just arrived onto WSR metals passing Norton Fitzwaren a few minutes ago. <BJ>

 

Just received the timetable for the upcoming gala, and there doesn't seem to be any information about the freight trains running on Thursday and Friday. I have noted the previous posts on this thread, but does anyone have the complete timings for the freight train runs? Thank you in advance.

 

Thursday 1st: 0900 MD - BL and 0855 BL - MD (2 separate trains)
Friday 2nd: 0900 BL - MD only

 

It was good to see visiting locos Tornado, 2857 and & 7812 at the WSR steam gala today.

Tornado got off to a shaky start this morning. It stopped at Watersmeet after the brakes came on. Low boiler pressure? After a few minutes it continued and appeared to run fine for the rest of the day.

The early morning goods trains were appreciated by members of National-Preservation who had been advised of their existence. Thank you for that. Unfortunately the folk that had gone to the trouble of ordering detailed timetables were unaware of the trains.

Apart from the two small problems mentioned, the gala appeared to be a huge success by the number of people that I spoke to. Let's hope that the railway makes a decent profit from the event. <BJ>