MHR Autumn Gala 23rd - 25th October 2015 - LMS theme

First ever visit to the railway today. Really enjoyed it, thanks to all involved. Impressive line up of motive power with some nice variety too - got some photos of Bittern and the T9 side by side which is not a sight you see every day. Great access to the yard and sheds at Ropley - particularly liked being able to go up on Wadebridge's footplate while she was simmering away as a reserve loco. A small touch but much appreciated. Would love to go back again this weekend but got other things going not, not least a visit to Tyseley and probably Shackerstone at some point.

 

Overall a enjoyable day. The only issue was with the 11.30 departure from Ropley with 46521 which was sent on it's way with several passengers not being able to transfer off the 10.55 ex Alton with 92212. It would have only taken a further 30 seconds for those heading over the footbridge to board, but the station staff fully aware of those heading over did nothing to ensure they were able to board. Needless to say those left behind were far from happy and expressed their views on the situation to the station staff. I'm glad to say that all other connections were made comfortably and the station staff seemed to help with those transferring from the passing train.

Although I missed the train I was able to visit the miniature railway where I received the most friendly welcome during the day. There are certainly things to improve on but it won't stop me visiting again.

 

Ready for day 2......


Ropley on a gala morning by Arle Images, on Flickr
S and D shed? by Arle Images, on Flickr

 

A visit to Medstead today was on our list of things to do as we ran out of time yesterday. Didn't have time for a yard tour though I'm afraid. Had a good browse of the stall and my Dad bought some items. Nothing took my fancy on this occasion but I will add I bought some items at the Open weekend last month

Another good day today although it seemed a bit quieter on the stations probably due to the poor weather.
Track conditions were poor from the start of the day as 45379 slipped a fair bit on the first train out of Alton. We also managed a run behind the Crab which put on a claggy display from Ropley up to Medstead. Ended the day with another round trip on the local with 30120. A very different performance from the T9 today probably due to the terrible rail head conditions. The run from Alton was a steady climb well off the pace of yesterdays run. The return run from Alresford after Ropley was a real pedestrian slog up to the Station at Medstead.

Thanks to all involved at the MHR and the loco owners for putting on another great Gala. I hope the local train can be used again in future events as it means we can get some more smaller loco's to visit

 

Must say that, having been today, this was an extremely enjoyable gala, despite the adverse weather conditions towards the end of the day. A nice variety of locos, most of which were slipping a lot because of the railhead conditions - very impressive to watch and listen to. Thanks to the Mid Hants for organising this, and to the Medstead wagon group, who made possible the run of an impressively lengthy freight train to Alton and back! Anyone questionning whether or not to go tomorrow, its definately worth a trip. A couple of photos from today are below:

 

My photos of Bittern at the Mid Hants gala today where she had one last surprise.

http://locoyard.com/2015/10/24/bitterns-final-surprise/

 

Thank you very much for your support.

Glad to hear you had a good time - I know I did - not long been home - I was there at 8am!

Had a 'good' run behind the T9 on the vans to Alresford, a nice steady one behind 45379 on the full line run to Alton, followed by an awesome run behind 13065 from Alton to Alresford and a nice romp up the bank to Ropley with 46521!

What was most pleasing (from a wagon group point of view) was the amount of people inspecting & photting the cattle van whilst it was stood in the platforms.

Just to say - we are the Mid Hants Wagon group - Medstead is but one of our bases. And we thank you for your kind comment.

I too will echo your sentiment, and also say, good weather, good mix of diagrams, whats not to like!

And finally @Shaggy it was nice to meet you at the end of the day - always nice to put a face to a name! Oh, and after you'd gone - your dad was telling me some tales about you........... .........

 

I agree, makes a change from the shuttles. It would be ideal for the 41312.

 

I agree with that, after a very enjoyable day today.

 

Nice to hear you had a good day too.

 

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It was good to finally put a face to the name.

The day was excellent even though the weather did its best to dampen the occasion.

Highlights: 13065. What a loco!!! Nothing a bit of black paint won't put right! (dive under table from the paint frothers!!!!)
Nellie on her first run out of Alresford. A big slip followed by (Jeremy Clarkson moment) NOISE and POWER!
The last run from Alresford to Alton behind the T9. We were slightly concerned that we may end up stalling on Medstead bank as the speed dropped and then dropped again. A great piece of driving kept her plodding all the way to a stand at Medstead.

Now looking forward to see how the MHR are planning on topping that one in the spring.

 

Two great days at the event Friday and Saturday. Some pictures below, more are available here - https://railwaygalleries.smugmug.com/MidHants/Autumn-Steam-Gala-October-2015/

Just a few things I'd like to mention with regards to future galas;

1. If the 08 isn't needed, turn it off. Having it idling away in the cutting by the carriage workshops all day interfered with the people videoing and caused a number of people to run over the soggy ground on the up side of the bridge thinking a train was imminent, seems an accident waiting to happen.

2. The local is an excellent addition, wish more lines would stick vans in trains on days like this, but don't use this set as the last train to Alton of the day. The thing was packed to the gunnels on Saturday afternoon, especially as that was the point the rain arrived which people were trying to avoid.

3. More van trains please.

Now, some photos...

 

Yes an excellent day apart from the fact that it barely got light at all. We saved our linesiding until the end of the day as we believed the forecast which suggested an improvement late on. Wrong! Loco performance was a bit down due to rail conditions, though 4464 was driven firmly and seemed to cope best. The little LM class 2 did OK out of Alton but each time the driver gave it a bit more it slipped so it settled to a steady 21/22 mph towards the top. Our run with 30120 on the 1410 Alresford was good and we kept the 10 minutes booking Ropley to Medstead after a steady start. Speed increased gradually from 20 mph to 25 mph in the cutting past MP54, good going really. I also enjoyed the miniature line and was encouraged to hear about the plans to extend this to a point opposite the end of the lineside path. This will save us oldies a bit of a walk to the field which provides a good photing location for trains climbing to Ropley. To cap a good day I enjoyed the warmth of the cab of 34007, where I took time to recall memories of riding on the main line at 95 mph on one of these in 1966, actually 34006.

 

The sun shone today on myself and Duty Druid....and the Crab!

Crab-tastic! by Arle Images, on Flickr

 

Another great gala and nice to see the sun coming out today. A shame we won't see 850 LN at another gala for some time. I was surprised a few more MHR photographers didn't make their way to Bishop Sutton this afternoon.

 

Can definately agree with those, the 08 was a little annoying as I did a lot of filming from the yard at Ropley, and I watched the T9 take that last train out of Ropley yesterday - it was, as you say, absolutely packed. Other than that though, a great gala overall, looking forward to seeing how theyre going to out-do this one next year!

 

Had a great day Friday, video below, photos to follow...

 

I managed to get down there this afternoon for a bit. Always good to see the T9 in action, and everything seemed to be running pretty much to time until a Shoc Open in the last up mixed goods disgraced itself in Ropley station, apparently just after being brought in by the Ivatt. Spot the issue...



Credit to the goods guard (who I heard commenting: "It was all going so well"), strings were pulled and the goods disappeared into the headshunt behind the 08 with the timetable only ten minutes behind. Luckily, the shoc open was next to the up-end brake van, so it was possible to run the rake with a long fitted head for the return to Alresford.

 

Unconfirmed but I hear the Spring gala 2016 will held from 12th Feb to 14th Feb. Also to note the Spring gala will also be the last gala for 34007 which ticket exspires early 2016.