Mid Hants Railway - End of Southern Steam Gala 1-2, 8-9 July 2017

Thank you for that plug kind sir. Pity the shop at the MHR doesn't stock my two Pen & Sword books. When I talked to them yesterday they hadn't even heard of the publisher, probably now the most prolific railway book publisher! If you like these books you might also like 'Bulleid's Pacifics' available only from Amazon. It has details and photos of all 31 locos saved from the torch

 

92 SQDN does look good.
Don't forget next Saturday runs late, last Passenger arrival at Ropley at 21:40.

 

What a great day, top marks to everyone who had a part in organising it. @Spamcan81 will be pleased to hear 92 Squadron was best in show in my opinion, really great job.

 

Yes 34081 wins "Best in Show" from me too! The runner-up was 35006 with 80078 "highly commended" for the shiny paintwork! Glad to see 34081 has got some nameplates now - it didn't look finished before. Have happy memories of it double heading with 34023 (or 21c123 if you prefer) on the Bluebell some years ago.

 

Arrived at Ropley this morning and the car park was busy. Nice that the sun was out today and made for some great photos. Look forward to next Friday.

 

Yes agreed, no doubt about the top loco again today. Sounded superb pulling 5 plus the dead 33 at Bishops Sutton. The only true Bulleid there

 

That was in 1998

Chris

 

Another cracking day today. Mobile picture of an unexpected bonus at Alresford with a fair bit of Bulleid shunting this afternoon:

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

Brilliant day yesterday - for me, at least, the late dispatch of the locos in the morning was a bonus as all but one (34081) were sitting in Ropley yard when I arrived, really acting to recreate the loco preparation scenes of the 1960s. I think one thing that was appreciated by many people was the variety of workings, with the van train, shuttle, engineers train behind the 33, and the brakevan special, along with the various double headers, of which my favourite was definately 34052 and 34053. I spent the day around Alresford and Ropley, but will be returning for at least one more day next weekend! Photos from yesterday below

 

Wrong!! 21C123 didn't steam until 2000!

 

Two from me today. Very enjoyable day, definitely making up for yesterday.



James

 

Another great day today despite more late running. A massive thanks to those who organised it and looking forward to seeing videos of next week's set pieces.

Finally got a full ride behind 35006 and reacquainted with 34081 which is loco I've always loved having seen it may times in the late 90's and early 00's (I think I last her her at the Bluebell nearly 10 years ago).

After today I think I have been behind most of the Bulleids that have steamed so far in preservation either on a preserved line or main line

MN - 35005, 35006 and 35028 (don't think I got a trip behind 35027 but seen 35029 at York and may have seen 35018 at the MHR).

WC/BoB - 34007, 34016, 21C123, 34027, 34028, 34046 (and as 34052), 34053, 34059, 34067, 34081 and hopefully 34092 next week (plus I've seen 34051 at York and MHR, 34058 and 34105 both at MHR as well).

 

It's obvious why 34081 was the star. Malachite Bulleids >>>>>> all other Bulleids. Wish more owners would realise and act accordingly. Also, while we're on liveries, it wasn't until you saw them together that I realised how amazingly different the shade of green is on 34053 compared to 34052 (which tallied with that on 35006).

Cracking day yesterday, some initial photos up at https://railwaygalleries.smugmug.com/MidHants/End-of-Steam-50th-Anniversary/ with more to come this Friday all being well.

 

A lot of Bulleid paint shades seem different. The Spam Can BR liveried Bulleids have a darker shade of green certainly on 34007 when it ran and on 34092. 34053's seems to be the same as 34070 (understandable given the owners of them both) but most other rebuilds seem to be lighter such as 35006 and 34052.

 

Just what we need, another livery debate involving Bulleid Pacifics!

 

Not a debate, but rather, a question which perhaps @Spamcan81 can answer. I am a great fan of the Southern and Bulleids in particular. Among the many books on Southern steam in my possession, I can't recall seeing a single picture of a light pacific wearing the variation of Malachite livery which 34081 now carries. There are plenty of pictures of the SR-built locos with 21C1xx numbers and the circle on the front of the smokebox saying "Southern" (think of Eric Tracy's pictures at Victoria or Grosvenor Bank, circa 1946-7) but even by May 1949, when it undertook trials on the Great Eastern, 34059, while still in Malachite had not only been re-numbered but had already acquired a BR-style smokebox numberplate. So my question is how many Pacifics ran in the current livery variant carried by 34081 and for how long?

Thanks

Ps: Don and Brian: -I'm hoping to add yet another book to my Southern collection if I get over to the Mid Hants this coming Friday or Saturday!

 

John. Plenty of good Southern books in the shop but they don't stock Pen & Sword so my two aren't there. In fact they have never heard of P& S. I am there again on Friday so will look out for you

 

BR Loco green does come in several shades, it depends on what you interpret as the right shade, It is i believe GWR chrome green, but that also changed due the pigments used in each batch, someone did publish a colour chart, showing, what people perceive as being BR green , and it i believe had as many as 12 shades, some regions also favoured a certain shade.and whilst it is " BR green" it will show as being clearly not the same as what somewhere like Swindon would have used .

 

My Bulleid record is the same as yours with the addition of 34070. Have you not seen that one or did you miss it off the list by mistake?

 

You are correct - the event I'm thinking of was Giants of Steam in 2000. I think 34081 visited the Bluebell the following year as well during the Summer but I didn't see it then.