ELR AUTUMN STEAM GALA 14/15 OCTOBER 2017

It doesn't look tired and no one at the ELR was shocked at it's condition, so pretty much all of it

 

Enjoyed my day at the gala. 60009 looked great. Cared for, but a bit work-stained that's all. It's much easier to imagine Aberdeen or Perth with a finish like that.

I agree about the Crab ... a personal favourite.

Interesting to see the Hunslet 0-6-0. It looks better than I expected. An interesting might-have-been.

Trains were well loaded today, especially behind 60009. Platform ends and viewing points were perhaps rather too crowded. Still, I hope the ELR has made a decent profit.

 

As I said in my earlier post, it was great to see the signs of N0 60009's hardworking summer. One of the reasons why she is my favourite A4 is that she has never been buffed up like a show pony, she looks what she is, a hardworking engine achieving great feats day in and day out.

I remember at an earlier Autumn ELR gala, Ian Riley's No 44871 returning on the Sunday after a busy summer in the Highlands. Filthy but magnificent!!

Peter on a balmy Manchester evening
http://pjhtransportpix.zenfolio.com

 

Really??? Rust scar near to the Springbok, hand rails to cab almost down to metal, grime over the paintwork, generally poor appearance when compared with the Crab, Class 27 and the Hunslet which were all shiny. As for mainline appearance well its the first grubby looking mainline loco I have seen for a while. Recent trips have seen pristine locos. I accept the paint has faded over time but the grime accentuated it.

Talking with some of the ELR staff at Rawntenstall while USA was being watered, they said that they were a bit surprised at it's appearance on arrival.

I will take the evidence of my eyes and ears...

That said, she sounded and performed really well. The last run to Heywood was a joy. So sad that for the foreseeable future she looks like she is going to stand around doing nothing.

 

Just as I said carewarn which is what you would expect at this stage in its operating cycle. I'm sure if you want to fund a repaint Mr Cameron would be delighted to hear from you.

 

Get out your cleaning rags and lend a hand you ungrateful man.

 

Perhaps Mr. Dobbs would like to tell us how clean he keeps his A4. Oh, hang on a minute..........

 

I dunno, you'd think the same would be true of an overhaul! I'd vote in favour of its current appearance, mind.

 

Apologies for the poor crop, but this photo shows the condition quite well. It's a loco that is well looked after, but is lightly work-stained. It's the kind of weathering that can happen even after a single run that includes wet weather or numerous bridges and tunnels. Personally I like it like this and I think the criticism is a little unfair.

 

'You can't win em all'
Some folks like to see a grimy hard working loco. others want shiny sparkly clean. It wasn't 'dressed up' for the event but the greasy oily bits seemed to be in top class nick and.............that's the most important bit. An A4, coming to it's end, in decent mechanical condition, and looking a bit work stained..........what's not to like?
Of course, I'm guessing that if you felt in the mood they'd welcome you one morning at 06:00 at East Lancs, hell,I'd bet they would even supply the cleaning materials. Get stuck in to the job.

 

So I make an OBSERVATION, not a criticism, and the usual suspects get all indignant. Deny what I saw, which has been confirmed in other posts that USA was not looking in show condition and dispute conversations that they were not party to.

A normal day on NatPres....

 

My offerings for Sunday, first one is the ECS to Rawtenstall (why does it have to be ECS instead of passengers?), timetable went well until near the end and it eroded by about 20 minutes. Thanks to everyone as usual for the event, we shall be travelling in 2 weeks time at half term.

 

Thanks for these pics. We were riding the trains, so only able to get shots in the station areas. These are great.

 

Thanks Tim, I think it was a great weekend for all (except City of Wells lads), autumn leaves, no rain(!) and a nice little pop-up café by the arches at Summerseat.

 

Number 9 is booked for a photo charter, tomorrow I think, and likely a request has been made not to clean it during the weekend; so it will out be earning for both the railway and the owner.
As @Tim Light said above it doesn't look much different to how it would appear at the end of a main line trip, and it doesn't take long for certain areas of any engine to build up a layer of dust.

 

I have a feeling your 'observation' generated exactly the reaction you intended it to.

 

Correct Scot it is tomorrow and I'm on it, the idea, as with most photo charters, is to recreate something from the past, in this case a typical A4 in the 60s. Sort of 12 in to the foot scale modelling

 

The only issue I can see with turning out a work-worn A4 is that it should be stripped of it's 64B shed code and have it replaced by 52A!

 

It's not that careworn that it can masquerade as a Gateshead engine!