Mid Hants Railway Autumn Steam Gala: 19th - 21st October 2018.

As the gala is all but upon us, it must be time for my shameless plug on behalf of all the hardy souls in the wagon group!

We will of course be in attendance - you'll find us at Medstead on the up platform manning our sales stand & also on the QMB when the freight runs.

At Medstead, our sales stand will have all manner of railway related bits & pieces along with this years must have, limited edition wagon, a Crowleys of Alton Brewery van with a choice of two numbers, either 21 or 22 for £13 or £25 for the two - see photo below (not mine). They are rather smart & if I had a layout, I'd have them both running on mine!

As well as the sales stand, we will also be giving yard tours on a turn up & go basis, so you can see what we get up to 1st hand (for a small donation - £2 per person would be nice, thank you. ) and if you time it right you'll be able to get some shots of the trains that you wouldn't otherwise be able to!

We will also be in attendance on the QMB when the freight has it round trip - lets the guard get on with his job, and we can keep you safe, and answer any questions you might have about what we do & the "troublesome trucks" we look after, the suggested donation for a single trip on the QMB is £10 for adults & £5 for kids - numbers are limited & it is on a 1st come 1st served basis AND it is the best way to see the line plus you're going the have haulage by 3 loco's if you do the full round trip!

So please do come & see us at Medstead & on the QMB - we're a friendly bunch.

 

All ready for kick off today......
Foxcote Manor on shed at Ropley by Arle Images, on Flickr
Prairie Tanks on shed by Arle Images, on Flickr

 

Very nice! Looking forward to my first gala turn tomorrow, and hoping there's a good wind blowing up from Ropley to Medstead - a whole day at the top of a 1 in 60 on a heritage railway at a gala, the hardship, O' the hardship...

 

So would I, but unfortunately the wheels are too far apart for my (n gauge) layout...

 

This is starting to feel reminiscent of Swanage last week, with services already over 30 minutes late. It does seem strange that organisers of these events can't spot the timetable flaws which are easily seen by people on this forum. People don't pay their money to sit stationary at signals for prolonged periods!

 

And that with absolutely no information for the mugs, sorry, paying public as to why the timetable has descended into utter farce. From my experience of the Autumn gala season there are a number of heritage railways that seem to think that passengers do enjoy spending their money and time waiting at signals for unnecessary freight trains to run late in the opposite direct...

Andrew

 

Been out lineside, Alresford trains started this morning about 15 down, recovered to about 10 down and the last one that passed me at Bishops Sutton about an hour ago was 7 mins down:- have things slipped another 20 mins since then??

 

Anyway, weather is good today.....
Double Copper by Arle Images, on Flickr

 

Well I just left Alresford on the 14:10 at 14:10.
30 seconds down maybe?
Doesn't feel like any issues from where I'm sitting

 

Well 5199 has just passed Butts junction on up service presumably 1310 ex Alresford so I reckon that’s 31L in case that helps anyone!

 

13:55 from Alton still there at 14:30 - everything delayed by shunting the preceding freight.

 

Just announced at Alresford that the 14.35 shuttle service from Alresford has been cancelled due to problems with the freight train delaying the other services. Bugger. We were going to catch this.

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Ahh there you go...all OK then the freight has a problem....just popped into town via the station and caught the announcement re the shuttle.

 

Now we have the freight at Alresford and 41312 & 80078 performing shunting moves. Getting really behind schedule now.

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Has there really been a problem with the freight or is it just a case of not allowing enough time for the various shunting moves?

 

Please try to remember that some of us were still unloading 7822 and coupling it to its tender and raising sufficient steam to tow it to Ropley and we didnt arrive until 2300 last night, before going to work this morning. Whilst your criticism is not invalid you might like to reflect that the people who write the timetable and fail to spot the flaws that are so easy for everyone else to see, do so in their spare time between other commitments, and that the prime motivation is to provide an interesting gala for everyone else to criticise. Most of the elements of the timetable have actually proven robust over many galas, so I am surprised it hasnt gone well....I dont know why I am not there .... but it isnt possible to allow for every eventuality that can take even the best plan by surprise.

 

Isn't all this late running just part of a steam gala.

 

All those complaining about the late running, I'm sure Both Mid Hants and Swanage, Would love your help getting things set up for the event etc.

 

It really isn't that difficult to just catch an earlier train if things are starting to go pair shaped. It works both ways at galas, more adventurous timetables mean things can get out of hand quite quickly, but it also means there are more services to catch if you need to meet a train connection etc.