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

Almost managed to resist wading in... I was at Alton on the 1355 & had hoped to go to Alresford and then come back with 925 to get a ride behind everything, but had to get off at Ropley due to the 1355 being approx 45 late so I could get home for another commitment.

But so what? I had a nice morning & afternoon riding around and taking some photos & thanks to all at the Mid Hants for making it possible.

 

All in all, it was a really good day, in glorious autumn weather, and thanks should go to everyone involved. I think some of the frustration at the delays is because of it following on so closely after the problems at Swanage last weekend - which obviously are nothing to do with the MHR. However, it just seemed that the sequence of moves which caused the early afternoon delays with the freight at Alton was so unnecessarily complicated - why couldn't Cheltenham have taken the passenger set, then the 9F takes the freight into the platform, and the two tanks take it back out? Removing the 9F from the freight in the loop didn't really seem to make sense, bearing in mind the locos available, and created a lot of extra hassle for the shunting and signalling staff. Cancelling the shuttle then made sense (it should have been the Manor, which was still trapped at the other end of the line), and letting the 9F up to Medstead instead of holding it at Ropley was also a good move. Nevertheless, it still left a lot of volunteers working their socks off to try to regain time, because of a sequence that was questioned on here in advance of the event (not by me I hasten to add).

Personally I do enjoy seeing the freight, and watching it at Ropley on the way up, it struck me that there can't be too many better freight consists around.

Finally, I'd like to reiterate my first statement - it's a great event, and thank you to everyone who works so hard to put it on.

 

The forecast is great for the rest of the weekend so head for the sunny South and enjoy a wonderful Gala and maybe a last ride over the Butts bridges beforevtheboriginal MHR brick arch is demolished!

 

My thoughts as well, when I go to these events I go to see the railway, its progress from my last visit, the locos, the rolling stock, so a few trains run late so what I see it as part and parcel of the day go and find a Bar have a few stiff ones time flys by afterwards.

 

Not long back from the gala. Excellent line-up of locos, really good weather and a lot of good work put in by a lot of people to organise it, but oh dear what a mess with the timetable!
I got on what I thought was the 15o from Ropley to Alresford running a few minutes late, then found that it was actually the 14:20 running very late, which explained why it was 7822 not 925 as I was expecting.
I'll be back tomorrow, and hopefully the timetable won't go to pieces again.

 

Why should that stop you buying one?....... you just have to put it in a display case & hang it on the wall above your layout!

 

Just got back from the first day. A good day overall despite the problems with the timetable in the afternoon.
It was standing room only behind the Manor when we arrived at Alton this morning. She sounded great up to Medstead.
Spent a while at Medstead in the great weather and then headed to Alresford for lunch. We had the last steak and Ale pasties. Very nice.
Things went a bit wrong after this and we ended up being stuck at Alresford for a long time. Nobody seemed to know what was going on. Headed back to Ropley eventually behind 80078 which seems to have picked up stuck drain cock disease. Time for a bit of retail therapy at Ropley as I purchased two woolly hats from the 80150 folks (one black and one pink!) and a Calendar from the 7822 stall.
Then the highlight of the day as we waited to catch the delayed 16.20 RAT service with 7822. Enjoyed the sunset as we listened to her barking up from Alresford. The trip up from Ropley to Medstead was something else. What a wonderful sound as we forged up to the station through the cutting, the exhaust echoing under the canopy of trees. Well worth the long wait!
Kept my Mum happy with a real ale. She wants some more tomorrow! My Dad said he is buying tomorrow.

Hopefully we will be back tomorrow if SWR services are running OK. They were a bloody nightmare today. Outward train was heavily delayed and services were cancelled when we wanted to head home. Eventually caught one home though.

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What??? You mean they have timetable slippage on the big railway too?

 

How do you catch an earlier train after the timetable slips by 50 mins and the preceding train has gone?
I asked three members of staff at Alton what the delay was and each gave a different answer. It was very frustrating and you could watch all the intensive timetable if you were stuck on a very busy train at Alton.

 

Just a little bit. Don't know what happened this morning but an electric unit failed this evening going by the information board.

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Assuming the timetable can't be changed I hope new operating instructions have been issued to avoid the problems of today

 

It was pretty good until the

From what I've been told it was a specific, and relatively minor, problem attaching 925 to the freight. Unfortunately the solution took longer than expected. Tomorrow's and Sunday's freight runs should be unaffected. (Hope I'm not tempting fate here!) As for this afternoon, once the timetable slipped, it stayed slipped with maybe 6 or 7 minutes pulled back by the end of the day, although one run of the Alresford Ropley shuttle was cancelled.

 

Yes, I heard the same too. It wasn't a timetable issue, it was a genuine problem that had to be sorted out. So perhaps people can get off the backs of the organisers?

Anyway, it was an excellent day with great weather and the locos sounded excellent.
I particularly liked the Large Prairie coming up the hill out of Alton.

Here are one or two of my shots from today (Yes, I do have a valid PTS and permission to be lineside).


British Railways 9F - 92212 by Tim White, on Flickr


British Railways Standard 4 Tank - 80078 by Tim White, on Flickr


Southern Railway Schools Class 925 - Cheltenham by Tim White, on Flickr


LMS Ivatt 2MT 41312 / GWR Large Prairie 5199 by Tim White, on Flickr


British Railways 9F - 92212 by Tim White, on Flickr

 

Excellent images Tim, thanks for posting. Yes, I too had an excellent day at my 'local' gala! The weather was glorious, all locos sounded superb (the best presented must be the Standard tank - wonderful paint job!) and the trains well filled.
I admit that since I traveled by car, timetable slippage is not an issue for me; like the Swanage Gala last week, a train will turn up eventually (barring any major issues such as a derailment etc.) and I don't plan to ride behind specific locos; I enjoy taking photos and then hopping on/off as and when I feel like a change!
I never forget that the vast majority of people working an heritage lines are volunteers and I doff my cap to them all! I think we sometimes forget this and and such the folk at the railways are spending their own valuable leisure time providing the sights, sounds and smells we may take for granted.
Thanks to all at the railway for providing such entertainment!
Andy

 

Morning Medstead.

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Bloody Western engines, coming over 'ere...

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Ivatt, 1 minute ago.

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Muppet. You don't know what caused the slippage. Why do you think that it is the obvious flaws that everyone has easily seen?

 

Things going much better today.

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Not perfectly, mind!

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