GCR Last Hurrah 2018

Looking great on the express this afternoon! Plan to be back for the full day tomorrow, weather looks good.

 

Also just asking if any1 else knows on nat pres A E Draper saved 45305 at his yard in hull cos it was 1 o the cleanest B 5,s in his scrap yard and may ave had a special place in his heart 4 it?

 

My footage of this event. Note, 92214 and D123 not seen.

 

Video from an excellent day and a half at the gala.

 

I made a visit to the railway from Bath yesterday. I thought the gala was well worth the long trek.

I managed to arrive to see the first train and because the gala was so good I was still there in the evening to witness 73156 and the 8F on the last departure from Loughborough.

45305 looked and sounded superb. The loco is a credit to the railway.

As the timetable stretched to three pages it was an all action event. Many thanks to the GCR for such a fantastic and successful gala. <BJ>

 

My latest footage, enjoy.

 

The results of a day's photography the Swithland area, with nigh on perfect conditions throughout, can now be viewed on my Zenfolio website at: - https://mickrogers.zenfolio.com/p91241669
Another excellent event at the Great Central, and my thanks go to all who had a hand in it.



Cheers,

 

Very enjoyable day on Saturday, plenty of action and never too long to wait to see another train. Many thanks to all concerned. It was indeed perfect for photography, I seem to have pretty similar pictures to a few others on here - which is no bad thing!

 

Great photos Mick, I was stood next to you for this one . In fact, I see myself in this one !

Another terrific event at the GCR, good to see the trains were well loaded. I imagine the 'last hurrah' for Cromwell, the return of the 5305, the weather and the fact there wasn't a huge amount else on this weekend all helped. Hopefully the railway did well out of it.

 

Looking at the brilliant photos above, I must have chatted with a number of you over the weekend!! Yes, an excellent couple of days at the GCR 'Last Hurrah' over the weekend. The weather (after gloomy starts!) was brilliant and the locos all looked superb, especially 45305 and 73156. The timetable was excellent with plenty of action throughout both days. Numbers seemed reasonable although a few others commented that the numbers of lineside photographers seemed down particularly given the weather which was as forecast.

One piece of news I picked up is that the railway may well withdraw the issuing of lineside permits at the end of the year. This is rather sad although not completely surprising in today's risk averse culture and Im sure it will result in loss of revenue for the railway since other photters I spoke to said that access to the lineside for photography was one of the main reasons for coming to the railway.

Anyway, thanks once again to all involved at the GCR for running another wonderful event. I'll post some images on Flickr in due course. Andy.

 

On the line side access page the website currently says they aren't accepting new Lineside Permit applications.

 

This event may well turn out to be the last hurrah at the GCR for me after I rang the GCR this morning to enquire about renewal of my line side pass which is due to expire at the end of January 2019. The lady that I spoke to could only tell me that the line side pass situation was still under review by management, and that all current pass holders would be informed by letter of the outcome of their deliberations in due course. I don’t know if she had listened closely to what I told her about the expiry date of my current pass, but she told me that I would only be able to use my current pass up to 31st December of this year, which begs the question of what the GCR intends to do to compensate those whose current passes expire after that date.

If the GCR does decide to pull the plug on lineside passes, then I will certainly be looking at where the £300+ that currently flows from my bank account to theirs every year could be better directed elsewhere.

 

No surprise really, it has always seemed strange that the only double track Heritage Line had so many lineside pass holders when most single lines have withdrawn the facility. In the 21st Century it is really irrelevant if we believe there is no risk, it is once again down to the Insurance industry, and a legal culture that would try to overrule whatever disclaimers you may have to sign.
A great shame none the less.

 

In many ways though the fact it is a double track former main line rather than a twisty branch line is what makes it more safe... in that the line is incredibly straight