Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

Indeed, 30925 on the 14th and 506 on the 15th is the plan

 

I agree with @21B, the Ivatt is the perfect choice to bank 60103 - she just looks the part!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/49623846572/in/dateposted-public/

And 506 'stealing' the limelight......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/49623581646/in/dateposted-public/

 

A few shots from super Sunday at the Hants...




James

 

Whats the arrangements with the Bullied coaches next week? Is it 3 on each steam hauled train or all making up one set?

 

All in one set

 

Popped into Ropley for a couple of hours this morning. Unfortunately, sun came out after I had to come away! I was a little surprised at what seemed to be fewer numbers than I expected although parking was comfortably busy and FS train was well patronised. Other services had plenty of seats from what I could see. Hopefully event will have been profitable for the railway. Will post other snaps on Flickr.

 

We were there from 0800. Much quieter than expected and got some nice shots. Completely over the top with security staff most of whom had nothing to do. What a complete waste of MHR money. The four MHR locos doing well and recovering lost time. FS nice but not much more than a show pony being pushed around by the little Ivatt tank. Good morning out though.

 

Thank you.

Do you know which services it will be running?

 

Popped in to Rookwood lane late this morning but noticed on my way a fair few photographs at Ropley Soak taking photos of Scotsman crossing over Grovsventor road bridge.

 

I was there yesterday on the 11.00 off Alton, the 1.50 Flying Scotsman. We then went to the Triple FFF brewery tap at Medstead and caught the last train back to Alton.

All the trains we were on or saw were well loaded bar the very last one. You couldn't access Alton by mainline train, which may have put off some day rover people who were going to pay on the day and seen them go another day.

I can understand the security. They were part an investment in ensuring there was less chance of the line ending up on the front pages due to an issue. (The bridge at Ripley post FS was a potential flash point with some charging for their next train and others trying to watch. It was well managed by the professionals. In contrast a couple of the volunteers trying to control the one way system at Ripley shop were rather frazzled by mid-afternoon.)

They also did jobs volunteers may not have been keen on, sitting on Alton station bridge all day distributing lanyards may not appeal too much, and generally reduced the volunteer head count required.

We accidentally ended up in one of the newly restored Bulleid carriages, a lovely job done at Ropley and a credit to all involved.

Truth be told our favourite part was Medstead. It was quieter and the personal touch/interaction of the volunteers shone through which just wasn't possible elsewhere. It was also lovely waiting on the platform watching Cheltenham emerging out if the dark ahead of our departure to Alton. Neither me or my wife had seen a steam loco arrive at night before, given the usual timetable, and it was wonderfully evocative.

A lovely day out and many thanks to all the volunteers who have put in so many hours in recent weeks to make it all possible. I'm sure the businesses at Alresford echo those thoughts. We nipped into a few pubs and shops and there were a lot of people mooching around wearing FS ticket lanyards, spending money.

 

Isn't Joe Public already confused between Flying Scotsman the locomotive and The Flying Scotsman the train? Putting a "THE FLYING SCOTSMAN" headboard on a Mid-Hants train won't help.

 

Similar concerns led to many Dean 4-4-0s losing their geographical names, after it was alleged some old biddies at Paddington, who'd clocked the loco Weston Super Mare's nameplate, wound up in Brum.

 

I understood that Weston Super Mare was a suburb of Brum

 

Only in the Summer.

 

No idea I'm afraid, only that it will be with 506 one day and 925 the other. I don't know if it's the set switching diagrams or the locos though.

 

Another very enjoyable day at the MHR yesterday. Arrived a bit earlier than last Saturday (29th) as we came by train and rail replacement bus service which worked very well and ran to time.
(We couldn't visit by car this week as my Golf decided to pop off one of it's turbo pipes on the way home last week and I am having trouble getting hold of a replacement. The curse of Flying Scotsman perhaps!?)
Anyway, it was very strange arriving at Alton and not seeing the old footbridge there anymore. We collected our blue Lanyards from the very polite and helpful security guards on the new footbridge and boarded the service hauled by 506 to Ropley. Bagged some shots of Scotsman arriving before heading off to Alresford for another delicious lunch in the West Country Buffet. We were travelling on the 13.50 Scotsman departure and boarded as soon as we were allowed to get out of the biting cold. The only down point of the day was the very rude lady who claimed that we were sitting in her seats. She wouldn't have it that the numbers on the windows were the ones to use for the seating arrangements. She was furiously stating the numbers on the seat heads were the correct ones even after we explained how the system worked. Clearly people don't read their e-mails very well as I had one last week explaining the seat numbers were on the window cards. She stormed off stating "what a stupid way of doing things".
We departed right time with a hefty shove from 41312. Throughout the outward trip we could hear both 60103 and 41312 working up the bank as we were in the middle of the train. The return journey had a great soundtrack of 41312 hammering up the bank from the Meon Loop to Medstead. Didn't hear anything from 60103. Still plenty of observers along the route yesterday. Arriving back at Alresford we made our second visit of the day to the Gift shop which was doing very good trade. Ended the day with some shots of Scotsman on her final trip of the day before heading home. Once again thanks to everyone invloved in this event. Hopefully the MHR has done well from this event.
A few of my shots from yesterday:
60103 Climbing into Ropley:

THE FLYING SCOTSMAN:

60103 takes water as 76017 as waits to enter Ropley:

Beware.....

Waiting for the right away:

Right away!

Peoples Engine:

Cheltenham powers out of Alton past the Flying Scotsman service:

Scotsman runs round the Meon Loop:

 

Would someone be able to tell me what diesel loco is running on the 15th. Thanks in advance

 

Does anyone know when 60007 Sir Nigel Gresely visited the Mid Hants Railway in the 1990s please? I have some undated photo's that I'm keen to place if I can.
Any help much appreciated

 

According to my spreadsheet ( I have not looked for the actual prints) I have at least two pictures of the loco in Ropley yard taken on 10/03/96 and some lineside shots 04/05/96