Bluebell Railway Terrier Gala: 29th - 31st July 2022

Quite! And very much a right time, right place, talking to the right person moment.

And yes, despite the issues faced by the Railway it was a thoroughly enjoyable day (but for me, any day here is!) Footfall yesterday didn't seem as heavy as I would have expected; whether that's because of No.70 being withdrawn or simply a sign of the current economical climes I could not say. I only hope the weekend has at least covered its costs.

 

You suggest I discuss again? I'd discussed with the guys crewing W11 and responded accordingly in my earlier post?
I can only assume that they have experience with handling of small boilered locomotives - they certainly gave that impression.

 

Post 55 deals very well with this. It would be unlikely to find a steam railway where nothing leaked , clanked or was ''offthe beat''. Hardly worth comment.

 

Indeed

 

You made the fatal mistake of criticising something from the Isle of Wight, you've got to understand that everything done there is beyond reproach!!

 

Well at least Saturday went better than Friday! W11 gave a great account of herself I thought.

Some photos now up at https://railwaygalleries.smugmug.com/Bluebellphotosets/Fenchurchs-150th-Birthday-Bash/



Video also available

 

Evidently so
There's me not imagining I was passing any criticism - just what I gleaned from the crew.

 

The comments in post 255 are straightforward. No problem with them at all.

 

An enjoyable afternoon at the Bluebell today with my family despite the problems. A good ride behind W11/65 up to Kingscote and a wander around both HK and SP. Special thanks to the driver of W11 who was allowing footplate visits and providing enthusiastic explanations of the loco during the wait at Kingscote, I've never stood on a working Terrier so this was a real treat. I had no idea W11 has 'extra' brasswork in the cab as a result of the visit to the Paris exhibition.

The atmosphere did seem quieter than a normal gala, so perhaps either financial concerns or the issues with the visitors meant some punters stayed away. I hope the railway makes some cash from the event, and I for one am very much looking forward to seeing 'Fenchurch' back in steam. Perhaps no 70 could come back for a 'Terrier 150 and-a-bit' visit when it's finally ready.?

 

Had an enjoyable day, took 80151 (which sounded in very good form today, up to East Grinstead and then back down to HK, then spent the rest of the day with W11 and 65. I agree Jdwitts above that numbers did seem a bit smaller than I'd expected and seating was easy to come by.

Fenchurch is going to look great when ready and I'm sure there will be another opportunity to see 70 and 72 running together in matching livery, hopefully at the Bluebell (if so 3rd time lucky hopefully for 70) but almost certain Fenchurch will end up popping over to the KESR in the not too distant future.

 

Had a really nice day yesterday, did feel rather quiet, for large parts of the couple of hours we had at Kingscote over lunch there were about five passengers there, our family accounting for three of them, but that wasn't while 'Newport' was there mind. Had two nearly full line trips and an enjoyable few hours at Kingscote then Horsted Keynes. Hopefully despite the disasters it has all still turned a profit for the railway. Video up, photos to follow later this week. As always thank you to everyone involved in getting the event together.

 

We enjoyed our visit on Friday, shame about Poplar failing (we were passengers on that train), but gave us time to enjoy some of the live music in the field and a ride all the way through to East Grinstrad which we wouldn't of done otherwise.

 

Some photos from a great day last Sunday...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alts1985/albums/72177720301007771