STEEL, STEAM & STARS II - Llangollen Rly - 18 to 26 April 09

They are on the walls too!

Glyn even managed to convince me to buy from his box of NatPres shop stock...

 

I know.. I now have a nat pres badge

 

http://railways.mjspencer.com/gallery/m ... itemId=975

Some photos from four days at the gala.

An excellent gala. I spent two days on the trains and two days photographing and videoing. Well Done chaps =D>

 

Cheers Ralph. Unfortunately I was only there for an hour of the charter. I had arrived on time but had to drive to the location, and couldn't find the train anywhere! The fog kept moving; one minute you could see for miles, next thing you couldn't see the car in front.

 

Lovely set of photos nice to see something a bit different than the usual 3 quarters shot with the sun over your shoulder could almost be the cambrian in the 1950s.

Would be nice if the Bluebell could keep the Dukedog in black as it could act as a roving ambassdor for the line would love to see it on the West somerset one can dream.

 

Having spent two days at SSS2, I can only praise the efforts of all those involved in the planning, sourcing, organising and presenting this amazing specatacle. The sheer number of volunteers who turned out to run this event bears witness to the fact that our hobby is very much alive and kicking. The only grumpy faces I saw were on those being asked to pay a small fee to enter the platform space at Carrog - miserable *b******s!

Whilst a lot of affection is being heaped on the locomotives (rightly), I was completely blown away by the Thompson buffet in the' blood and custard' set - absolutely STUNNING !

http://johnleyland736.mediaobject.co.uk/p57767554.html

 

Hi all,
I really enjoyed SSSII.
The Dukedog looked great in black and it seems it can pull a train with quite low boiler pressure.
The Night Goods was great fun too, how minging is it in the tunnel?
I wonder who the blokes snoring in the coach on the reception siding were?
I like the 10 RB crane by the sleeping coach, is that the only one on the railway?
Well done to Will, Quentin and all the rest of the staff for a great event.

I Like Cranes.

 

I can do no better then directly quote from "60017" above: "Having spent two days at SSS2, I can only praise the efforts of all those involved in the planning, sourcing, organising and presenting this amazing spectacle. The sheer number of volunteers who turned out to run this event bears witness to the fact that our hobby is very much alive and kicking".

I too was completely blown away by the Thompson buffet in the' blood and custard' set - absolutely superb, as was the Beavertail.

I was there on "4-4-0 Day" and "Scottish Day" and all trains looked full - certainly the ones we travelled on were very busy (we were hiding from the weather!)

I still got lots of lineside stuff both days and they are available here:

http://teamhotosbyeilarvey.fotopic.net/c1583425_1.html

A great event. Best of luck to the Betton Grange guys and I can't praise you enough for putting SSS2 on. Looking forward to SSS3.

Regards
Copy Pit

 

One more day to go... and of course tidying up on Monday.... then back to the smog and work 9am Tuesday.... we're all having a cracking time, but we're all just about ready to crash now! Running on adrenaline

 

Ben,

What you are really trying to say is that you have finally had to do a real days work, or even a weeks work :-#

Brian

 

Spent a very enjoyable day at SSS2 on Friday, highlight of the day was a spirited run behind the Dukedog on the freight. Looks like Danny Hopkins was enjoying it too!!

 

Just got back from a very enjoyable day's linesiding. Wet start cleared to some lovely sunshine and beautiful clear light which seems unique to the Llangollen. Started the day at Llangollen station and within 90 minutes I had seen 6 locos 2 of which i'd never seen before (Morayshire and Mayflower)-what a start! The timetable frequency was up there with Severn Valley galas with locomotives everywhere, terrific fun :-D First time i'd seen Royal Scot in steam and yes it is very red! What makes it look a little odd is the buffer beam is a very dull red, it's usually the other way round! Still an impressive machine though and nice to see it in action. Star locomotive for me was 'Mayflower', absolutely immaculate and the model B1 in the tent at Glyndyfrdwy was equally impressive. 5 star event and big thanks to all the volunteers and organisers.

 

I've just got back to South Wales from Llangollen via Coalbrookdale and Powis Castle. Well, what can I say? I was at the gala on Friday, and was impressed from the moment I saw Royal Scot simmering on platform 2 at 09:55. It was a fantastic day out, and the late night running was a must (after getting some provisions!). I also managed to ride behind all locomotives apart from 5526 (I was sort of plumping for Morayshire, a real gem of a locomotive!), and really enjoyed the amount of double-heading going on. Being a Southern fanatic, I did feel a little sad about the lack of such a locomotive in the months leading up to the event, but when the day came, I was more than happy with the line-up as it stood. I particularly enjoyed the brake van ride I had behind 9017; hearing it go into second valve close-up was a fantastic experience (which was just as well, as I didn't get round to doing it last time, too engrossed was I with 34081 in Brunswick Green!), and she looks the bee's knees in black! =P~ So congratulations to all concerned.

Now I have eulogised the gala itself, my only gripe (I know this may not be cricket after all the hard work you chaps have obviously put into it, so I hope those concerned take this as constructive criticism for the future rather than a dig!) was the £5 entry fee for the beer festival, which I wanted to attend, but decided against in the end as being relatively poor value for money. 8-[ As a veteran of several CAMRA beer festivals around the country, a £5 entry fee usually includes a couple of quids' worth of beer tokens to spend at the festival, and any unused tokens go into a charity box (in this case, it could be for 6880) which is counted at the end of each day, and the money deducted from the takings. :-k £5 just to get in was a bit steep for my liking, although to be fair, I suppose it means that I could have returned any time I pleased had I booked to stay in the area for a few days. But the fact of the matter is that I, and a few members of my family and a mate of mine who went last weekend were only there for the day, and decided to stick with the trains. But, enough with the 'grumpy old man' syndrome, it was on the whole an absolute must-go, and is worth the accolade of the year's biggest gala. Once again, congratulations! =D> =D> =D>

 

What can you say, Big Thanks to the 6880 lads for putting on a fantastic 9 days and especially to Will for that last minute surprise visitor (6100 \/ ) =D> hope you enjoyed it too mate . Thoroughly enjoyed the last few days, the scot was magic on friday night, and 9017 & 5199 last night - well if you were on either of those trains I hope you enjoyed the ride. Will try and get down later for the cavalcade but am a bit cream crackered

 

I thought it was a bit steep but when I went to pay my fiver I was informed that as I had a sticker for travelling it was only £2.50 and you get to keep the glass. Perhaps this should have been publicised a bit more as the fiver entry fee probably put a few people off :-k


Neil.

 

A BIG congratulations to ALL the team at Llangollen, and obviously particularly the Betton Grange team. I really couldn't fault the event, and I am really intrigued as to how the bl**dy hell you're going to beat this one!!!

As part of the rather large (and rowdy - sorry) group who invaded from Tanfield/Foxfield Railways, we have all been involved in organising events, and even though our events are on a microscopic level in comparison, we know how much effort is needed!!!

Thanks particularly to Will Naylor for making us welcome... I know loco cleaning isn't exactly the most difficult part of running a gala, but I hope we managed to give a little bit back towards the event.

You see even us industrial loco nuts can get stuck in with mainline stuff occasionally...!!!

http://john-robinson.fotopic.net/p57753015.html

 

Damn. In that case, I would have gone if it was only £2.50 for those with stickers! I suppose the confusion would have been avoided if a comprehensive display of information was on the platform, maybe something for next time? The £5 entry fee certainly put me off, and you know how it is when something puts you off, and you don't bother asking questions later. But I think the token system I hinted at earlier would be a good idea, it certainly works at Swindon beer festival, and a lot does end up in the charity box if people can't stomach another pint before returning home! Otherwise, I really enjoyed my day out, and I think (despite their grumblings about the timetable getting behind by 20 minutes-you can't please everybody!) the older two generations of my family enjoyed it too. Looking forward to the next one, maybe with 30777 Sir Lamiel in attendance?!?

 

Well done to the team!

I had a great day there yesterday & managed three round trips, but could really have done with at least another day to see everything (& probably a day linesiding).

I used Arriva Trains from Birmingham (& the bus shuttle) for just £12.10 - cheaper & easier than taking the car!