Watercress Line Spring Steam Gala: 25th - 27th April 2025

There is sill a freight shown for 35005 ex Alton at 1550 but surely this should be LE?

 

I do not see the loco or the freight set leaving Alton on anything earlier than this.

 

Why would it be LE? It takes the freight back that arrives at 13:19. The exact same as it was in the original timetable.

 

Sorry (another) senior moment.

 

I would hardly suggest a line as short on motive power as the Mid Hants losing one of their resident locos for a prolonged period is anything other than on the bad side of things. Regardless of what locos you want to see at a gala, this has bigger implications than just a single weekend

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First off: Would you guys please just... like... chillax for a few moments, the Watercress Line knows what it's doing and everything will work out in the end.

Second: Not everything has to be written down for all to see, sometimes you just have to make your own judgements.

 

Hopefully all locos now planned for the Gala will operate as planned, and that some reports and photographs of today will appear here soon.

My ticket is for tomorrow and it will be nice to see 35005 back running again as it doesn't yet appear on the normal days' roster yet, as well as SR (LM) 41312; the only two locos here that interest me since 30506 has sadly had to be taken out of service for some vital repair work to be done.

But no doubt the visiting loocs will attract a lot of attention and hopefully help make this a decent money earning event for the Mid Hants.

Looking forward to some time at Medstead and Four Marks, which ranks with Goombridge and Horsted Keynes on my list of very pleasant locations to spend time at SR heritage railways.

Bryan

 

It was all going well but we have now just had reports of lineside fires being dealt with between Ropley and Alresford and Ropley and Medstead.

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Sound like caused by 52322

Unbelievably busy here today, can't remember a Friday being like this for a very long time

 

My likes are for the reports and not for the news about lineside fires. Did that area miss the many hours of rain we had in Kent from early Wednsday morning? Too late now to pick it up on the Rainfall Radar I follow.

Nice to hear it's very busy for the railway. But I think that, along with the fires, may persuade me to follow @Big Al comment about steam on the main line through Haslemere tomorrow (on another thread). And then maybe get to the line in time to start my day with a photo of 35005 on the 10.20 Alresford somewhere.

Bryan

 

Well Swanage certainly did not and the local weather map that lunchtime had the rain band moving across the MHR towards Kent. At time here it was biblical in proportions, raining from around 2100 to about 10:00, but I am for one not surprised about the fires, it has been very dry for so long some will run off and some will not penetrate to the undergrowth. Just hope for the railways sake any fires do spread to any crop fields nearby if they are planted this year.

 

Can only speak for Sussex where I am but while we had a dousing of rain earlier in the week it was (a) patchy and (b) the only rain of any note we've had for about 6-8 weeks

 

The 1510 (Alresford-Ropley) and 1535 (Ropley-Alresford) have been cancelled.

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Problems? Or just a result of the lineside fire?