Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

Does anyone know which locos are rostered for service tomorrow, Sunday 6 April please?

I am assuming 41312 and 30506, lovely locos, but I was just wondering if 35005 might be in need of a leg stretch . . . . . . .

Bryan

 

I

Ivatt Alton and S15 Alres

 

Many thanks.

Bryan

 

S15 had failed today so a 47 was on its diagram with the Ivatt on the other. Bit of a shame for my first visit to the Midhants in 15 years, but these things happen. Thought it might be busier after the railway started in countryfile last week, but trade still looked steady. Very impressed with the setup at Ropley, and the Bulleid coach we rode in. Here’s the Ivatt arriving at Ropley: https://bsky.app/profile/simonhickman.bsky.social/post/3lm5ufv3yxk2d

 

Crickey, someone turned the outdoor heating up atop the hill yesterday & Muggin's 'Ere managed to leave his bottle of water at home......... at least it got demolished when He returned!!

With Me Oppo & Me Mucker both being awol, it was left to Muggin's to organise the four lads and keep thwm gainfully employed for the day......

Three of the lads were charged with getting the steel highfit up to a decent spec, which involved getting all that was in red oxide in to dark grey undercoat & getting the bodysides into a uniform colour, to avoid shadowing when the gloss goes on........ they were also going to attempt repairs to the bodysides, but due to the nature of where the holes are & battering the sides have taken, it would be impossible to weld in new steel!

But could we find the fibreglass repair kit, that was in the workshop PMV t'other week?....... could we 'ecker's like!!! So, that job will have to wait until we have the kit.

So, that left Muggin's & Matey to one of those jobs we'd being putting off until the weather improved....... namely caulking the northside internal cladding planks on the LMS van....... and seeing as how Matey had been taking the Mickey out of caulking over the last few weeks, Muggin's had decided it would be the perfect job for him!

Summat tells me that he won't be taking the Mick out of any other jobs for sometime for fear of having to do that job..........

Still, in between all his moaning, we managed to get the job done, along with getting the country end ply sheets into second undercoat - at least he was happy about doing that & finally stopped moaning!!!

Some pic's of yestrdays comings & Goings......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54433709641/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54433958808/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54433900424/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54433959018/in/dateposted-public/

The countey end ply on the LMS van looking smarter.




The internal cladding on the north side finally caulked........


The steel highfit starting to look good.

 

It is great to see the Watercress Line getting good coverage in the Railway press with feature articles in the latest issues of Trackside and Heritage Railway (35005 is also on the covers of both magazines).

Some news items from the article in Heritage Railway:

-The article in Heritage Railway reports that 73096 was sold to help pay off some of the loans that the railway took out during the pandemic period.
The Standard 5 should be staying at the railway as "there are currently no plans for it to leave the railway again". However, there are no plans for it to return to steam anytime soon.

-The article also reports that 34007 Wadebridge won't be venturing onto the Main Line just yet. The first few years of service after this overhaul will be on the Watercress Line/Heritage lines.

-92212: The overhaul will be completed as a contract job at Ropley with estimated return to steam in 2027. No decision has been made on where the 9F will be based after overhaul but there is a hope it may stay at Ropley for a short while.


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All interesting news - did it give any indication as to when the overhaul of 34007 may be complete? It really can't come back soon enough as the railway is still short of serviceable steam locos despite the re-appearance of 35005.

 

Yesterday, atop the hill, was a school day for a few of the lads.........

Now that the fibreglass repair kit had arrived, when the subject was broached, two took two steps back leaving one......... none of them had ever done this before, so after going to the hightfit and getting inside the frames, Mugiin's 'Ere explained & showed the process (without actually doing it) and left him to it....... he nay not have liked me for getting dropped in the deep end by the other two, but he cracked on with it & by the end of the day all but one hole had been covered & one hole actually plugged. For someone who'd never done fibreglass repairs before, he's done a first class job and should rightly be proud of learning a new skill!!

As for the two who bottled tackling the fibreglass repairs, it was a case of becoming mixologists and choosing the shde of Bauxite that the highfit will going into...... it's not rocket science to mix two different paints together in differing qaunties to produce a colour you're happy with, but do think those two could grasp the concept?...... could they 'Eckers Like!!! Muggin's 'Ere had to explain everything more than once & alomost do it for them!!!!!! So, i eventually they produced n the end they were left to get on with it......... eventually, they produced a colour they were happy with & started to get the highfit up to spec & by the end of the day, most of the bodysides inside & out were into gloss.......

That left Muggin's 'Ere & Matey to crack on with jobs on the LMS van....... main one being to bring the internal cladding up to spec on the north side, as well as the inside face on the door.........

Given the heat & the drying times of the paint, it was possible to get everything undercoated & into gloss - it's starting to look like a van again!

It was nice to see the passing trains well patronised & also to see Dave at the head of a train, even if it was with a box on the back....... so, some pics from yesterday.....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54449112568/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54448869196/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54448005447/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54448004627/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54448004782/in/dateposted-public/

The north side of the LMS van coming along.....


A couple of pics of the Highfit, the colour is what the two lads have chosen....... the fibreglass repairs on one end can also be seen.

 

Apologies for the delay in replying but it has been a bit hectic here as I had to take my Dad to the hospital for an operation.
There is no estimate given for the completion of the overhaul of 34007 in the article. With 41312 coming out of ticket in 2026 something is going to have to fill the gap as the railway will have just 506 & 35005 available (with Dave & a diesel helper as another option).


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Having seen the pictures of 563 on shed at Ropley, Would the engine have likely worked over the mid hants during its active days, are there any records of t3's on local workings and where would those workings have been to, If working a Southampton to Alton Train, would they have returned tender first, or ran beyond Alton to Guildford and turned and been serviced there? we are of course talking ,pre war Southern days, so when was the Guildford to Alton line electrified, ?

 

There was a small turntable at Alton - when it came out of use I don’t know.

I have my doubts about whether the T3s would have run local trains on the line after electrification, the M7 seems to have dominated that duty. Prior to that though the train service was more of a through route and T3s would presumably have been an option on Guildford to Southampton or Fareham services.

 

Not sure if 563 ever worked over the Mid Hants before but it has been a "local" engine in the past. It was stored in the Electric unit shed at Farnham (located along Weydon Lane) for a while before going into the British Transport Commission museum at Clapham.


Info taken from the Preserved British Steam locomotive website:

"It was finally withdrawn in 1945 and joined the ranks of locomotives outside the works at Eastleigh awaiting the torch, but preparations for the centenary of Waterloo station were under way for 1948 and 563 was chosen to represent the old London & South Western Railway. It was partially restored and painted in the early Drummond livery of the LSWR

On the closing of the exhibition, 563, together with other exhibits, was stored at the back of Farnham electric carriage shed".

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I think towards the end of its working life, 563 was used on local goods duties around Eastleigh, so not beyond the bounds of possibility to have worked over the MHR. (Not proof that it did, but it worked in the area).

Tom

 

Peter Pickford, who for many years was the booking office clerk at Alton, told the story of the night when, due to building work, he was on night duty to keep an eye on the safe. Come the small hours of the morning and he was woken by the crew of a loco stuck on the table part way round. So, never mind the safe, he had to give them a hand to push the table round. (Apparently the table was so cranky that the amount of water in the tender had to be just right, or else.)
Pat

 

For a change, Dear Reader, the Saturday gang decided for once that they'd like to experience what a Friday was like atop the hill, meaning that we could all experience the novelty of what a Saturday morning lie was!!!

And so, nine like minded nutters gathered.......... to say it was peaceful with no PWay about is an understatement!

After the usual breakkie from the bakers - who opened up early easpecially for Muggin's 'Ere it was time to crack on with things......

Five of the lads carried on with the steel highfit, with two of them more or less finishing off the fibreglass reapirs between them, and then joining the others in getting into more gloss, either of the choosen shade of Bauxite, or black from the solebar down......

Another job on the highfit, was to check on the condition of the few floorplanks that were saved when the wagon was stripped....... and seeing as how some ends had become rotten, it was decided that these were unfit to be used as flooring again, but could, once suitably cut down, be ideal as bearers for the crane grab to rest on, meaning that we now need to treat & fit new planks before the hightfit can once again join the running fleet..........

So, that left the four remaing soles to crack on with a few jobs on the LMS van....... one was to change the temporary bolts on the south side door stops - nice & easy, execpt for the fact that we've actually run out of bolts of the correct size, length & head!!! So, that's one for another day........

Another job was to bring the internal cladding, along with the inside face of the north side door into second gloss, a job that Muggin's 'Ere started whilst me two muckers were bolt hunting, but He had to bail out for a bit late morning to meet @Hampshire Unit on the first up train, so that the pair of us could do a recon of potential places for an up & coming charter........ to say the train was absolutely rammed with familes enjoying the Easter Bunny trains, was an understatement!!!

So after lunch, Muggin's helped finish off the internal cladding & then helped his Oppo in getting the north side solebar & other bits into first gloss.......

The wagon is now starting to look smart again!

Didn't manage to take any pics of progress, but did manage a few of the passing trains........

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54463016942/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54463852496/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54464211460/in/dateposted-public/

 

Good to hear that the trains seemed to be well loaded, The railway needs the income, and lets hope the spring gala does as well.

 

I visited the railway Easter Saturday, trains seemed very well loaded and the Easter Bunny train was pretty much every seat full.

I noticed 506 had the centre section of cladding removed from the boiler whilst passing Ropley yard and the stripping work appeared to indicate that a forthcoming boiler lift maybe happening soon. Lets hope the old girl is restored to full health in the not too distant future.

 

I too hope that 30506 will be back in service very soon. But, with my limited (non-existent?) engineering knowledge, a possible boiler lift does suggest to me a longer term repair. Especially if other issues are revealed when the boiler is removed.

With 35005 being held back for special events, does that leave just 41312 to handle all normal steam operations; ie full length trains?

I am sure the Mid Hants will be reviewing all their options, maybe including putting 35005 back into more regular service. And perhaps in seeing if 34072 can be hired back again for a period of time.

Fingers crossed a cost-effective solution can be found to keep the lovely steam operations on this railway going on a similar basis as they have been for a long time.

Bryan

 

I'm not so sure about short term hire, If the MHR is going to hire another of SLL's fleet, it needs to be a longer-term hire, possibly involving more than one engine over that time span, What I mean is it has to include the time when 34058 returns, as that's still an SLL loco, so agreement is signed where by SLL base an engine, on the MHR, indefinitely, it might start with 34070, or 34072, then 34058, and possibly 34028 in between main line duties, if it needs a base closer to London, it kind of makes sense.

 

Another excellent video from Will Stratford and the team at Watercress Line Productions. Link below. They are always a good watch. Definitely a cut above the majority of YouTube videos.

The Lymington Branch A fireman’s story from the final day - With Paul Warr