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?

 

I would imagine just because the timetable is behind. Happy to be corrected though.

 

What a superb first day of action at the Spring Steam Gala.

I arrived at Ropley just after 9.00 to find the car park field nearly full. Great news for the railway's coffers. Speaking to one of the volunteers later about advance ticket sales I was told that they were 20% up from the last Gala. I haven't seen the railway this busy on a Friday for a long time. I think the first Tornado event was the last time most of the trains were standing room only.

The Watercress Telegraph guide to the event was very nice and hopefully it will be a regular occurrence at future Galas.

The T3 encountered a problem when leaving Ropley on the 9.20 mixed train as it came to an abrupt halt just outside the platform. Another attempt at departing was made more successfully this time and she gracefully headed off to Alresford. Not sure if there was a brake problem.
After watching this I then caught the double header with 11456 & 52322, the duo giving a lively climb up to Medstead. Another change here to the service hauled by 41312 got me in position at Alresford to catch the 11.15 full line service hauled by the T3. It was clear that most people had attended the Gala to travel behind 563 as the train was standing room only.
563 made a superb climb of the bank until going into a very big slip in the deep cutting going up to Medstead. Some excellent driving kept 563 going up to the station.

Now it was time to head back to Ropley to capture 52322 charging through on the freight in fine form.

Another very popular train was the non stop Bournemouth Diversion express recreation as it seemed that everyone was heading to Alresford for this. Even though it was formed of eight coaches it was still packed. This run was the highlight of the day. 35005 handled the train brilliantly. She started away from Alresford in typical Bullied fashion with a big slip but then eased into the task as she headed for Ropley.
Ropley was passed non-stop with seemingly all of the shed staff and volunteers coming out to proudly view the flagship loco taking centre stage. 35005 sounded brilliant forging up to Medstead. Wonderful stuff!

The next service I caught, the delayed 14.45 from Alton, four coaches hauled by 52322 was another highlight of the day as the loco slogged up the climb to Medstead at around 7 or 8 mph.

Overall an excellent day which I thoroughly enjoyed despite the problems encountered with the lineside fires. The railway's staff and volunteers coped brilliantly with the problems and kept the passengers updated regularly.
The timetable was delayed by about 30-40 minutes when I left just after 5.00pm. Not bad considering the problems encountered earlier in the day.

A big thank you to everyone involved with the event. It looks like it will be a big success for the railway and deservedly so.

I will be back again with my Dad on Sunday and I can't wait.

A few shots from a very enjoyable day:
Double Header at Ropley:


52322 on the freight:


T3 waits for its next duty at Alresford:


Double Header framed:


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I was at the window of the carriage so can tell you what happened, the handbrake in the PMV had been left on. Once they'd found a key and unlocked it to take it off everything was fine from there.

 

T3 was popular and quite of lot of people standing between Ripley and Four Marks.

 

I was one of them in the Bulleid carriage behind the loco. Been busy since I got here just after 10. Hoping to end the day behind 35005 after a trip behind the LYR Tank.