Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

Thanks for the warning. I shall make sure I am away!

 

That incredible gathering was being rumoured at the Mid-Hants Spring Gala and I was trying so hard not to think to much about it in case it was just a rumour with no substance.

But it does seem to be gathering pace . . . .

And the Mid-Hants woud be an ideal place to stage it seeing that Basingstoke to Woking is unlikely to be made available for a MN bash before 35006 goes out of ticket . . . . .

I can't pick up likely dates in the Mid-Hants 2025 Calendar at present?

Bryan

 

Fingers crossed.

 

The Autumn Steam Gala is the 3rd to 5th October.

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Many thanks. No sooner read than it's in my diary!


Bryan

 

Hmmm.........

Muggin's 'Ere, rreally is beginning to question his sanity......... having spent all day being baked & herding cats with @Hampshire Unit running a charter with the T3, he had no intention of being atop the hill yesterday, well, not first thing, but the body clack had other ideas & he was woken at the same stupid hour as he was on Friday!!

So, to the utter surprise of the others, he was on parade for brekkie...... not that he did a lot during the day, as Medstead seemed to be the place to be, with folks from the charter taking the oppertunity to photograph the T3 in the station, a location that for once we didn't do on the charter, it was only polite to stay and chat, then you had folks from the railway also appearing & staying for a ctach up, along with old friends paying the line a visit!

So, in between all that, Muggin's actually managed to do odd jobs whilst the rest of the lads tackled jobs on the steel highfit & LMS van......

It was good to see plenty of folks out enjoying the railway & with 563 & 35005, what was not to like?........Plus it meant that Muggin's finally managed to capture 35005 on a sunny day!!!!

Sorry, no pics from yesterdays activities, but a bumper offering, with some more from the gala, charter & yesterday!

Yesterdays comings and goings.......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54496201945/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54496044939/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54495856861/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54496117218/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54496202590/in/dateposted-public/

The first few from the charter........

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54494310829/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54494474115/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54494472760/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54494126046/in/dateposted-public/

The gala.......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54490052070/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54488850127/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54489896864/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54489897794/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/duty_druid/54488849627/in/dateposted-public/

 

We enjoyed a trip to the Watercress Line specifically for a ride behind T-3 563. It is a beautiful locomotive and is even better than the photos I had seen. The locomotive really has a decent bark and a fair turn of speed.

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We (me, my Dad and Sister) spent another very enjoyable day on the railway today getting some mileage in behind the beautiful T3.

Glad to report that the railway was very busy again today. So busy that the West Country Buffet was already sold out of some of the food on offer by the time we went to order our lunch.
After enjoying our lunch we boarded the 13.00 service with 35005 to Ropley before swapping over to the three coach Alton set with 563 when she came up with the 13.45 service from Alresford. She arrived under a threatening sky and there were a few spots of rain as she set out for Medstead. She had a few slips but made a steady climb. At Alton the rain arrived with a vengeance as a heavy downpour hammered down on the carriage roof. This might prove be a challenge for the tender first T3.....
563 again made steady progress up the hill despite slipping rather a lot.
We stayed with the T3 for the rest of day returning back to Medstead on the 15.45 service from Alresford. 563 made a very lively run on the section from Alresford to Ropley.
After the rain had stopped for a while it decided to start again for the run up to Medstead where we were going to change over to the other service to get back to Alresford.
We set off on time with the T3 getting off to a good start but she soon started to lose her grip on the wet rails in the deep cutting. The crew of the T3 eased her up the final part of the climb into Medstead station, the train rolling to a stand just before 35005 came into view. After boarding the CanPac service the sun came out!

Thanks to all at the Railway for another great day out.
It was good to see the line so busy on a normal service day. Hopefully the Bank Holiday weekend was very profitable with additional people coming to travel behind the T3.
The T3 is a cracking loco and a real credit to the folks at Swanage. Thanks for allowing the visit to the Watercress Line. She has definitely gained some more fans during this visit.

Here are some of my shots from a very enjoyable day:

T3 enters Ropley before the rain arrived:


563 waits at Medstead for 35005 to arrive:


35005 rolls into view:


Passing place:


Alton run round:


CanPac departs Ropley:


Graceful run round at Alresford:

 

A lovely report, many thanks.

But I can't get to the photos, I get a message saying I don't have permission to view them!

BRyan

 

Apologies. I am having problems uploading images to the forum at the moment.

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Problem now sorted. The pictures should work now.

 

A very enjoyable two days at the MHR. Got some good shots, some good sounds and a cracking run behind the T3.

The hectic pace of life at a country station.
2025-05-04 MEDSTEAD & FOUR MARKS MHR 9045 by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2025-05-03 35005 ROOKWOOD LANE MHR 8974 by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2025-05-04 35005 ALRESFORD MHR 9025 by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2025-05-04 35005 MEDSTEAD & FOUR MARKS MHR 9050 by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2025-05-03 LSWR 563 ROOKWOOD LANE MHR 8997 by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2025-05-04 LSWR 563 ROPLEY MHR 9070 by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

2025-05-04 LSWR 563 ROOKWOOD LANE MHR 9084 by KING COBRA 92, on Flickr

 

On slipping: if you work out the factor of adhesion, a T3 has a lower figure than just about anything else, I think only a Schools has a worse figure (i.e. high tractive effort relative to adhesive weight). At least a T3 isn't superheated, so you get a quicker regulator response if it does slip, but perhaps not too surprising if it is light on its feet, based on the raw numbers.

Tom

 

The T3 struck me as much more light footed than 925. The other oddity was that unlike 925 and pretty much anything else, there’s literally no warning, no tell tale half slip or slight shudder, nothing, it just goes.

Still lovely though.

 

Glad you had a good day. My wife and I visited on Saturday. I think we had better luck with the weather which was warm and sunny. Again the railway was very busy with two coach parties on the 11:00 from Alresford. Both locos were superb and I particularly enjoyed the run up Medstead bank behind the T3. Admittedly it only had 3 coaches on but it was lively and noisy. I've only experienced it at Swanage before which of course is not so steeply graded.

 

Was your run the 13:45 off Alresford? I was on that and the racket from the front end was an aural treat.

 

Glad you also had a good visit on Saturday and that the railway was also busy on the first day of the long weekend.

We did have an excellent demonstration of the T3's good turn of speed and power on the section from Alresford to Ropley yesterday as the crew really got her making a wonderful noise as she worked up to line speed. After that the running was more cautious due the rail head conditions as the T3 suffered from adhesion problems. On the run back from Alton it sounded like she was slipping most of the time.

 

How long is the T3 remaining on the Mid-Hants?

 

Down for a Swanage 140th anniversary train on the 17th, but of course all diesels this weekend at Swanage, so may still be at the MHR over the weekend but will need someone from the MHR to advise on any use.

 

That first picture is an absolute belter - a lovely composition with a real period look to it. An LSWR loco arriving at an LSWR station with a tall LSWR signal in the background. That's my type of picture. Well done. Thanks for posting it.

Peter