Mid-Hants Railway | Autumn Steam Gala | 2nd-4th October 2026

Now sorted, that was for an earlier conversation.

 

Not sure if 41313 will be in action tomorrow as a few pictures posted on the MHR friends Facebook page earlier today showed work being carried out with the boiler in Ropley yard. Hopefully the good folk of Ropley MPD have sorted the problem.
35005 was in steam and being prepped in the background possibly as the replacement loco.

Pictures from the MHR Friends group:

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Saw 41313 head up to Alresford as I arrived at the railway this morning. Seemed alive to me!

 

Great news!

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41313 unfortunately failed at Medstead on the delayed Ivatt doubleheader. 41313 removed from the train and 41312 continuing alone for the rest of the round trip. 41313 heading back to Ropley.

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Wow! We just had a phenomenal run up the bank from Alton with 41312 on the delayed 16.30 departure. A full on assault from the plucky Ivatt tank. Haven't heard her work like that since she took a Daylight Railtour up the formidable bank at Camberley. Really going to miss her when she is withdrawn. A big thank you to the footplate crew for a brilliant end to the day.

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Issue with the ashpan and resultant fires I was advised by the guard at Alton

 

Yes, I heard this as well. Ropley MPD staff and volunteers were working on 41313 when we arrived back at Ropley with 41312. The Ropley station staff were not sure if she will be out tomorrow.

 

46447 got a little further up the climb before needing a breather on the 1005 from Alton this morning.

 

Good day at the Watercress Line today. Ivatt 41313 did appear to have been fixed as it was out and about early this morning and did an unscheduled extra duty by banking the 0900 Ropley to Alton as far as Medstead. Everything ran very well to time until about 3 pm when there was some timetable slippage which got a little worse until trains were about 20 minutes late by the time I left at 5:30pm. I'm not quite sure why - I think it was just that some shunting movements took a little longer than expected as is often the case. Actually the timetable was a lot more complicated than it looked on paper, with a fair amount of shunting having to take place at Alresford and Ropley to make it all work, so generally it held up pretty well.

Good to see 46447 at last, and 4247 for the first time in quite a few years. I understand that the latter is staying on the line for an extended period. The round trip behind the two Ivatt tanks at the end of the day was entertaining and noisy. 41312 does not look like a loco that's at the end of its ticket and seems to be performing as well as ever. Actually the paintwork on all three resident locos (41312, 30506 and 35005) is splendid.

I even quite enjoyed Hogwarts Hall despite my misgivings about the red livery. It certainly made a noise on the gradients.

Just one gripe - did they really have to put those "Last Hurrah" headboards on the Ivatts? Quite unnecessary in my opinion.

Apart from the headboards though everything was great so many thanks to all for organising an interesting and enjoyable event.

 

2 Ivatts.