5643 for Ribble Photo Charter

Following on from last year's successful industrial photo charter on the Ribble Steam Railway, another event has been organised for Friday 5th February featuring the Furness Railway Trust's 56XX class 0-6-2T 5643.

The locomotive will haul a specially-prepared rake of up to eight coal wagons plus brake van; while it has appeared on freight trains in preservation before, this is believed to be the first time it will have worked a coal train charter.

The charter will be another all-day event, starting at 09:30 and finishing at approx. 17:00. Despite the fact that the line is only one and a half miles in length, there are plenty of different photo locations available, including several angles of the unique road and rail swing bridge.

Special arrangements have been made that will allow photographers access to the balcony of the Dock Control Tower, which gives an unparallelled road/rail swing bridge and the dock entrance. In addition, further locations will include exchange sidings, shed yard, station, lock gates, river bank, level crossings, Penwortham New Bridge, Navigation Way and Strand Road.

5643 is only visiting the line for one weekend in order to star at the Winter Steam gala on February 6th & 7th, so this is a unique opportunity.

The price for charter attendees will be £45 per person. If you'd like to know more or are considering attending, please PM me for further details. Cheers!

 

Full details of the charter have now been agreed with the railway.

Several improvements have been made to the day's proceedings since the previous post and the price has been reduced to £40 Reproduced below is the text from the information flier:

Following on from its highly-successful Industrial Freight photo charter last year, the Ribble Steam Railway is pleased to announce a new event for 2010.

The specially-arranged full-day photo charter will take place on Friday February 5, and will feature the Furness Railway Trust’s ex-GWR 0-6-2T 5643 on what is believed to be its first coal train in preservation. The locomotive, currently in BR green livery, is visiting the RSR for one weekend only, so this really is a once-only opportunity. The freight train itself is expected to consist of eight wagons, including 4 x 16 ton steel-bodied mineral wagons, a 21-ton wagon of similar construction, two NCB hoppers and a BR hopper, plus either one or two brake vans.

Locations along the whole one and a half mile line have been arranged, with some unique trackside locations such as the swing bridge (with gallery positions on the control tower balcony and tidal basin lock gates, not accessible to the public), catch points, level crossings (gated and ungated), river bank, shed yard and exchange sidings.

New for this charter will be an evening photo shoot in the sidings, featuring a lineup of the four locomotives (in light steam) taking part in the following day’s Steam Gala – 5643, the Furness Railway Trust’s ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Cumbria, the RSR’s identical Walkden and star of the previous charter Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST John Howe.

The train will depart Preston Riverside at 1000, returning at approx. 1630 in time for the evening shoot. Some trains during the day will be ‘topped and tailed’ in order to reduce the waiting time; the other loco expected to feature will be the line’s BR blue-liveried Hunslet Class 05, D2595, due to both ‘03s’ being unavailable. All efforts will be made to ensure the diesel remains ‘out of shot’ unless specifically requested otherwise.

The price of the charter is £40 per person; there is no maximum number of attendees this time.
As all who came on the previous charter will testify, these events are well-organised and every effort is made to ensure photographers get the shots they want.

To book places on the charter, please contact Andrew Fowler by private message for a booking form. Last opportunity for booking is 1 February 2010.

Attached are some photos of the previous RSR charters and one of the last RSR Steam Gala

 

seems a good deal but does the railway honestly think they have a chance of preventing 'freeloading' considering there are numerous public vantage points along the line

 

Sadly, from expierience of dealing with 'enthusiasts' who arn't prepared to pay £12 for a Gala ticket - I wish you look at £40. Still, 5643 is a fantastic loco and comes with a great owning / support group. Has anyone got any links to the Russ Hillier Photo Charter at Embsay on Wednesday 13th January? The only on I have found is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omGK47DJkJc

How does Russ deal with the issue of 'freeloading'???

Regards,
Will.

Embsay

 

with the issue of freeloading if there is a public right of way there is nothing you can do about it whatso ever likewise if the person is on privte property and has written landowners permission to be there

 

Go on then, I'll bite. What was/is the 'correct' way to do it?

 

I would also be interested in seeing what is the best way to do it.

Although if this is to start as a topic then can we please start a new thread?

We are supposed to be talking about Ribble Charter and not how Embsay charges for its gala?

This has allready been in the press and is a bit long winded.................!

As Embsay are no longer holding a steam gala this year it would appear that no one has 'won'.

Hopefully it can start again in the future but as most enthusiasts wont be bothered, its mainly done for the members and as a member im gutted!

Anyway, I would love to have gone to see 5643 at ribble but I am however working and im not into fots at a charter and can't afford it but wish you and the FRT the best of luck. I think £40 is a very good price though!

Called into the shop and bought some stuff there on a santa weekend and must say I was very impressed!

Once again GOOD LUCK Ribble.

Smiler

 

there is loads, in fact most of the vantage points along the ribble railway are public. the only place i can see providing benefit from paying the full price are the swing bridge and the museum station itself for the after dark shot. Its worth paying if you have the full day available, unfortunately that excludes me.

 

1 ) Politely asks what person is doing / why they are present at a private function
2 ) Politely requests payment for continued presence
3 ) If no payment forthcoming then advises intruder to P**S OFF in strongest possible terms.

 

While ‘freeloading’ may be thought to be an issue, this isn’t the first time a charter has been run on the RSR - and it didn’t occur last time. The charter has only been mentioned on this forum and in selected charter lists (and for this, my thanks to Spamcan 81 and Sidmouth), so is not in the general public domain. Vague details have been put on the railway’s website, but the itinerary will only be sent to confirmed attendees. Any ‘freeloaders’ could be in for a long wait!

A great deal of effort has been made to organise this event, and a large part of it will involve gallery positions out of the public areas. Some of the shots will be taken from public footpaths and road crossings, but any ‘freeloaders’, of course, will have no control over the run pasts etc. - while the charter organiser (myself) will be in direct contact with the loco crew by radio telephone to ensure those paying for the privilege get the shots they want.

So, in terms of gallery positions for the day, there are fourteen in total available (though not all may be used, depending on what the attendees want, and of these, only four are located within public access areas - so you can judge for yourself about freeloading opportunities!

As well as at the swingbridge (from the lock gates and control tower, of which neither are accessible to the public), locations are to be at the sand drag (between station and swing bridge), exchange sidings and from railway land overlooking the river. Additionally, we propose to do a number of runs in the station yard area. The evening shoot will be the highlight of the day, and there will be specially-organised lighting in the shed yard to give the best opportunity for good photographs. The opportunity to snap four locos in steam is a rare one at Preston, so adds yet another dimension to this event.

There is always the possibility of making the evening shoot available to more people by charging a £10 fee for this part, but it would depend on the feelings of those already booked on the charter, and if there was sufficient interest.

At the end of the day, if there aren’t enough people willing to put their hands in their pockets, this is likely to be the last charter the RSR run; this would be a real shame, as the collection of wagons include some real gems that otherwise may not get restored, let alone run in a train.

 

A quick update re the photo charter. Owing to a number of requests, the evening shoot is being made available to those who are unable to attend the full day, for a cost of £10.

If anyone wishes to attend, please PM me with your e-mail address and I'll send you the details.

5643 arrived at the RSR on Monday (25th) evening.

 

well I am certainly interested in the evening shoot, as I said earlier I cannot make the day, but can the evening. pm on the way

 

For those that have been folowing this thread, there are some comments, and some truly excellent photos, in the Steam Gala thread:

http://railways.national-preservati...le-Steam-Railway-Steam-Gala-6-7-February-2010

 

I really regret not being able to make it after seeing them shots. good stuff