GCR Winter Gala 28th - 30th January 2011 - The Banbury Cross

Timetables now available from the Great Central Railway's website...

Lewis

 

I presume 3850 is scheduled for some serious mileage on the freights? (nowt wrong with that of course!) as I can only see one half trip for it on the Sat/Sun passenger timetable...

 

Likewise loco B, with no appearance on the passenger timetable between 1032 and 1605! :lol: I'm sure they won't be standing idle though.

 

Lets hope 1450 (loco B on Saturday) is due on the 1208 TPO drop, that would be quiet something!

 

Any ideas what way everything is facing?

Is it 1450 & 5526 toward Loughborough and 3717, 3850, 4953, 30777, 45305 and 61994 toward Leicester?

 

5526 faces North, everything else (including 1450) face South.

 

Why aren't the freight turns not on the timetable? Is this normal for the GCR or are they not running them at all?

 

Normal for the GCR; the Freight times/locos will be in the working timetable which is in the free Programme handed out to all ticket purchasers.

 

Thanks for that.

 

Elsewhere on the internet someone states the following for the TPO Runs:

 

I reached the same conclusion when I had a go at estimating from what wasn't in use on passenger trains or required to work a positioning move (freight/ecs/le/etc) to bring something else back. Not saying it's right, mind, I'm only estimating from the info available direct from the GC!

 

The K4 on the windcutters would be nice, as would the Black 5 though I guess 3850 will get a fair share of turns on them.

 

Where does it state which letters (i.e: A, B, C & D) correspond to which locos? I'm planning to be there for Saturday so specifically interested to know what the locos are for that day. I will buy a programme (and platform ticket) when I arrive but would be nice to have as much info as possible in advance so I can plan my time better.

Any idea what time the booking office at Luffaburra will be open from on Saturday morning?

 

There's a small note between the Up/Down timetables listing which engine is which for both days.

 

So there is! Ha ha - there I was looking at my print out unable to see what's right in front of me. FAIL!

 

Epic fail ;-)

 

Looks like the weather will be playing ball this weekend and I was just wondering whereabouts I can obtain a silhouette from on the GCR, preferably from a non-lineside pass area?

Cheers,
Lewis

 

There's a decent shot across the resivoir, if the light's good late evening you should be good for a silhouette, if not, you'll still get a decent shot as long as it's not too foggy... It's on Kinchley Lane, towards the Rothley end, ie if you're coming from the Quorn direction carry on past the railway and follow the road until you come to the resivoir, if you reach a sharp 90 degree right hand curve you've gone too far. Theoretically you could shoot from just about anywhere along the wall, but personally I find the best spot to be just shy of the building in the corner of the resivoir. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gdenscombe/5302566489/in/set-72157625573772523/ (I wish I'd taken a longer lens that day, but you get the idea).

Other than this, there's a shot south of Quorn... At the junction between the car park exit and the main road, there's another road turning at a right angle from the main road, Chaveney Road I think it is. Continue down here until the end of the road, and follow the footpath. Keep walking until you see the obvious shot. I've seen a shot done similarly north of Quorn quite often, but I'm not sure if it's accessible to the public, nor am I sure exactly where it is!

Hope this helps. Similarly I'm considering photting for the day without resorting to Woodthorpe or the traditional Kinchley Lane shot!

EDIT: You MIGHT, and I really emphasize the word 'MIGHT', be able to get a silhouette from Fielding Road (footcrossing just north of Leicester North). I think even by this time of year the sun may well be too far round by sunset though, I dare say it would've worked for the Santas (might try this year :lol... It'd be a bit different if it's doable, though I suspect the locations above would be a much safer bet. If you've got access to a car it might be worth going mid afternoon to make a decision for later.

 

Thank you very much...a new location may be used now

Lewis