What do you expect from a gala?

Not with regards to type of locos/coaches etc....

But what would make you enjoy a gala.

What do you expect from a railway when you attend. This includes fares, timetables and also any extra events/things to spend your hard earned pennies on.

And what would you like to see.

This applies to diesel and steam galas

 

An attempt to make formations as realistic as possible, within the railway's abilities. EG, GW loco running with GW coaches as opposed to LMS. Matching of rakes to motive power is something that is often not possible for every day running so I think this is an important element of the "gala atmosphere".

I agree with Martin about the theme. One of the best galas i've been to was the SVR branchline in 2002 where everything fitted the theme well and just felt...right!

Cheers,
Andy

 

whilst I appreciate it's a cost...

it would be nice to see certain rakes of coaching stock tour the country.

for example.. the LNER teaks or LMS Set, or even a Suburban set visiting certain lines ?

How practical would it be for certain rakes to be certified for hauling over the network, even as freight stock ?

 

Some original thinking regarding guests, themes and timetabling and something historically appropriate for the location that cannot be seen on a normal running day.

 

As someone who attends a large number of galas each year;

At least one interesting visitor - something usually out of the limelight is good and preferably not one that has recently done the rounds - 828 visiting the Valley or 42085 on the GC are good examples.

As few 'mainline' visitors as possible as I can rack up much higher mileages on a railtour. I do however appreciate that tours are outside of some peoples pockets and so these locos can be of great interest to others.

Some interesting pairings, preferably authentic, but occasionally something a bit silly can be interesting.

Timetables aimed at those who have bought day rovers and are paying to travel, not photographers, therefore coaching sets and liveries largely irrelevant. Freight trains should be avoided.

Timetable should also be written to squeeze as much in as possible as the West Somerset used to be, not as now. Trains should always be held for connections at passing places.

Loco rosters available on line before the gala to allow planning of moves. Do not charge me £5 for a piece of paper that tells me the big visiting loco isn't working trains today after I have driven 100 miles and paid £50 for tickets for me and my wife to travel all day...

All locos working on at least one of the days, unlike some lines that advertise 10 locos but only use 8 on a particular day (North York Moors is a good example, but there are many others). No engine should spend all day on freight / yard shunter / other non passenger use.

Food and beer available on trains and possibly platforms as well, sales stands also of interest.

Train heating if it's cold!

Regards

JP

 

Access to areas of the railway not usually open to the public such as sheds and workshops. Goods trains where possible but not to over do them. The WSR running Goods in the morning is a bit stupid I think as if you can not drive to locations at the start of the day you can not video the train, so a run at the middle of the day/a passenger train before if its at the start of the day or after if its towards the end etc applying to all railways. On board walk on catering services and extra stalls.

 

100 % agreewith those comments

 

I can sum it up in one word: Ambience.

Authentic loco/stock combinations (CCTs/Siphons and suchlike in the rakes), preferably to match the railway, plenty of (realistic!) goods trains, a bit of variety is always nice. Interesting shunts and suchlike - a pickup goods stopping at stations to pick up and drop off a few wagons. A loco being added to the train at a believable place - Llangollen Goods Junction, Horsted Keynes, Bewdley (although double headers only have so much appeal to me). I'm not a big one for mileage so I'm not bothered by a more relaxed passenger timetable within reason. Basically, if I can watch a train pull in and think 'to me, that looks right' a few times I'll be happy.

What I don't like to see at galas is 'gimmicks' - miniature railways in the car park, drive a loco up and down a siding for £5 (all snapped up before you get anywhere near), I appreciate an Ale tent is popular but doesn't bother me. A few interesting trade stands in an unobtrusive place is always good though.

 

Interesting points of view gents, Keep them coming...

 

Decent toilets, good food, decent bar, Friendly faces, clean coaches, easy public transport or parking are all more important...

if there's no loos, not much food and staff grimacing very time you wield a camera... It doesn't matter what your riding behind.

 

Big valve!

Also agree about rosters available in advance... Plus reasonably priced food/drink available on stations and ideally on trains too. It's all very well that you're doing a top class dining service, but if you're charging through the roof for a bacon cob the local pub will gain punters instead...

 

ADB - Don't you hail from Rammy?? Sounds familiar.

 

I like a nice busy timetable, with lots of movements to watch at stations between trains i.e. locomotives running round, shunting, trains being reformed etc etc. For example, I thought that the Chasewater Railway did this very well at Brownhills West during their March gala last year - great fun to watch while enjoying lunch from the cafe!

 

Bolton, (if it were open, Bradley Fold would be the nearest station), traded in my Lancashire passport 15, no I'm getting older, 20 years ago, I've not been T'other side of Holcombe hill in many years...
Have they built roads there yet, last I heard they still threw rocks at the moon ?

 

Would agree totally with the timetables and loco allocations being made available. In my memory, no free-loading photographer has ever "given up" and paid for a full travel ticket just to get a loco roster. Whilst I agree that the £5 timetable sheet is a good compromise, I personally tend to travel to target particular engines and plan most of my day based on engines hauling certain trains so it infuriates me to not know what engines are where until the day has already started at the ticket office! On a long line like the West Somerset (not singling this line out about timetabling - just saying its a long line!) if you miss one engine's round trip you may only get one more chance, or even no more chances if you've travelled far, to get it again which can be quite disappointing.

I like to see and photograph freight trains because photo charters (which are mostly beyond my resources) are the only other occasion where you can enjoy this neglected aspect of railway heritage, with a few rare exceptions (NNR Summer Sundays). If you can't run them at galas, when can you? Nice formations as well are a bonus. I often photograph AND travel at galas so I find that events that appeal to both these markets I enjoy more.

This may be more personal that generally representative, but I do use the public transport links sometimes layed on for a gala, as I will often travel by rail if the railway is a long way away. The WSR Taunton-BL bus link being a good example. Sadly, railways like Battlefield have not enjoyed my custom for this reason, although the recent Market Bosworth reopening has changed that this year.

Something I surprised myself at was how enjoyable a spin-off "rail replacement" heritage bus service was. It was a 60's event at Llangollen with two or three buses running from Llangollen-Carrog in between the trains. We gave it a go and enjoyed it so much we did it again later in the day!

I don't like inaccurate double/triple heading especially with larger locos. With the exception of galas where several of the same class are present (where I can see it would be fun to have 3 A4s say hauling a train), I just can't see the point in coupling two Deltics and a Class 47 together. More appropriate combinations with smaller engines (two Class 25s?) appeal more.

One last pet hate of mine is steam engines at Diesel Galas, although this argument has been done to death. I applauded the Severn Valley for trying a Saturday with no steam for their diesel gala last year. I "voted with my feet" and went for a full day out and lunch on the SVR that day. I hope many other diesel enthusiasts who had made similar complaints did the same thing to prove their point.

I've never minded too much about cleanliness, probably due to my own volunteering at events and recognising that a railway is often running at well over its capacity during its main gala event. If the loos are in a bit of state by the end of play on the busiest day then I tend to let them off Does anyone else hold this view? Although I also agree that occasionally some places can push the boundaries on this front...

 

Sometimes I wonder if the toilet in the film "train spotting" was inspired by a preservation loo...
If you need to go and your presented with farmer joes cow shed... Are you going to squat and forgive just because it's a busy day ?

 

Timetables that are far too complicated. I know it's not easy with varying length sections, but it's not a lot of fun sitting around at stations for 20-30 mins while 2 trains head the other way. Or sitting in Deeside loop in a Mk 1 suburban compo busting for the loo!

 

Wouldn't forgive a "cow shed", no, just saying that I personally don't blame staff or railways who can't quite keep toilets 100% clean when they can barely cope with ticket issuing and crowd control during a headline event. I think its just one of those things that goes with the dynamics of cramming thousands of people onto a rural branch line for one weekend each year!

 

Totally agree with this. If I know that an end to end journey takes an hour say, on a normal operating day, then I'm not happy if it takes an hour and a half with a 20 minute wait at an intermediate station. I have no problems with shorter waits, but for me 5-8 mins is the most that is reasonable.

Another thing I'm not keen on is "express services" running non-stop on branchlines, having to trundle through platforms at 5mph. Whats the point? It may as well stop!