Great Central Railway Autumn Gala Thurs 04 October to Sun 07 October 2012

A collection of my images from a gloriously sunny Saturday 6th October are now online at my Zenfolio site here: Mick Rogers Photography | Great Central Railway Autumn Gala, 6th October 2012

I spent the whole day at Swithland Sidings (along with more than a few other lineside photographers), watching a non-stop flow of steam hauled trains making full use of this new facility.

Thanks to everyone at the GCR for all the effort put into making this another great event.

Cheers,
Mick

 

hello
like mick i spent most of the day at switherland watching the none stop action it is a great acheivment to see it all working
my efforts can be seen at Zenfolio | steam photography
thanks to everyone who made it happen
regards
steve

 

Thanks to all at the GCR for another brilliant gala,I chose to spend yesterday on board and today down at the new locations at Swithland,needless to say it really is like a main line now and it's a credit to those who have worked so hard over the years,well done all. I have just uploaded 25 shots to my site at:

GCR Autumn Steam Gala 2012 - a set on Flickr

Cheers,
Mark

 

SR Schools Class No.925 "Cheltenham" (4-4-0) & SR King Arthur Class No.777 "Sir Lamiel" (4-6-0) at The Great Central Railway.

[video=youtube_share;9XTS6QHvpDw]http://youtu.be/9XTS6QHvpDw[/video]
Video now has more footage added.

 

Morning all, great time and great weather at the railway on Saturday, my photographic efforts are below.

GCR Autumn Steam Gala - October 2012 - Railway Galleries

Many thanks.

 

Attended on Saturday, thanks to all for a great experience

My humble efforts can be viewed at Zenfolio | CLIFF JONES PHOTOGRAPHY | AUTUMN STEAM GALA - 6 OCT 2012

Cheers

 

My shots from a glorious Saturday:


925 Cheltenham by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr


925 Cheltenham by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr


925 Cheltenham & 777 Sir Lamiel by Teenage Steam Photography, on Flickr

For the rest: Flickr: Teenage Steam Photography's Photostream

Thanks,
Lewis

 

SR King Arthur Class No.777 Sir Lamiel

[video=youtube;Kn7KWOYdk0M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn7KWOYdk0M&feature=plcp[/video]

 

SR Schools Class No.925 Cheltenham

[video=youtube;kNyPnaDR67U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNyPnaDR67U&feature=plcp[/video]

 

A friend who went to the gala has sent me the following short report.

"Gosh - it was good. 7 engines in steam, 3 passenger sets, a freight, a mineral and a TPO with 45mph running (including the 8F!) and no railway magazine stands anywhere. Probably the best gala this year-something I don't say lightly. Standing on the platform unaware of Sir Lamiel on the TPO hurtling through the platform (Craig Stinchcombe driving) not far from flat-out was awesome. The whole building shook. Cheltenham is a very soft-sounding loco but 48624 and 777 made up. Everything worked. OK-they got late but made every attempt to make up time which with the smart-running was possible.

Spoke to one of the 8F lads about the 'Moors gala' - they would have loved to have gone but no one asked.

 

So gutted I missed this event due to being ill. But having a look at the videos on YouTube and the photographs made it look a fantastic Steam Gala.

Will have to get back there for the Winter Steam Gala in January.

 

Well the extra box certainly transforms the North end of the line! Not just in terms of frequency, but there appeared to be noticeably less waiting at pegs than previous galas. A few of my efforts at Flickr: gdenscombe's Photostream .

 

Another great event staged by the GCR. My photos from Saturday can be seen here Great Central Railway - Saturday 6th October 2012 - Paul Gildersleve's Photos | SmugMug

Regards,

Paul

 

I'm glad that everybody enjoyed the gala, for me, and indeed everybody involved behind the scenes, it was a very successful gala and we've learnt a lot about Swithland, including headways, turnaround times and more. On Sunday we started off with fog so heavy that I couldn't see my Up Starter from Quorn signalbox, bearing in mind its almost right outside the box! So fog working was in place until approximately 10am, luckily, with our fancy modern (1940s!) signalling, we were able to run as normal at Quorn and Loughborough, so very few delay minutes occurred as a result! I didn't sit down for more than a minute most of Sunday, constantly being at the frame or the TRB! In total there were well over 40 movements in each direction, probably a record for a 9 till 6 gala!

The highlight of the day? Watching the Jinty come bursting out of the fog at speed, hauling the windcutters at about 9.15am, and then diving back into the fog, and for a few glorious seconds in between, neither loco nor brake van could be seen, just grey wagons in a grey ethereal world.

 

hello
is there any truth in the rumor i heard about fisticuffs at kinchley lane on saturday

 

I don't believe the railway is aware of it, but if it was between lineside photographers please provide me with some information (such as their numbers) and it will be investigated.

 

I boarded the first train at Quorn on the Sunday hauled by Sir Lamiel. After getting a cup of tea from the Griddle Car I managed to get a front droplight directly behind the loco.

I've got to say it was a magical exprence. The fog was so thick it obscured most modern lineside buildings. It could easially have been the 1930's or 40's apart from the Mk1 coaches.