Mid Hants Railway - Great Spring Steam Gala 2013

Well it looks like apart from the 13:15 dept. from Alton everyday the T9 will be double-heading with either Cheltenham or Lord Nelson!:rolleyes1:hwell:

 

Unless the Black Five is being turned in the next couple of days, there is a typo in the "facing" table. 45379 was certainly pointing the same was as Wadebridge on Sunday!
Cold and Warm | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

Indeed, lets hope so otherwise its going to be a rather lopsided gala!.......................................... Fingers crossed, 777 & 5164 are both smokebox first out of Alresford.

 

Well looking at the double headers, that certainly seems to be the intention (although 5164 could run bunker to tender I suppose )

 

:attention: Right, its me again! :lol:

This time with an :director:

UNASHAMED PLUG
FOR THE
MID HANTS
WAGON GROUP!!!

(BASED AT ALTON AND MEDSTEAD & FOUR MARKS)
​

FIRSTLY, I'D LIKE TO SAY ON BEHALF OF EVERYBODY INVOLVED IN THE WAGON GROUP A BIG

THANK YOU
​

FOR YOU SUPPORT AT THE LAST GALA, YOUR GENEROSITY HAS HELPED THREE PROJECTS COME ALONG IN GREAT STRIDES - NAMELY, LNER 5 PLANK OPEN WAGON E276733,
an S R INSULATED CONTAINER AND OF COURSE THE B Y VAN :clap2::clap2:

PROGRESS CAN BE FOLLOWED HERE Wagon News | Watercress Line

So, as its gala time again (they come round quick don't they?!) we will once again be setting out our stall at Medstead & Four Marks - please do break your journey there and come and see us and have a chat, you never know you might just want to come and join the fun! (as without your continued support we would not be able to do as much as we are!) - you won't miss any of the action, you'll be able to hear and then see the loco's being worked hard up the bank - as well as the stall we shall be giving guided yard tours each day

So, what goodies will there be on the stall I hear you ask?

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen for your delectation and delight we will have -

The usual array of second hand books magazines and railwayana, along with VERY LIMITED SUPPLIES of the Limited Edition Colliery Supply wagon, both weathered and un weathered - the former now being rarer then hens teeth!!!

Den Anhang 6742 ansehen

AND NEW FOR 2013 -

LIMITED EDITION ALTON BREWERY WAGON






BOTH THESE MODELS ARE PRICED AT JUST £12

THEY WILL ALSO BE ON SALE AT OUR SATELLITE STALL IN/BY THE INTERACTIVE MODEL RAILWAY PMV, WHICH WILL BE IN THE CATTLE DOCK AT ALRESFORD - SO THERE IS NO EXCUSE................

WE WILL ALSO BE RAFFLING OFF A COLLIERY SUPPLY WAGON EACH DAY- THE LUCKY WINNER CAN CHOOSE FROM EITHER WEATHERED OR UN WEATHERED - TICKETS ON SALE AT MEDSTEAD & FOUR MARKS ONLY!


THE DRAW WILL TAKE PLACE AT 15:30 EACH DAY

IF for some strange reason you cannot make it over the weekend and would like to add either model to your collections, Please PM either myself or Coalwagon for details.


AND NOW FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR 2013-

WAGON GROUP MUGS
​

WE THINK THEY LOOK RATHER SMART, AND ARE PRICED AT JUST £6.50




ALSO NEW FOR 2013

WE WILL BE RUNNING A TOMBOLA, WHERE FOR JUST £1 A GO YOU COULD WIN YOURSELF SOME................................................... BEER - kindly supplied by our friends at the Triple fff Brewery, who are but a stones throw from the station The Triple fff Brewing Company in Hampshire | Brewers of Award Winning Real Ales | Delivered to your door, so if you're unlucky in the tombola please do pay them a visit!

AND IF WE CAN GET ONE OF THOSE GADGETY GIZMO THINGY'S TO WORK, WE WILL BE OFFERING TO TAKE ORDERS FOR HIGH QUALITY A4 PRINTS - £5 EACH PLUS p&p, OR TWO FOR£10 p&p FREE.

AND FINALLY (YES REALLY!)

FREE GUIDED YARD TOURS
​

THESE WILL TAKE PLACE AT 12:30 AND 14:30 EACH DAY.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED PLEASE GATHER BY THE DOUBLE GATES TO THE LEFT OF THE STATION YARD WHERE YOUR GUIDE WILL MEET YOU.

TOURS LAST APPROX 30 MINUTES, AND IF YOU ENJOY IT THEN PLEASE SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION BY WAY OF A DONATION!

And now for a couple of polite requests from the Station Master.

IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO DRIVE TO THE STATION - THERE IS NO PARKING - IN OR AROUND THE STATION.

THERE IS A FREE PUBLIC CAR PARK BEHIND THE BP FILLING STATION ON THE A31 IN FOUR MARKS, FIVE MINUTES WALK FROM THE STATION.

ALSO PLEASE REFRAIN FROM USING COLD CONTROLS CAR PARK AS A VANTAGE POINT - IT IS PRIVATE PROPERTY - YOU WILL BE TRESSPASSING!

IF YOU WANT A DIFFERENT ANGLE FOR A PHOTO - JOIN ONE OF THE YARD TOURS!!!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO WELCOMING YOU AT M4M OVER THE WEEKEND.

HAVE A SAFE AND ENJOYABLE TIME!

​

​

 

Nice one Druid, It's going to be a fun filled weekend at Medstead & Four Marks.

Steve.

 

And the 1150 ex-Alresford. I wonder what the train formation will be? You are probably too young, David, to remember 30120's first return to steam on the Watercress Line in the mid-1980s. She was limited to 4 Mk1 coaches, and she sometimes struggled with that load. I suspect she's in rather better health after her recent Flour Mill overhaul than she was back then, but whether she's any better at putting her power onto the rail...? Well, we'll see. After all, compared to the Bodmin & Wenford, the Hampshire Alps are molehills!

 

Cheltenham has been having a few problems on the hills recently.....frost and damp conditions. I didn't think I had seen the T9 here (only moved to Alresford in 1989) but my photographic collection syas otherwise! Looking forward to seeing her in action on the MHR again. Also good to see that 5164 is doing solo trips, Western engines always bark well.

 

Unless I have missed something then the engine allocations dont look right. I have only looked at Saturday but, for instance, how can 30120 arrive at Alresford at 1355 and return heading the 1410 to Alton, the stock of which will already be in the other platform? Likewise how will 777 be able to work the 1520 from Alresford when it arrives at 1505 as train engine? Unless of course the stock for the next train is shunted back to the sidings, but I cant believe this is likely as it would cause late running, which in my experience of past Galas is usual anyway.

Don

 

Don

In the past I have seen a train stop outside the station, the loco uncouple and run forward on to coaching stock in one of the platforms. A loco comes out of the dock siding or vacant platform , and is coupled to the stock outside the station and brings the train into the vacant platform.

Paul

 

Paul, you beat me to it! This is indeed a method that has been used at Alresford in the past, although recently this has happened at Alton, leaving the stock in the Meon Valley loop and the loco attaching to stock in the platform then departing past the "up" service in the loop, thus the assigned loco apparently leaves Alton BEFORE it has arrived! Mind you as the Alresford 08 is now deceased, shunting locos are in short supply

 

They did that when Tornado came - train stopped outside Alton, Tornado ran forward, picked up the stock from the previous service in Alton platform, departed back past its original train sitting in the loop, then the spare engine at Alton came forward to take the original train the last few hundred yards into the terminus. I could see the logic of doing it (otherwise, with Tornado so popular, people could have hogged the seats all day and prevented so many people getting a ride behind her) but the problem was that they timetabled far too short a length of time for that sequence of moves, with predictable timetable results...

Tom

 

Thanks for pointing that out, at least thats one more loco facing the other way as opposed to almost all facing towards Alresford!

 

Paul

That would mean that the advertised times arent correct and that those wishing to make the 15 minute connection at Alresford will probably be unlucky. Can anybody at the MHR comment? I want to do a mixture of travelling and linesiding, concentraing on certain engines for both so its quite important to know what is actually going to happen and I dont suppose I am alone in that.

Don

 

Looking at the timetable there seem to be ENG (engineer's) and FREIGHT trains. It seems that they alternate round trips from Alton. Are they the same set formed differently, if so does anyone know what sort of wagons can we expect in each set and how is the shunting done at Alton (ie where do they leave the unused wagons for that round trip?) Thanks

 

Received a text from my brother at Ropley this morning showing the T9 has been delivered safely and is sat in the yard facing towards Alresford. 5164 has also been delivered and is facing the same direction.

 

They are seperate sets and the engineers train usually includes a crane. The set not in use is stored in the sidings at Alton.

 

Apparently T9 and tender arrived Monday evening, but tender only taken up to Ropley on Tuesday. 777's tender near to Alresford, hopefully loco is too! Allocations looking a bit odd if 5164 is facing country!

 

Thanks. Never seen a crane actually on the move before so sounds good if there is one in use.

 

Oh Great - NOT!!!

I had hoped the damn thing would be facing London............................

And if the Five has been turned, then its looking like a very lopsided gala.............................

Still I'll make the most of it which ever way they are facing - I wonder is /has Winnie going to be/has been moved to the yard ?.....................................................