West Somerset Railway Spring Steam Gala 2013

I got my info from 'The Minehead Branch 1848-1971', Ian Colby, Lightmoor Press, 2011 bought from the souvenir shop at MH. If I've misinterpreted ...

Regards

 

Weather forecast looks absolutely dreadful for the weekend BBC Weather : Minehead

Funny, it was just like that the last time the S160 visited!

Regards

 

It's the first time this 6046 has visited. The last S160 to visit was 3278, although both are based on the Churnet Valley Railway, and, since 3278 went out of traffic before 6046 entered service, I wouldn't be surprised if there are at least a few bits of 6046 which have visited the WSR before.

 

5197 is the other CVR based S160 that visited the WSR in 2008.

 

Thanks for that, I didn't know there were a number of S160s at the CVR. Whatever, it will be good to see it.

Regards

 

D'oh! Yes, of course. 3278 was the one based on the Mid-Hants some years ago.

 

Filmed between Friday afternoon and Monday morning, a video of this fine Gala;

West Somerset Railway - Spring Steam Gala 2013 - YouTube

 

Had a great day up at the WSR today. Just photographing today (so got a few soakings and had to help a chap in an Audi out of a load of mud somewhere near Williton), back to travel on Thursday (when my aims are S160 and Sir Lamiel up some decent hills [hope they're both working], Norton Fitz, see Kilmersdon in steam and have a nose around the diesel depot), but I'll want to make a tenner-ish donation too because today was worth far more than the contribution I made through buying coffees at stations. Really hope the idea of doing some different things as filler during the week between spring gala weekends becomes a regular fixture.

I'm a huge fan of the Railmotor after attending both its Bodmin gala outings and its South Devon visit, and it didn't disappoint today. 5542 and the auto coach looked sublime, 4160 was in good voice even on 4 coaches and the freight set was a lovely sight. All that was missing was more than 10 minutes of sunshine... Though that did at least coincide with the railmotor coming through Dunster.

 

Enjoyed this, Austin, clearly the Panasonic HC-X920 works for you! Two questions though, what mic are you using (the sound is particulalry good) and what frame rate have you set the camera to?

 

Thanks David, on both this and the SD700 I use the 1080/50P setting but reduce to 25P when editing. For the majority of the shots I used a Sennheiser MKE300 and a Rode Videomic for others

 

Thanks for that. I've been using a Canon HG10 for the last five years or so and it's starting to wear out, ie the HDD which is always recorded on for the first one and a half hours is starting to rumble. The HC-X920 seems to be the best of the current bunch of available cameras and Canon have lost their way a bit.

I can't put my stuff up on YouTube anymore, Google withdrew my logon because of my privacy settings; never mind!

Regards

 

Slightly off topic, I know, but what was the problem with your Youtube privacy settings? Just so I don't have the same problem. Thanks

 

Assuming you're using Internet Explorer go into 'Tools', scroll down to 'Internet Options' and then open the 'Privacy' tab. At the top there is a slider which will protect you from unwanted cookies. I have mine set to 'High' and Google objects and has withdrawn my logon.

After Google stopped me logging on I tried other sites, but I found that they also wanted to collect info on me by the use of cookies including SmugMug which charges £10/month and then wants to follow me around the web, presumably to sell adverts. A bit much to charge and then invade customers privacy too!

I've stopped posting my films, a pity because it was a nice hobby, but never mind.

Regards

 

Thanks for the quick response and info.....

 

Had another great day at the WSR today. The S160 didn't quite live up to its billing for me - but maybe I didn't have it on a particularly spirited run, or I needed to make sure I had it up the Williton-Crowcombe bank. It looks stunning, but for noise value Raveningham Hall was my highlight and Sir Lamiel also impressive.

Made it over the line to the SDR museum at Washford for the first time in 21 years, as I haven't been able to fit it into itineraries (or it hasn't been open) in all my WSR visits since I got back into the hobby last year. Timed it well to see the Ruston 4wDM pulling Kilmersdon - which looks ace post-overhaul - into the yard. Really impressed with the variety of exhibits too, and finding extra gems in the vans in the sidings at the Watchet end of the yard. Well worth the £2.

Have to say, the WSR is cementing itself as my favourite preserved line at present. The variety of seaside/woodland/open country scenery, some steep hills, all the travel, exploring and photographic possibilities its length and number of stations offer, plus the fact that the road from Lydeard to Williton is quite a giggle when you get a clear run at it, and the presence of a host of great-sounding GWR engines plus diesel Hydraulics makes it very hard to beat for my particular tastes.

I'm also a fan of the hourly gala timetable, up to a point. At first it looked tedious and like it would limit haulage possibilities. But the reliability of the on-time running and the ease of transferring between trains and taking plenty of pictures at crossing points is very handy. And on a day of photographing rather than travelling, the slower journey time means you can photograph a service several times in one journey. I don't think tightening it up to 45 or 50-minute intervals (which I imagine is the maximum possible) would really outweigh those benefits in my eyes. Of course if your preference is to stick with one set or behind a particular class, I can see it means a lot of static time. The Dunster and Norton shuttles and the early freight add a bit of variety at least, and I'm intrigued by the suggestion above of splitting the line in two for some services.

 

In fairness how much of a spirited run can you expect from a class 8 freight loco on 6 coaches! If you want to hear it working hard I suggest a visit to the CVR when it is running to Cauldon Lowe.

 

My favourite preserved line for the last 30 years! Unless the West Highland Extension to Mallaig closes and someone rescues it as a preserved operation, it probably always will be.

The gala timetable is in principle very sound. If it is 'tightened up' by faster running, people won't be able to take photos while changing trains, which would be a discouragement to buying a ticket to ride. You can argue about the choice of which loco on which train, but one person's meat is another person's poison! All in all, they do a good job.

John

 

That's a bit like chucking the baby out with the bathwater… not all cookies are bad, most are simply used to remember preferences and log-in details (I haven't checked, but I suspect this site uses at least one cookie).

Simon

 

Loving the videos on this thread. I'm really looking forward to revisiting the WSR this weekend. Can't believe the contrast in the weather to last year though. Driving down from Stockport today - 205 miles through the snow..... wish me luck

 

Odd, I'm sure I remember having properly spirited runs behind 5197 on the flat before Cauldon opened... Do crews not have the same confidence in 6046, or is it just not the same people?