West Somerset Railway Spring Steam Gala, 27-30 March 2014

7827 & 7828 did for sure.

 

Yes, hopefully ready for charters with 5322 in April. ATM though Foxy undergoing some boiler repairs.

 

7822 and 7819 hauled the Royal Train on 10-Aug-63, with '27 and '28 spare.

Details in Ian Allan's "Granges & Manors".

 

There's a photo of the four manors lined up on shed beforehand in the current issue of "Backtrack".

Tom

 

From the WSR website. <BJ>

The gala will feature:

• Confirmed Visiting Locomotives: SR 'N' 31806, GWR 'Mogul' 5322 and 34070 Manston.

 

Have Ropely been doing surreptitious wheel swaps on their moguls? Last time I checked 31806 was a U, not an N...

Tom

 

I don't think they will beat the s&d gala of 2006 well untill 2016

 

Members of the West Somerset Steam Railway Trust, are pleased to announce that they have arranged for a working 2 mm scale model layout of Wadebridge station to be on display and operated on the Saturday and Sunday of the West Somerset Railway Spring Gala 2014, in the Gauge Museum at Bishops Lydeard, as part of the intended theme of the Gala of "The Withered Arm and the Atlantic Coast express." There will be a small entrance fee to cover the costs of bringing in this model, which has been built and is operated by members of Salisbury and South Wiltshire Railway Society.

Also on static display in the Gauge Museum will be the 4 mm scale buildings of Okehampton station up and down platform buildings, water tower, footbridge and signal box, together with appropriate trains, arranged as a diorama. These buildings, locomotives and rolling stock normally reside on the 4 millimetre scale operational model of Okehampton station as part of the "Summer Saturdays in Devon" layout owned and operated by Claire Sheppy and family, Keith Petersen and Ian Coleby.

I can also confirm that we are bringing in Manston, subject to the usual caveat regarding operational ability, which has prevented Sir Keith Park from coming.
Claire Sheppy.

 

The final guest engine has been confirmed as 34007 "Wadebridge" which began its working career at Exmouth Junction.

Elsewhere all the available places for the trade at the Literature Fair at Minehead 28th to 30th have been taken up. At the Gauge Museum in Bishops Lydeard the 4 mm layout in the upper floor will feature appropraite "Withered Arm" stock in action to complement the Wadebridge model below.

 

Great to see 34007 is coming along to the event too.

I see 88 is at Washford and 3850 spare, so just like the previous ASG . 4160 to do two solo round trips again each day no doubt!

 

Need 88 to be painted BR black for a few events before its out of ticket - could earn some nice revenue on charters etc for its overhaul then

 

No, not boring BR black it has run for years like that.
Why not BR passenger green
OR
Even better LMS crimson lake ?

 

Agreed. During it's working life on the Somerset and Dorset it was only ever painted black. <BJ>

 

No we don't!

 

Oh no we don't!

 

Difficult one this. Fictious livery vs BR black - both are horrors, but on balance in this one case, I come down on the side of fictitious, on the grounds that anything is better than commemorating the most god-forsaken part of our railway history...

Tom

 

I thought that the privatisation era was the most most God-forsaken part of our railway history in so far as God forsakes anything. Come back, BR, all is forgiven; well nearly all!

Authenticity is better - are we in the preservation game, or playing trains?

John

 

BR livery harks back to the run down of the network, mass line closures and the end of steam. Hardly a glorious period in our railway history.