[Feb 22, 2014] Churnet Valley Steam Gala 2014 (Churnet Valley Railway)

My photos from Saturday 22nd are now online at my Zenfolio site here: - http://mickrogers.zenfolio.com/p986770458
Despite the late running arising from the problems with 34007, the day was very much enjoyed (Not just because we spent quite a while at the Black Lion Inn!), and the railway's staff are to be congratulated for putting on a good show despite the difficulties.

Cheers,

 

Apart from the first couple of hours of the event on Saturday which were understandably frustrating for all, what I saw of the gala I enjoyed immensely. The sight (and especially the sound) of the S160 and N7 double-heading up the Ipstones section was wonderful, and the rail-motor (as another contributor has already mentioned) looks so at home along the valley. It was a pity the other visiting loco wasn't the SR U-class again rather than the spam-can - that made some superb runs up to Cauldon last year, and was (in my humble opinion) more in keeping with the ambience of the line. It was great to see the Beyer Peacock earning its keep (and from the above photo) doing more than it bargained for - a great 'Thomas and Gordon' moment!
As a bit of an aside, I seem to recall that electric token instruments are already in place (but not commissioned) in Consall and Cheddleton boxes. Are they simply awaiting the day when the south loop points are re-installed at Cheddleton, and is that still 'on the cards'? That will certainly give more flexibility to operations.

 

I totally agree with your comment re. the staff & volunteers, they did a wonderful job and we thoroughly enjoyed Sundays gala. Whilst 34007 running out of coal was unfortunate, especially considering it was at it's penultimate stop on it's last run, it sure gave us an interesting double header & photo opportunities unlikely to be repeated, plus the BP1827 did a splendid job, so my brother & I actually saw this as a positive twist to the end of the day. We wondered why the 33 disappeared up the line after shunting the stock from 34007 away - we assumed that the 33 put the S160 & 69621 away before taking us back to Froghall so the crews could be putting them to bed as we were 70mins behind schedule by that point, so whilst we would have liked to have ridden behind them, it seemed the sensible choice for the 33 to whizz us back so we didn't mind, even though I now know this not to be the case, I still don't mind! If I have to come up with a negative, it would have been nice to have been told what was going on whilst we were waiting at Cheddleton for the final train back to Froghall, plus it would have been nice if they had kept the cafe open later as it was getting cold & a cup of tea or two would have been nice. I will be going to CVR again that's for sure

 

Could the same be done on the web pages for normal running days please? Again, I appreciate that it DOES state that the fares listed are advance fares, but I've been caught out by that too. Nobody's going to begrudge the railway an extra quid or two, but it could be a lot more transparent... No harm in listing 'on the day' fares next to the advance ones to highlight the saving available!

 

That's precisely why the railway prefers you to start at Froghall, even if there is the desire, there's no space at Cheddleton for additional parking with the Railway, River and Canal all taking space.

 

Did anyone get any video of the Peacock on the front of Wadebridge?

 

Presumably you would have heard it in Foxfield

 

Well Froghall car park appeared pretty full to me yesterday, so if everyone from Cheddleton had also tried to also park at Froghall....that would not have been sufficient either.

This problem isn't specific to CVR, lots of tourist attractions struggle with parking.

 

The intention is to commission the token instruments in to use this year.

The south loop points at Cheddleton are part of a long term planned re-modelling of the station area which involves repairing the land slip that occurred during British Rail days.

 

Well I really enjoyed my far too long put off visit to the railway on Sunday. A shame the weather had turned but I had a very pleasant time down at Consall by the pub A few images from the day can be found here http://flic.kr/s/aHsjTg6ett


North Staffordshire railway railmotor 1920 by York Loco-images, on Flickr


Pines express near Midford by York Loco-images, on Flickr


Conquering the gradient by York Loco-images, on Flickr


Valley local by York Loco-images, on Flickr

 

Our film from the gala, well done CVR for getting things back into shape after a trying start on saturday morning.

 

I have to slightly correct lil Bear on one point; the ladies on the buffet giving out free teas and coffees. To be grammatically correct, it was actually the family Waterhouse with my wife Carol on the buffet on the 3 coach DMU and myself and daughter Alice as the ‘trolley dollies’ on the 2 Mark 1 coaches which made up the 5 coach rake behind the N7/S160.

I have to agree with the comments on here about how frustrating it was to be held at Leekbrook for over an hour. We did try and get information to the passengers but were reliant on the guard walking to and talking with the loco crews who were in turn reliant on information from Cheddleton via the trackside phone. Having worked a 10 hour shift the previous day as part of Froghall platform staff when there were some very different problems, I was looking forward to a relatively on-time finish but got another 9 hour day on top! Still we wouldn't do it as volunteers unless we ultimately enjoyed it!!

 

Only saw the girls, so sorry for not acknowledging your efforts! Well done all of you though, was good to see buffet open on both sets inc the mixed rake. Agree with your last comment, not even work gets me up at 4am! Mind you it's a bit more fun with steam lol

 

Hehe, same with me, it takes four alarms dotted around my room to get me up for school, but maximum of one of my volunteering!

 

My pics & vids from Sunday:

https://picasaweb.google.com/110558...ayWinterGala230214?authuser=0&feat=directlink
https://www.youtube.com/user/sweetktg/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=1

 

My video from Saturday & Sunday around Froghall and Consall: