MHR Autumn Steam Gala 2014.

I saw the idiot at Alton on Saturday and really couldn't believe he had got up the embankment and was standing near the passing loop.
The foot crossing between Ropley and Alresford has been a problem at the last few Galas. Travelling on the trains it has been noticed that the crews have had to slow down with a lot of warning whistles being used.

 

yea there were qutie a few people lineside with no high vis on saturday i help out in the loco department and was on the footplate saturday and i can say from experience that if someone is wearing a high vis you can see then miles away but if they are not you might not see them till you are right on top of them. iv lost count of how many times iv seen someone in a dangerous place or with no high vis. the place on the railway that wory us the most in terms of people takeing pictures are the foot crossing between Ropley and Alresford the Alton end of M&4M we always see people getting to close to the line and all it takes is for one person to make a mistake and its over for everyone but anyway its been a great gala the 42 tank is a great bit of kit and 5029 sounds great going up Alton bank draging 5 mk1's and 850.

 

It could be early since the locos they are after are not available later and /or due to the number of Galas in March. Steel Steam and Stars 4 over 2 weekends in March with 92212 a confirmed visitor.

It could be an LNER Gala? The B12 might be available since it is unlikely to clash with the NNR Spring Gala next year and Morayshire is expected to come south next spring.

A least I can make that weekend, I though it would one of the next 2 weekends.

 

Yes I heard about that too, though by the time someone got there, they'd gone...... what these muppets don't realise is, if staff on the trains don't have the chance to phot them, that people do trawl the social media, and they will be prosecuted if they publish..... I would've taken a photo of some fat T-shirt short wearing muppet north of the pines on Sunday as we rattled south to Alresford on Sunday behind the 9F, but we were bouncing along..........

Thank you for confirming what I have been told/ said..........

Now follows a Public Service Message..........

People, we cannot "police" the line - if we could, you wouldn't be where you are not supposed to........... those of us who are entitled to be there with MHR PTS - note the bold caps again, have every right to challenge you as to your right to be there........ if you are not wearing approved Hi Viz and with the required documentation...... you will be politely asked to leave, if you do not take the hint, you will be told told Foxtrot Oscar.............. if you do not obey, the BTP will be called and you will be arrested............. do you really want that to happen?.................................... oh. and think about it before you go trespassing..... we can quite easily stop a train and have you detained.......... and you'll also have a nice hefty fine to pay as well as a criminal record........... so ask yourselves......... is it really worth it?............

If you really want to go lineside, why not become a paid up member of the railway, and start volunteering - that way you'll be able to gain a PTS certificate and go lineside either in the course of your duties or enjoying yourself at a gala..............

So, how about it folks?......... come along to a welcome day and find out what would suit you best, though I'm lead to believe the wagon group is full............ though we could do with people volunteering at weekends to help restore the Bullied coaches.............

 

Duty Druid,

I agree with your comments....
Check your PMs....

 

Thank you Potter, I have!

 

Im not currently active on preserved railways, but as an ex MHR & K&ESR footplate man, lineside trespass is very serious, most non crew members do not know the danger they place themselves in, railwaymen, do know the danger,and they know the rules, and OBAY them, when lineside, if you do not have a hi vis, and a PTS,and have informed a member of staff at the closest station that you are going line side, you should not be anywhere near any siding, or running line full stop. its not a nice feeling knowing that you may be about to run someone over because you could not see them

 

Agreed, when the line side gang are maintaining the trackside just outside Ropley at the end of the Headshunt, it is possible to see them working by the down outer home signal from way before the distant signal, I don't know the distance but that must be nearly half a mile. Having also seen someone there once without a high viz it wasn't possible to see them until we were nearly on top of them.

 

Did the MHR have any complaints from land owners on the stretch from Ropley to the crossing? One of my favourite shots is standing next to the fench near the permant way gangs hut and get the loco coming past the signal but when I looked around there were about 20/30 people standing all around the field. I know during the spring gala the permenant way gang were in action at the hut and spent most of the weekend marhaslling the fields.

 

what gets me, is compared to many railways, the MHR is infinitely photographable from legal / public vantage points... indeed the effort made at Ropley Shed to open the place up was noteworthy..

Ive been many times, but not felt the need to invade a field or walk the track..
I noticed the considerable tree clearance thats taken place at Medstead recently opening up a new vantage point from the road below.. so far no pictures have appeared from there..

It's the subtleties of the gala I like... the 9F on a freight in the country.. well isn't so interesting.. but the non-stop nature of trundling through the stations is well.. what a freight is all about.. so Ropley station to watch the token swap and trundle through it was for me (and behind the yellow line).

 

Here is my video of 5029's very sprirted run on the last train from Alton on Friday:


It is only around 13 minutes long but it took over three hours to upload to Youtube.

And here is one of 45379 making a great departure from Ropley, also filmed on Friday:

 

There seems to be this culture among some to get that "unique" shot, which leads to them breaking the rules as said above or trespassing either onto the railway or onto neighbouring fields. A sort of "well the platform / footbridge isn't good enough for me, I'm the modern day reincarnation of Ivo Peters and I have a God-given right to take the shot I want from where I want, and I've done it dozens of times and nothing has happened so I'll be fine".

I agree, the MHR is a line with a lot of legal photting opportunities, especially in the Ropley area heading up the footpath toward Northside Lane. But I guess with some of them to get there they have to pay for a ticket, which if you're half-way up the bank to Medstead you don't have to.

 

Not restricted to railway photographers, either!



From http://inrng.com/2014/03/cycling-race-photography/

Plenty of other examples. (Youtube "Laurent Jalabert Armentieres", or "Guiseppe Guerini Alpe d'Huez"). If you have a strong stomach, Google for images of "Andre Darrigade Parc des Princes crash". That one cost the life of an official who was trying to get photographers to stand further back.

Tom

 

Hi there, I would like to say a big thank you to the Mid Hants for their Autumn Gala, with all that copper and brass they couldn't go wrong as far as I'm concerned. I only live about 45mins away from Ropley but I am a fairly frequent visitor to the West Somerset I like GWR locos so much.
I caught the last train From Alton on Sunday night behind 5029, what a treat. When I got back to Ropley I bumped into a couple of guys who I had met earlier in the day, they were in a bit of a fix because their car was at Arlesford and there weren't any more trains. So I offered them a lift to Arlesford, good plan except they left something of great value in my car. If they are reading this then please pm me and we can arrange it's return.
Regards Paul.

 

Video from Sunday, photos to follow...

 

Video from Sunday, photos to follow...

 

So pleased to hear you enjoyed that run, it also sounded rather good from the footplate!

 

6960 from Ropley to Medstead on the saturday..
a little bit quieter than the Castle... but not much..., but if your ears are tuned to the frequency of a Britannia, I would advise turning the volume down

 

I've added a few more pictures to my Autumn Gala album.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/timw1/sets/72157648533527877/

One shot I've not seen anyone else post yet is of the progress on the new shelter at Ropley

Ropley Platform 2 Clock by timz2011, on Flickr

 

I have been a non-working member of the MHRPS for many years and enjoy railway photography too. Because of that I have followed the MHR's policy wrt lineside passes with interest. At the risk of getting shot down here I cannot help thinking they are making the problem of trespass worse through the very restrictive PTS policy.

When I was starting out in photography as a geeky 16/17 year old in the mid-90s the MHR issued passes from the Info Office at Alresford, with a high-vi AND simple instructions as to what to do and where NOT to go. AFAIK there weren't any incidents with that policy as people listened and used common sense BUT I do stand to be corrected there if required.

However, that was withdrawn in the late '90s /early 2000s and we end up with the situation we have now. Local landowners don't want people on their land (which if rigorously enforced would rule out some of the wider shots mentioned earlier in this thread) and therefore to get anywhere near the line you are confined to the public access points - one of which is the the footpath between Alresford & Ropley. Hence we end up with people massing at those points which the result they spill out onto the track endangering themselves, the train crew and the future of the railway.

If PTSs were to reissued I suspect that many of those people congregating near the track would be spread out over a much wider area (as I am sure many would invest in a pass) and not cause such a problem.

So how about it MHR, relent and lets have a new revenue stream. Conduct PTS courses if necessary and I am sure you will have people queuing out the door.

PS. I wasn't at the gala (stuck in Italy after Easyjet cancelled my flight home from a work conference) but am looking forward to Matt & Warwickshire 9F charter at the end of November.

 

Or, people just broaden their horizons and (horror of horrors) try photting at stations?