Industrial steam photo charter at the RSR

The Ribble Steam Railway will be holding its first ever photo charter on Thursday 6th August 2009 - great for enthusiasts of industrial steam! The freight charter is to be an all day event from 10a.m. to approx. 5p.m. and will feature Andrew Barclay 0-4-0ST 'John Howe' as the train engine. For industrial diesel enthusiasts, the line's green Drewry '03' shunter will also be in service for shunting duties. It will be a great opportunity to photograph dockside freight movements, including runpasts over the swing bridge across the dock entrance.

More information can be found on the RSR website http://www.ribblesteam.org.uk on the events page, or on http://www.ribblesteam.multiply.com, the RSR Supporter's website.

Thought there may be one or two interested parties out there....

Further to the original post above, I'm pleased to inform any interested parties that an improvement has been made to the original lineup.

Barclay 1147 John Howe of 1908 will still be the train engine, and the train itself will consist of four 16T steel mineral wagons, a 21T steel mineral wagon, two ex-NCB coal hoppers and an ex-BR hopper, together with an ex-LMS brake van. The '03' Drewry shunter will also be in use, subject to availability.

A lineup featuring John Howe, together with two other virtually identical Barclays, No. 1598 Efficient of 1918 (still in as-withdrawn livery) and No. 1969 J. N. Derbyshireof 1929, will take place shortly after midday; also partaking will be Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn No. 7485 Agecroft No. 2 of 1942.

Special arrangements have been made that will allow photographers access to the balcony of the Dock Control Tower, which gives an unparallelled road/rail swing bridge and the dock entrance. In addition, further locations will include exchange sidings, river bank, level crossings, Penwortham New Bridge, Navigation Way and Strand Road.

 

This event is now listed in the current issue of Steam Railway magazine. At the time of writing there are still 10 places available on the charter; if anyone wants any further info you can PM me...

 

June? The OP says the event is on Thursday 6th August. Not perfect maybe but a little less harsh than in mid June. Agreed one of the links takes you to a June event but that doesn't look like the charter to me.

 

Thanks you to all for the comments.

The event does take place on 6th August 2009, as stated in my original post. Harsh lighting would be a problem in June; however in August the light is much less strong; as the line's official photographer I have never had difficulty obtaining good quality shots at any time of the year (I will endeavour to attach a couple of my summer and winter shots to this subject later). While I can't claim to have eleven years' experience of charter organisation, I have previously organised five successful charters at other lines, with no complaints!

With regard to the timings, the Ribble Steam Railway is restricted in its operating hours by the fact that it passes through a residential area, and by agreement has no option to run trains after 6pm. Morning trains are also restricted, due to the fact that the RSR operates revenue-earning freight services to the bitumen plant.

This charter may quite possibly be a one-off for the RSR, and a lot of preparation has gone into it to ensure that a good day out will be had by all. As well as the aforementioned control tower shots, some cutting back of trees and vegetation on the banks of the Ribble will give photters views that have never previously been an option. It should also be borne in mind that some of the tree foliage will be an advantage as it will obscure some of the more modern buildings that have recently been constructed at the lineside. Certain sections of the line are not nearly so photogenic earlier or later in the season, and on deciding upon the date and time for the charter, consideration has been made of all the above factors.

Cost is, above all, the most important consideration for a photo charter; it has to be viable for the railway and affordable for photters. During August the railway runs passenger services on Wednesdays as well as at weekends; a Thursday was chosen to keep costs down as the loco could be easily kept in light steam overnight. Furthermore, a lot of shunting of stock is necessary on the restricted museum site, and time has to be allocated to this. A member of railway staff will have to be on hand all day in the dock control tower to allow train movements to take place over the level crossings and swing bridge.

I'm sure anyone who attends the charter will not be disappointed; it is highlighted in Steam Railway that the charter is exclusive - in order to avoid disruption to the working of the control tower a maximum of fifteen people can be accommodated, otherwise we'd gladly have more! For that reason, the price of the charter is £35 per person.

 

It's a British summer Martin, torrential rain rather than harsh light will be the main problem. :lol:

 

11 years experience didnt stop you from running a charter at allied steel and wire in high summer.
stinking hot weather/ harsh light and no exhaust apart form the environmentaly unfriendly clag you seem to dislike.
how about showing some support and booking this charter?.

 

I'd love to do this but can't make midweek I'm afraid. Fully appreciate your reasoning though. Maybe another in the future if this is a success.

 

As promised, here are a few photos of the RSR.
The first one shows the view from the control tower towards the dock entrance.

[attachment=2:3gpxrgbv]AFowler_RSR_Swingbridge.jpg[/attachment:3gpxrgbv]

The second shows John Howe, train loco for the charter, in the company of Walkden, giving a good impression of the dinimutive size of the Barclays compared to the Hunslet 'Austerities'.

[attachment=1:3gpxrgbv]AFowler_RSRNight_01vs.jpg[/attachment:3gpxrgbv]

The third view below is a shot of the swing bridge from the dock basin; a better shot is achievable from the walkway on top of the dock gates on the other side of the bridge - always providing they are closed.

[attachment=0:3gpxrgbv]AFowler_RSRNight_06vs.jpg[/attachment:3gpxrgbv]

I am also pleased to announce a further addition to the charter arrangements. At the start and end of the day, a demonstration of the bitumen trains will be run, using one of the line's original Sentinel 0-4-0 DM shunters dating from 1968.

 

martin
you asked if a little slack could be given regarding your charter. in future i sugest you think about what you are saying regarding other peoples efforts in organising photo charters which iam sure is no easy task so try cutting this organiser some slack in future and showing some support.

 

Thanks for the pics, just a pity there weren't a bit bigger. Any chance of uploading some larger ones?

 

I am grateful for all the comments above.

However, a charter in the autumn will be difficult for many reasons, not least the availability of motive power. The line-up of Barclays has only been made possible by the reorganisation of the stock in the museum, and the charter can only run thanks to the goodwill and co-operation of the Chairman, the Museum Curator and both paid staff and volunteers. It must be borne in mind that the RSR runs a very high number of revenue-earning freight services. The arrangement of the charter, with respect to Martin, has been done after discussions with the Railway as to the most suitable time with regard to all the above factors; I haven't just plucked a date out of the air!

As stated, a great deal of effort has gone into making the event a sucess; I have staked my own money on it and the charter will be run no matter how many attend. I don't think anyone who attends will be disappointed, whatever the weather. At present there are still 8 places left on the charter. Anyone who may have already tried to contact me with regard to the event using the RSR website should note that they listed my e-mail address incorrectly! This has now been corrected.

In response to Spamcan81's request, I will upload a library of my photos to my website later and add a URL to another post.

Andy

 

Andy,
I've forwarded details to my two photogroups so hopefully you'll fill the last few places.