MHR Autumn steam gala 7th-9th Sept

Its always a shame when a loco is unable to attend a gala.

But at least they have a few days to re jig the diagrams and produce an intense timetable.

 

hey
i wondered if maybe they could pose 34016,31625,31874 & 73096
as it would give railway fans a chance to see mr bunch's engines before they part ways, maybe if not for next years gala they could do it for their 2014 one and maybe do it as like a southern railway festival of steam perhaps get as many southern engines together as they could such as like
928, 34059, 34039, 34046, 34028 and 777, 30120 and maybe add some battle of britains into the mix such as 34067,34070 and 34053
also maybe some southern tank engines such as 55,662 E473 And 30585 or 30587.

many thanks
YRM,

 

Indeed - the loss of both (30)777 and 825 has rather altered the flavour of the gala from being a "Maunsell spectacular". Still, it is apparent from the official announcement that such an event is still an ambition for the future - i.e., postponed rather than cancelled. In the meanwhile, the official début of 925, the first visit of 5322 to Southern metals since the 1960s, the appearance of 34051 Winston Churchill, albeit static, and a pretty hopeful weather forecast still sounds like a worthwhile and enjoyable event to me. I hope nothing else goes wrong, and best wishes to all involved in the necessary re-jigging.

 

Not being an active working member of the line, the following is just my thoughts.

I think you have two hopes in getting that line up, one of them being Bob! Firstly, the cost of getting all those locos in place would far outway the income that could possibly be made. Secondly, the cost of operating all these locos would be astronomical let alone crewing them for what would possibly be one round trip a day! Thirdly, there is history with 34067 so I wouldn't expect to see it on MHR metals any time soon.

What I can be sure of is that 30120 is already lined up for next March. Get 777 and 825 along then and (hopefully) 506 finished and running and you will have examples of Drummond, Urie, Maunsell and Bullei's finest operating on Southern metals 90 years after the Southern Railway was formed. Surely that is something to look forward to?

 

34051 arrived at Alresford today. 5322 still hasn't arrive at Alresford.

 

I hope they take off that hideous banner...

James at SVN

 

Needed on the NYMR as the Q6 is out of action and 825 can't be spared. It did over 700 miles last week.
As I understand it, the MHR were told on 3rd August that it was unlikely to be available and this was confirmed on 28th August.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

:attention: EVERYBODY :attention:

Right time for a

SHAMELESS PLUG

on behalf of the Wagon Group at Medstead.

Its pretty clear on here that EVERYBODY likes the freight trains that run,during the gala's and at certain weekends, judging by the amount of comments regarding the motive power you would like to see up front!

Well to keep the wagons etc in good nick AND continue restorations we need your MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have just commenced the restoration of BY Van No.653 which was acquired from the Bluebell it is a wreck, this is what it currently looks like...........



This is what it was used for

4 Wheel Passenger Brake Vehicles

Its going to take a LOT of MONEY to get this one running, to help us achieve that goal (if you'd like to see it running sometime in the next two years) GET OFF THE TRAIN AT MEDSTEAD and come and say hello ( we don't bite AND we won't scare your kids!), we will have a fund raising stand on the platform packed with goodies including railwayana, NEW LIMITED EDTION Colliery wagon in weathered or unweathered condition, we shall also be taking orders for photographic prints - so something for everyone!!!!!!!!!!

In addition we will also be giving FREE guided tours at 12:30 & 2:30 pm lasting approx 30 minutes ( so you won't miss any of the action) where you will be able to see for yourselves what we get up to including wagons at different stages of restoration, especially the BY

 

Hmm sounds interesting. The tours are running on Friday too I presume?

 

Indeed they are

 

Great stuff. Will try and get onto one of them on Friday then.

 

Rejigged loco allocations on MHR website now, pretty awful from a photographic point of view, even assuming 5322 s facing London. Plus looks like it is going to be pretty hot over the weekend, so steam is going to be at a premium! 925/850 doube header early in the moring, 34007/31806 late afternoon so will have to practice those backlit shots. Freights are better though with 45379 doing a few runs. Not much for 5322 though, mostly double heading

 

Looks ok to me.

 

Considering 5322 is double heading with 31806 and 34007, which face London, and 92212, which is meant to be turned to face London, I would assume it is meant to face London too, or else there are going to be a lot of unhappy people around! Pity it has lost the solo 9.17 slot from Ropley. Still, there's another 60 hours before the fun begins. Who knows what may transpire in the meantime....

 

Should be ok for steam for the late afternoon early evening runs tho when the temp drops...

 

I think it's going to be a cracking gala with seven locos and with 925 beig the star of the show. It's a win win situation for everyone attending the gala be it people traveling or people photing.

 

Well said. While it would be disappointing if 5322 were to turn up facing the wrong way, it will be a good event to show off 925. Let's hope the MHR can get 777, 825, 925, 850 and 31806 together next year - Maunsell Magic II anyone?

James at SVN

 

925 will be a star, but it's still a bit odd to bring 5322 down from Didcot only to double-head it most of the time. Surely most visitors will wanto to travel behind it solo? Is it not very well or something?

 

Being it is from the Western Region, it probably can't cope with hills! (Dives for cover!!!)

It will be good to see 34051 again and this time in the open, outside a working shed. Saw it last in 1991 but the Station Hall was closed last year when I visited. Ok, 777 and 825 are out but still, a good line up and looking forward to Friday.