MHR Spring gala 25-27 March 2011 City Of Truro 3440 & Earl Of Berkley 9017

Re: MHR Spring gala 25-27 March 2011 City Of Truto 3440 & Earl Of Berkley 9017

Why do you think they'll change?

 

Re: MHR Spring gala 25-27 March 2011 City Of Truto 3440 & Earl Of Berkley 9017

Ah, now I know why! I've just been on the MHR website and they have managed to book Pitchford Hall as a replacement for the King. Well done!

 

Re: MHR Spring gala 25-27 March 2011 City Of Truto 3440 & Earl Of Berkley 9017

Thumbs up to Black Adder for getting another loco at short notice.

 

Re: MHR Spring gala 25-27 March 2011 City Of Truto 3440 & Earl Of Berkley 9017

Brilliant, I will be there, thanks to everyone who has helped get Pitchford Hall there at short notice, it's a superb loco!

 

Re: MHR Spring gala 25-27 March 2011 City Of Truto 3440 & Earl Of Berkley 9017

Just had a wee hunch Olga.

 

Congratulations to all concerned with this last minute substitute!

 

Great news about 4953. Well done to all concerned. It can't have been easy getting a replacement this close to the event. Well done also the timetable compiler. They must be close to a nervous breakdown as we are now on version 4!

 

The sun was glinting off all that copper at Ropley yesterday morning and with all the under repair locos moved out of the shed yard apart from 828 (remember that folks?) All the locos in the shed area were to run at the Gala .. Nice to see again a propper working shed. David

 

Excellent day there today. The sun shone, the trains ran on time, the combination of the Earl, CoT and Pitchford Hall was superb, the Black 5 and the U Class both looked fantastic, the 9F, 5224 and the standard 5 all looked like real well-worked steam engines, a bit weathered and none the worse for that. Lord Nelson looked great too and was wearing "The Cunarder" headboard at the end of the day.

The sounds of the locos climbing to the top of "The Alps", in both directions, makes you forget you're watching a 25mph heritage line! It's all stirring stuff.

Well done to the MHR for the effort and the results. The staff were friendly and welcoming too.

Well worth a visit if you have the chance this weekend.

 

Me and my Dad will be there photting around Bowers Grove Lane tomorrow morning. Really looking forward to seeing the Std 5 and 9F double-heading.

 

Two photos from today. Looking at the car park at Ropley today the gala was well attended.

 

Very nice! You were out and about early

 

View attachment 2386 View attachment 2387 View attachment 2388 View attachment 2389 A nice day on Friday I hope the weather holds up for the passengers to enjoy the locos. A few pics from Friday,

 

My thoughts exactly, well done to the MHR !

 

Agreed, an excellent day yesterday. Seemed to run pretty much to time throughout, despite the apparent withdrawal of 5224 from the proceedings mid-afternoon. Did the timetable have slightly more slack in it than previous galas? It certainly made swapping trains at Ropley and M+4M much less rushed (even when people manage to block the footbridge). Good to have an earlier start and later finish too.

My photos from the day are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/preservedtransport/sets/72157626349793822/

 

Yes, well done to everyone at the Mid Hants. To be honest I haven't always been a great fan of their galas in the past, but this one was one of the best they have done. An excellent collection of locos, good variety of workings (the train with the real ale bar on board was especially popular) and a timetable that actually works - everything ran to time today. To add to the interest it was possible to visit some of the workshops too - the C&W shop is excellent and you would never know that the original had been destroyed by fire.

On the loco front 5224 was out of action having failed on Friday with a slipped tyre but that just meant that the loco roster had been re-jigged with a little less double-heading - not a bad thing. Pitchford Hall went AWOL at the end of the day and didn't do its last run but I don't know why.

Looking forward to the Autumn gala now!

 

Here's my video from Friday, lots of sun and steam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p40VN7axi_8

 

I, too, was there on Friday - and a splendid day it was too! Just like summer, but without so many leaves!

As I had the family with me I was limited to trains and station platforms, but I managed a few shots and these are now on my new Flickr site :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/train-pix/sets/72157626233676949/

There's another batch still to come, so I hope that they are of interest!

 

My pics from today :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72405966@N00/sets/72157626240286083/

Great day out - although it would have been nice to know what was running on each train given the failure of the GWR tank engine.

 

Another great day at the gala two more photos from today. Look forward to the next gala in October.