MHR Spring Steam Gala 2015: 13th - 15th February

That's an interesting development, given how "full" the yard is most of the time........ what with static & "stored" vehicles.......the only way I can see the use of the yard being enhanced, and I'm assuming this has something to do with the dock crane being installed, and to prevent the running line being continually fouled - never mind giving the Bobby a migraine, is to reactivate the spur into the car park at Medstead to facilitate the shunting of individual wagons into & out of a formation, and that in itself would create extra problems........

 

how about 61306 MAYFLOWER, will be in the south in feb and not doing anything on mainline between
15 feb-1st march

 

Wrong region according to post 16.

 

Not a famous engine in my book. Only a few are: Flying Scotsman, City of Truro, Mallard and Royal Scot.

 

and 3 of 4 can be eliminated straight away.
Plus most MHR gala's tend to lean towards one loco owner providing several locos.. and he owns the "4th" one above.. and it's expected to return to steam very soon.. and his fleet tends to be a Southall.. and and and..

if I were a bookie I wouldnt be taking bets (other than non-attendance due to not being ready)

moving on.. what would be the other loco's accompanying it ? - a bit of an LMS in the south west would be nice..45690, Fairburn tank, KWVR 4f, 48624 ?, 76084 to get in a bit of familiarity training ?

 

Its got nothing to do with the crane. Read my post again. I said we were thinking about it, but it affect the service we could run. Obviously we would also need to ensure there was space in the yard for what we wanted to do.

 

I wouldn't be so sure of that. I've spent plenty of time on the footplate and you get a sense of what the public perception of steam railways are and of specific engines. Those 4 I quoted are undoubtedly the only ones that people seem to recall regularly and there are degrees of recognition in those 4.

 

if not Royal Scot.. which of the other 3 do you reckon it would be ? (considering post 16 eliminated LNER and City of Truro has no boiler ticket ?)

 

Ah, I mis-read your orignal post - my apologies!

 

I read your post twice before replying!

The fact that ways of utilising the yard during gala's are being explored, is what caught my eye........

Oh, and for now I'm going to resist playing "guess the loco"!!

 

I dunno. Stick the various bits in a hopper and tow it around.

 

And Thomas...

 

Of course!

 

At the ASG I was told that Royal Scot would be the most likely visitor and that it would be remaining on the line afterwards for running in prior to mainline running. (None of this has obviously been confirmed.)

If this were to be the case then what a coup for the SSG and the MHR.

I also have to agree that the 4F, Leander and the Fairburn Tank added to the resident Black 5 would give the last two galas a run for their money as being the best.

 

Maybe get 850 repainted as 30850.. then finally a comparison that Scots were based on Nelsons could be put to rest on one double header...

 

Another guest that would fit in quite nicely would be 46447 from the ESR. Now that I would like to see and hear over the Alps.

 

off facebook

RECENT THEORIES ARE A LITTLE OFF TRACK!
Our ears have been burning recently with thoughts, hopes and wishes regarding our 2015 Spring Gala. Therefore, we have had a chat with the man in charge and wanted to add some truth to what is being said.

1. Our gala is moving and will be the weekend of 20 - 22 February. This is due to March being a particularly busy month with lots of events taking place.

2. The original plan for this gala was to be LMS-themed. This is no longer the case.

3. As the LMS theme isn't happening, we won't be welcoming Royal Scot to the railway any time soon.

4. In actual fact, we're still at the drawing board phase of event planning. The line-up could possibly be a Christmas present to you all but right now we are no closer to announcing a line-up or theme.

Hope that answers a few questions.

 

I agree, but let the ESR get some use out of it first.

It's always interesting that as soon as something is overhauled, every man and his dog wants it on their railway next day, whilst the line that hosted it's overhaul loses that "newly released" benefit that freshly overhauled engines attract... each railway that a newly overhauled loco visits is a % less visitors the home line may receive as a result of it's visit.

If it stayed exclusive to ESR for 2 years.. imagine how many people who cant wait to cop it.. would goto the ESR to see it, but if 46447 went on tour.. how many less would then goto the ESR and see it in the future... similarly if it was out on tour.. and people showed up to the ESR to see it and be disappointed it's not there..

34092 with 13065 and 46447.. nice shopping list together.. but I'd be interested to see them at home.. and have 10 years to see that line up together as a 2nd visit !

 

The loco that I expected would get out more than it actually has, was 90733, being the only survivor of the class. Other than a trip to the GCR fairly early on, I don't think it's left the KWVR? And I think that there's only a year or two left on the ticket?

 

I quite like double headers, but as mentioned appropriate is the key- ie. one of the locos may struggle with the loading on its own!

Im hoping to get down to the MHR next year, its one of the 'bigger' lines I am still yet to visit so I eagerly await any news on the line up!

Chris