Mid Hants Railway Autumn Steam Gala 25-27th October 2013.

350 quid so far this year.

 

Does anyone know when 'Tornado' and Co. are due to return to Southall? And has any scheduled move had to be postponed because of the weather problems?

 

See this thread http://www.national-preservation.co...-and-test-runs-2013.39400/page-42#post-688600.

 

Thanks for letting me know Paul. Another one that got away!

 

First of all, may I say a BIG thank you to all the staff and volunteers at the Mid Hants for their warm welcome on Friday morning. The weather was desperately poor on Friday morning but the member of station staff that greeted me onto Alresford station made the perfect first impression to a member of the public (yes, I know I've been to the Mid Hants many times, but to the first time visitor, it is always appreciated). It was also lovely to see that the crews were allowing families onto the footplate of the visitors when they were in the cattle dock at Alresford, another nice touch which I can't say I've seen anywhere else (not a criticism of other lines, one might add, this is probably the case for the obvious reason that other railways don't have a cattle dock in which they sit spare locomotives in!).

For the first time, I was able to attend all 3 days and chose to ride on the trains on the Friday, with some linesiding on Saturday and Sunday. With the mixed weather, it made for some uncomfortable waiting time inbetween trains on Saturday and Sunday, but I persevered and my video from the event is below.

While 34046, 70000 and 60163 were the 'star attractions' for many, strangely it was 45379 that was the pick of the bunch for me. In particular, I waited for 2 hours near Northside Lane foot crossing for 70000 and 45379 on Sunday, and when 70000 passed light engine 10 minutes before the duo were supposed to leave, I nearly gave up and headed home. Really rather glad I didn't, as 45379's performance up the bank with the 4:30 service was something else - one of the loudest ascents of the 1in80 I've heard in a VERY long time! Then again, the driver of 45379's freight turn to Alton on Saturday wasn't exactly keen on keeping the 5 quiet...

Anyway, here are the list of shots that I've included in my video - I'd suggest getting a cuppa and a few biscuits as at an hour long, this video is by far my longest upload to date!

34046+60163+70000 - Ash Vale and Alton
34046 - Northside Lane (x2) and Grosvenor Rd
34046+925 - Northside Lane
34046+34007 - Sun Lane, Bighton, Northside Lane and approaching Medstead
34007 - Northside Lane, Ropley, Horse Lane and Boyneswood
34007+60163 - Ropley
60163 - Alresford, Bighton Hill, Northside Lane (x2), Ropley (x2), Rookwood, Horse Lane and The Shrave
70000 - Northside Lane (LE Movement), Sun Lane, Bishop’s Sutton and Northside Lane (x2)
70000+34046 - Northside Lane, Horse Lane and Medstead
70000+45379 - Bighton and Horse Lane
45379 (FREIGHT) - Alresford, Northside Lane and Bowers Grove Lane
45379 (PASSENGER) - Northside Lane (x2) and Medstead
31806 - The Shrave, Ropley and Northside Lane
31806+925 - Horse Lane
925 - Boyneswood, Green Lane and Alresford
925+850 - Northside Lane
850 - Horse Lane

And finally, the link to my video, and a couple of shots from Ropley station on Sunday evening...



Thanks again to everyone at the MHR for putting on this superb gala, I'll be back in the spring for all 3 days once again I think!

James at SVN

 

Photos from Saturday...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alts1985/sets/72157632914077119/

 

Bit late to this but only just sorting through my pictures this morning and it prompted me to comment on how much I enjoyed this gala, my first steam gala at the Mid-Hants since 1993.

The timetable packed plenty in and didn't slip at all when I was there on Friday, the locos sounded great without exception and I thought the double-headers were really well judged. Also enjoyed chasing the triple-headed main line loco move around a bit during the build-up.

Particularly enjoyed the degree of works access available at Ropley and having the chance to see the huge amount of work going on simultaneously. Underlined what a spectacular loco line-up this railway has in total. Would anyone be identify to identify the two boilers at the Alton end of the boiler shop for me? The front two were 35005 and 41312 (smokebox door numberplate a giveaway) but I forgot to note down which locos the two behind came from and don't have the expertise to figure it out.

Also having appreciated the efforts to 'hide' the steam locos during the diesel gala to give a diesel depot feel at Ropley, I liked the fact that the diesels returned the favour and presumably hid in the Alresford headshunt? Nice touch.

Passenger numbers looked very healthy too, hope it was a big success in the final reckoning.

 

The four boiler in the shop were / are; 41312; 506; 76017; 34105. 35005 boiler is still on the frames at Eastleigh for the moment.

 

Great, thanks 21B.

 

The only planned mechanical work is a piston and valve exam and refurbishing the pony trucks. The boiler is not a very big job, but is not a small wash and brush up either.