Nene Valley Railway GB Railfreight weekend 7th September 2024

After visiting the GB Railfreight depot at Peterborough today, as part of the GBRailfreight/NVR/Modern Railways Magazine event, i caught the shuttle bus to the NVR at Peterborough
to be honest it was utter chaos, the train came in 45 minutes late behind 66799 Modern Railways Diamond Jubilee, and it was the continental coaches and was rammed to the hilt
a few got off but many more got on it looked dangerously overloaded, i think it was 5 coaches, but worse was to come, at Wansford 47727 Edinburgh Castle & 45041 Royal Tank Engine arrived for the service to Peterborough with just 4 Mk 1's, i haven't bothered with times as they were so late it didn't matter, i think the railway has been totally overwhelmed with this event, easily not enough coaches to cover the amount of visitors
47727 Edinburgh Castle and 45041 Royal Tank Regiment at Peterborough
https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/Days-out/2024/September-2024/GBRf-Weekend-/i-QM3wppP
69003 The Railway Observer Peterborough NVR
https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/Days-out/2024/September-2024/GBRf-Weekend-/i-r3SfDx2
66799 Modern Railways Diamond Jubilee & 45041 Royal Tank Regiment
https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/Days-out/2024/September-2024/GBRf-Weekend-/i-J9j8BVZ
57310 at Wansford
https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/Days-out/2024/September-2024/GBRf-Weekend-/i-jVHSgsq

Neil

 

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I had a pre-booked ticket for this gala but have to say I've not seen any other quite as rammed as this one so after spending much time stood at Peterborough NV waiting to get onto trains that were already rammed to capacity arriving from Wansford, I gave up and went home again on the Thameslink. Lots will have enjoyed their day but in my opinion, there's lots to be learnt from this too. Safety in numbers they say??

I do feel sorry for all the hard work and planning that so many have taken to make this a success, especially as it's been a charity event raising money for very good causes. A new experience for me, the first gala attended where I haven't made it onto a train. Departures from Peterborough NV being 70/80mins apart with little or no station facilities raises the question of how long is acceptable to wait for another train? Hey ho.

 

I know a separate organisation, but was Railworld not open?

 

I too had a pre-booked VIP ticket and I had to wait at PNVR for an hour for a train. I decided that after yesterday's fiasco I'm not going to repeat that stressful experience today and have written to Key Publishing for a refund, even though it means foregoing the GBRf depot visit which I was really looking forward to. It's not helped by diesel bashers jumping from one train to another at Wansford and making an already full train even worse. This happened to me when the 15.15 to PNVR was held for 45 minutes and rather than hold the incoming train outside the station (I think there's enough room to do that, I'm not totally familiar with the track layout at Wansford) to allow the one I was on to depart -

Edit: forgot about the single line token exchange.

now 45 minutes late - it was held in the platform and bashers piled off the incoming train to join the one I was on! When it finally left at 16.00 a huge cheer went up in the carriage I was sitting in. Tannoy announcements were made telling people to remove backpacks on trains that were already standing room only (I've seen people assaulted on Underground trains for those menaces). The Wansford cafe had run out of hot food by two o'clock. The NVR Facebook page took to limiting who could make comments - volume of complaints, maybe? Who knows. There were also issues with people going track-side, according to what little I can see on FB.

It was, to put it bluntly, a chaotic shambles.

 

The somewhat put-upon staff at PNVR were sending people to Railworld for toilets, but it doesn't alter the fact that PNVR has virtually nowhere to sit whilst you're waiting (to discourage the city centre dossers, I assume), and there were a LOT of people there waiting for the train I joined. It could have been worse, I suppose - it could have been raining as well.

 

That's a shame. I must confess that my rail enthusiasm doesn't extend thus far and I've learned that I shouldn't attempt NVR via a Rail journey and to a diesel Gala again. I gleaned yesterday that many turned up at Peterborough NV wanting to buy a ticket but found they couldn't. Buying on train apparently wasn't straightforward either as the guards couldn't pass down the train so some potential loss in revenue.

The problem with situations like this is that I find pointing out what didn't work well and should be improved for next time, will only be viewed as moaning and negative.

 

On 'normal' running days PNVR is unmanned and yes, you can buy tickets on the train: to my recollection, PNVR has never sold tickets. I've attended diesel galas at the NVR before but this one was very different to those others: it seemed hugely over-subscribed and I think therein lay the problem. Normally I'd have driven to Wansford but my car broke down that morning, so I took the bus into Peterborough and walked to PNVR. When I saw the car park at Wansford it was full anyway!

Oh, quite. I do try not to be a curmudgeon, but I seem to increasingly fail at that. Yesterday though proved that "lessons need to be learned" - that vacuous phrase that usually means "yeah, so what" in reality.

Please don't let this put you off visiting the NVR and Railworld in the future though.

 

To reply to the bit in bold, I'm certain I bought tickets there in the past. I was thinking a few years ago, but then realised it's actually about 25 years! I used to get the train up from Stevenage and walk to PNV, I don't ever recall having to buy a ticket on the train or at Wansford.

 

A bit belated but here are a few photos taken on Peterborough station last Saturday, there was quite a lot of freight about, plus 3 specials (i just missed 44871 & The Blue Pullman) but saw the Northern Belle
including this class 66 with 2 different sets of nameplates 66769 LMA League Managers Association and 'Paul Taylor our inspiration' nameplate under cab window
https://railway-photography.smugmug.com/Days-out/2024/September-2024/GBRf-Weekend-/i-qvRtk7v

Neil

 

I was one of the tti persons on Saturday, and whilst it was challenging to get through the carriages I don't believe that travellers got away without paying. Most went up and down several times and we caught up during the day. As it was a charity day, I found everyone extremely generous, and yes it was busy but where else can you experience freight trains AND continental stock. Almost once in a lifetime experience.