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Autumn Gala 3 October 2009Despite a poor weather forecast, the relatively small number of photographers at this year's Autumn Gala enjoyed reasonable weather. I met up with long lost friends GB Productions (Graham Briggs and Gordon McCulloch) and their newly-wed but pensionable companion, John Bithel. This international company, which makes sales in such far flung places as Alfreton and Ilkeston, has a burgeoning list of high quality DVDs aimed squarely at the enthusiast. Completely unexpectedly in the middle of the Somerset wilds, before we could find a place to hide or move swiftly to another location, 'Big Issue' salesman Chris Page and his 'minder' Paul Martin had come upon us from the rear. Fresh from remonstrating with the locals on the big issue of trackside clearance (or rather the lack of it) and criticising the ale in the local hostelry (its not like Banks's is it?), they were in high spirits. I had not seen Paul for some time and even though he is already a tall chap I thought he had grown since I last saw him. Then I realised.... he was standing on step ladders behind the fence and lineside shrubs. Nothing is safe when this pair are around; enjoying a few wild blackberries Paul told me he had used the bush as a convenience the day before....I suddenly felt sick. Locomotives on view this time (all GWR) were special guest engine 4953 Pitchford Hall seen at Bishops Lydeard and Trebles Holford; 2-8-0 3850 seen at the 'S-curves near Trebles Holford; 2-8-0 tank 5224 which was filmed at Combe Florey, Nethercott and Kentsford; 7802 Bradley Manor from the SVR and 5029 Nunney Castle which were filmed together at Bicknoller Bridge; 2-6-0 9351 filmed at Combe Florey ; 6024 King Edward I recently returned from serious repairs which was filmed at Watersmeet and Crowcombe Heathfield. The late afternoon run of King Edward I should have been double-headed in the company of 5029, but the Castle had been delayed by a clinkered grate and could not recover in sufficient time to make the run.
You Tube (10mins)
For all the pictures and news see the compendious website wsr.org.uk/
Spring Gala 28 March 2009The second Saturday was never going to measure up to the first; and so it proved. Although the rainfall was minimal, it was cold and windy, especially on the exposed hills, and the sun, which was probably shining for 75% of the time invariably went in when trains arrived; in short a normal Saturday. I met up with the usual suspects - Graham Briggs, Gordon McCulloch, Henry Elliott, the delectable Dee Davison (am I allowed to say that?....) and the not so delectable Brian Burrows. Together the six of us made up pretty much a full grump; Brian must surely count double when he's kept "waiting around" a lot - the gaps in the timetable ensuring he was. The timetabling of so many double headers, the morning delay due to the Charter, the single run of 6100 Royal Scot (and that double headed), the 'wasted' run of 60019 with the ghastly Charter rake which included two humming diesels, loads of tender-first engines, the confusion generated by so many timetable amendments and the nefarious turntable plus the cold windy weather were all guaranteed to displease. All-in-all very disappointing for everyone, it has to be said. Gordon, whose cheesy grin could be explained by his consumption, at the previous night's meal, of a whole board of coagulated milk protein**, was still seething over his receipt of a dangerous hedge order from the local community police. We visualised young children being surrounded by privet and sucked into the hedge never to be seen again or old ladies walking innocently past being ensnared by brambles and yanked into depths of the dark, seething morass. I was a bit disappointed to learn (with the aid of a diagram, no less) that "dangerous hedge" in these days of risk-free living meant merely that it was a bit overgrown at the front. I gather that Gordon was somewhat abrupt to the lady police officer who rang him, suggesting that: "I'll cut my bush if you cut yours!" You just can't get away from them these days; yes, two big issue salesman were at work in a field adjoining the line at Trebles Holford. Mercifully there were no machetes this time, but I was pertubed when Chris Page and Paul Martin, who invariably sleep under canvass at these events, began to examine my tripod bag (there would be enough room for one of them to sleep inside, apparently) and the tripod itself (it would form the basis of a good wigwam, apparently). Chris was very proud when he was able to point out an error in the timetable to one of its authors who just happened to be standing in the field at this time; unfortunately, even though the error was acknowledged and hopefully corrected no magazine sale was forthcoming. **cheese
You Tube 6mins 10secs Locomotives include West Country 34028 Eddystone at Nethercott / Trebles Holford; A4 60019 Bittern hauling the hideously formed Charter at Trebles Holford; Black 5 45231 & West Country 34046 Braunton double heading at Nethercott, S&D 7F 88 at Trebles Holford; Royal Scot 6100 & Black 5 45231 double heading at Trebles Holford; 9351 & 88 double Heading at Woolston Moor; GWR 0-6-2T 6695 at Black Monkey Bridge. Smaller file versions of the above
Black 5 45231 & West Country 34046 Braunton double heading at Nethercott; 9351 & 88 double Heading at Woolston Moor; GWR 0-6-2T 6695 at Black Monkey Bridge. (5.5mB)
West Country 34028 Eddystone at Nethercott / Trebles Holford. (3.7mB)
Royal Scot 6100 & Black 5 45231 double heading at Trebles Holford. (2.6mB)
Spring Gala 21 March 2009The first Saturday of the traditional Wet Somerset Gala took place in..... wall-to-wall sunshine. A high pressure start too, with the first 3 locos from Bishops Lydeard and the first 4 from Minehead all smokebox first and all competing for our attention. How so unlike the Severn Valley. The countryside was beautiful, the birds were singing and even the grumps by the lineside seemed to be enjoying the spring-time. Guest locos were, as ever down here, numerous: A4 60019 Bittern, West Country 34028 Eddystone, 4936 Kinlet Hall, Black Five 45231, though 6100 Royal Scot was a 'no show' and 6024 King Edward I had a cracked firebox. Local fleet members included West Country 34046 Braunton, GWR Mogul 9351 and S&D 7F 88. An early delay when Bittern stood on the platform for 25 minutes after her scheduled departure with, I was told, brake problems. One grump complained that the organisers should have a spare loco on standby: I pointed that they were already using 2 spare locos to replace 6100 and 6024. By the close the trains were 50 minutes down. On the way home, driving, along the M5 I noticed some excitement ahead - flashing lights traffic cones and some very large vehicles on the hard shoulder. As I passed I stared in belief at the number 6100 on a crimson red background. It was Royal Scot herself looking magnificent, disdaining all the attention she was receiving and over 24 hours late. I distinctly felt goose-bumps.
You Tube Video 9mins 20secs Guest black 5 45231 leaving Bishops Lydeard amid clouds of exhaust and later at Bicknoller (curtailed because of a ˝sec freeze courtesy of my unreliable new SONY camcorder); A4 60019 Bittern at Watersmeet and cruising at Bicknoller; 4936 Kinlet Hall characteristically energetic at Bicknoller and cruising at Eastcombe; West Country 34028 Eddystone in a hurry at Nethercott and at leisure at Woolston Moor; 9351 thunderous at Castle Hill; West Country 34046 Braunton frightening the horses at Leigh Bridge curves. Smaller sized clips (included in above)
Black Five 45231 leading the first train out of Bishops Lydeard. She had already slipped several times. (4.2mB)
A4 60019 Bittern at Watersmeet (3.2mB)
34028 Eddystone at Nethercott and Woolston Moor (4.7mB)
Macedoine de locomotives: 34046 Braunton frightens the horses, 9351 at Castle Hill (mercifully none of the many witty drivers (probably grockles) who honked their horns were at the scene as she passed) and 4936 Kinlet Hall outdoing everything at Bicknoller. (6mB) For all the pictures and news see the compendious website wsr.org.uk/
Autumn Steam Gala 4 October 2008Nobody in their right mind would have gone to the West Somerset Steam Gala on Saturday, given the appalling weather forecast. I duly set off in the early hours of a gloomy Leicester morning, and was greeted in Somerset with overcast, but dry conditions. The rain arrived soon after lunchtime, accompanied by a gusty swirling wind which did for my new GCR brolly! At Bishop's Lydeard I met up with Clive Hanley and his patient wife Janet, who had been enticed to spend a day at the railway in return for an evening of wining and dining at a posh hotel. Inevitably I soon bumped into a division of Graham's Gang in the shape of Gordon McCulluch, Henry Elliott and the only member of the party without a hat, guest for the weekend, Brian Burrows. I also bumped into the Three Yorkshiremen who crouched grumpily at the lineside like 3 latter day Albert Tatlocks presumably recovering from a night spent in a cardboard box and a breakfast of gravel! I mused whether their lunch boxes contained a few bottles of Chateau de Chasselas. Unfortunately for the photographers the railway have a new turntable to play with. The working timetable detailed the plan for loco-turning, but this was not included in the Gala programme. This would have made life impossible, but fortunately the lineside network had managed to acquire and not passed on this vital information. Hopefully the WSR, who have been the most helpful of railways in disseminating such vital information, will issue these plans to the punters in future Galas. For more details of the event ensure you visit the amazing wsr.org website.
Guest pannier tank 9466 leaves Bishop's Lydeard with the 8:40 accompanied by a huge cloud of exhaust. (2.5mB)
Newly restored West Country Pacific 34046 Braunton accompanied guest 'spamcan' 34007 Wadebridge for the whole day. 34007 failed on Thursday with a damaged mud-hole door, but this had been rapidly fixed by the WSR engineers at Minehead in time for Saturday's action. We see the pairing at Watersmeet and later from a sheltered spot at Bicknoller after they had been turned on the new turntable. (3.8mB)
Regrettably SDJR 7F 88 was half an hour later as she ran through Stogumber station to the reverse curves beyond. Curiously a wide hole in the clouds enabled some muted sunshine to fall onto the scene, though, typically this had faded by the time 88 arrived. Paradoxically, despite the sunshine, the wind and rain lashed us from the West, so I decided not to risk the pan and the lens full of rain which would surely have been the result. (1.6mB)
GWR Heavy Freight 2-8-0 3850 caught me by surprise as she came around the curve and some hast adjustments were necessary. Luckily I found a strategically placed tree which kept myself and my equipment dry from the driving rain. (1.5mB)
GWR 0-6-2T 6695 from the Swanage Railway. We had a long wait for this train which eventually turned up 50 minutes late. Would you believe it, inexplicably the wind swirled onto our side of the train for the first time that day. (1.3mB) Spring Steam Gala 14,15 March 2008You have to feel for the West Somerset Railway which has been been cursed with the most appalling weather for its two week Gala. I drove home up an M6 awash with spray on Saturday evening feeling grateful for the chance to have filmed in reasonably dry conditions on the two days on which I was there. Many thanks for all the hard work done by the volunteers to produce a smooth running and varied Gala in difficult conditions.I was reminded of the Masters golf tournament coming up at Augusta by the smoothly landscaped cuttings around Stogumber. Very impressive! I spent both afternoons with Brian Burrows, Graham Briggs and friends - Gordon McCulloch, 'Hooray' Henry Elliott and glamorous celebrity photographer Dee Davison. The conditions were so wet that Dee had to swap her traditional high heels for a stout pair of walking boots and her hairdresser, in high dudgeon, refused to venture out of Stogumber Station. Things became worse when chief manicurist Henry, who was mislaying things at regular intervals, lost his all-important tool - his nail file. At lunchtime Gordon the Gourmet came to the rescue when he was able to mop up a large surplus of sandwiches, chocolate bars and cheesey biscuits; Billy Bunter could not have done a better job. When his hands are not full of food Gordon takes excellent photographs. For more pictures and news from this splendid event, you should visit the legendary wsr.org website.
Guest locomotive and star of the show Black 5 45110, whose boiler ticket extension expires on 11 August, performed beautifully on both days. First we see her on Friday in the company of Super D 49395 at Castle Hill; appearing to lean towards the camera, the five reminded me of a dog straining at its leash to get to the cat on the other side of the road. The man wearing the smart triangular hat with the mysterious logo is none other than Brian Burrows. Is he a freemason? The second clip on Saturday afternoon shows her running through Turks Castle with the rain now well set in. Many thanks to Henry for introducing me to this superb location among many others around Stogumber. (3.4mB)
Due to the heroic efforts of the South Devon Railway who completed a bottom end overall within 5 months, 5542 was able to appear at the Gala. The small prairie has long been considered one of the most beautiful locomotives in preservation but it is debatable whether the addition of the smokebox number plate helps her appearance. Mercifully this seems to be only temporary. Here we see the loco on the reverse curves just outside Stogumber station on Friday afternoon. (2.5mB)
Once again we had the pleasure of seeing twin heavy freight locos 3850 and 3802 at the WSR. 3850 was filmed at Bye Farm on the climb of Washford Bank just as the rain arrived on Saturday morning and 3802 was filmed near Stogumber during that afternoon. (3.3mB)
5553 and 1450 are seen in tandem rounding the curve at Roebuck Farm. (1.8mB)
GWR Class 5205 heavy freight tank loco number 5224 climbs out of Blue Anchor on Friday lunchtime. This must be an optical illusion as the line in this area is as flat as a pancake. (2.5mB)
Newly restored GWR Tank number 5619 hauls the last goods of the day away from Bishops Lydeard at Watersmeet late on Friday. This was one of four goods runs during the day. (3.0mB)
A Trip behind 7F No. 88 |
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Warning: The files are of substantial size and will take a considerable time to download for non-broadband users. All photographs and videos copyright © Mike Snow
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