Mid Hants Railway - Watercress Line - 2023 Spring Steam Gala
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 พ.ค. 2023
- I wasn't going to visit the railway for this event until “Goliath” was added, now with six locomotives in steam including "Kilmersdon" on driver experience runs in the yard at Ropley I decided there was enough action to make a visit worthwhile. "Pendennis Castle" wasn't available for its booked morning duties, fortunately the support crew repaired her in time to take up her afternoon roster. The running day seemed shorter than previous events with the first train out of Ropley leaving at 09.20 and the last service from Alresford to Ropley leaving at 16.55 with little in the way of light engine movements to photograph. Access to Ropley was held back until 9 o'clock preventing photographers from catching the best part of the day as the engines come off shed, it's frustrating hearing the action without being able to capture it. Kilmersdon on driver experience runs added some interest to the gaps between trains, I missed the shuttle trains that usually run at special events between Ropley and Alresford. I'm aware that the railway faces financial pressures but I can't help feeling that with less action and no discount for members, the railway runs a risk of loosing more than it gains as a result of cutbacks. A longer day would allow more people to take driver experiences, ride the guards van on the freight train, buy a bacon sandwich and enjoy a ride on the miniature railway. I think people would pay £50 or maybe a little more to ride in the locomotive cab in one direction. Sadly I didn't have time to do any of the extras, just enough time to take some photographs at each station. The only way to do everything available with the shorter day and less trains is to visit for two or more days and that's a bit pricey. I enjoyed my day, but in the past I was able to do everything on offer meaning the railway succeeded in prising more money out of my pocket than it did at this event with no members discounts. There are far more heritage railways than there are weekends in the year to stage special events, for railways to survive they are going to have to become inventive to attract visitors at a time when visitors are feeling the pinch. There were plenty of lineside photographers, are they contributing, if not, why not? When I've photographed from the lineside no one has ever asked me for a donation, I would give if I was asked and I'm sure others would too. Instead of running separate steam and diesel galas it might be worth considering one bumper mixed traction event.
Visiting Locomotives -
01:03,11:32 & 35:41 - GWR 5205 2-8-0 Class No.5239 ‘Goliath’ - Courtesy of the Dartmouth Steam Railway
01:10 & 15:10 - GWR Castle Class 4-6-0 No.4079 'Pendennis Castle' - Courtesy of the Didcot Railway Centre
Home Fleet -
10:42, 24:36 & 39:36 - S&DJR 7F 2-8-0 No.53808 - Owner - Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust
06:34 & 15:00 - Peckett & Sons R3 Class 0-4-0 ST - Works No.1788 'Kilmersdon' - Owner - Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust
01:35 & 15:40 - LSWR Urie S15 Class 4-6-0 No.506 (BR No.30506)
12:38 & 41:28 - LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T No.41312
01:21 - British Rail Class 11 Diesel Shunter No.12082
To find out more, or to arrange your own visit to the railway, please click on this link - watercressline.co.uk/
I wish my late uncle was around to see this. He used to be the station master I think, and I have a couple of photos of him in his uniform. He would have loved this.xx
It was people like your uncle, who through their dedication helped save this railway for us to all enjoy today. We owe your uncle and the volunteers who give up their free time a big "Thank you".
Many thanks xx
Wow, what an eclectic mix of beautiful old rolling stock - it's heart warming to think of so many people working tirelessly to keep these beauties alive and in perfect cndition! Thanks TIm for once more, an excellent and fitting video tribute.
Hi, the Watercress Line volunteers do a great job in keeping the past alive for us all to enjoy today.
Just love that sound of a Steam locomotive.
The sound of a steam locomotive working hard is music to my ears 😊.
That was absolutely brilliant !!! Many thanks Tim. Cheers, Greg, N.Z.
Thank you Greg, I'm pleased you enjoyed it.
Great and wonderful trains
I'm pleased you enjoyed the video 😊.
@@Timsvideochannel1 yes I love trains
Great video. Quality superb. Content very satisfying. Greetings and thank you from Ireland.☘️🇮🇪
Hello John, thank you for your kind comment. The volunteers do a great job, there's nothing quite like the sound of a steam locomotive working hard.
Hi Tim! And again, a another video to enjoy 👍. The locomotives have a good sound. I can see an original old Massey Ferguson tractor. He runs with gasoline. Best regards from the Mühlviertel and Cheers 🍻🇦🇹.
Hello Hans, thanks for the links. Western Region locomotives have a wonderful bark to their exhaust beat, so nice to have two of them visiting my local heritage railway. I used to drive a tractor like that one when I was in my early teens scraping cows muck out of the yard after the cows had been milked, no brakes, I simply lowered the scraper to stop. Happy Days, when the sun always shone and the girls still looked like girls.
Witaj, Tim. Dziękuję za bardzo, bardzo interesujący film. Pokazałeś ciężką, żmudną pracę w Lokomotywowni. Ciągle jeszcze ludzie muszą wykonywać wiele czynności. Bardzo podobała mi się "Great Western" która nie jest elegancką damą. Kiedy wychodzi z zakrętu wygląda jak baletnica ! Wszyscy i wszystko pełni zainteresowań, aktywności, ludzie i maszyny z pasją. Dziękuję za film i pozdrawiam.😀
Witam, lubię oglądać lokomotywy na początku i na końcu dnia, parowozownia Ropley jest bardzo dobrym odwzorowaniem tego, jak musiała wyglądać lokomotywownia pod koniec lat 60-tych. Silniki Great Western wyglądały i brzmiały dobrze. Cieszę się, że podobał ci się film. Wszystkiego najlepszego. Tim. 😊
Hello, I like to watch the locomotives at the beginning and end of the day, Ropley locomotive shed is a very good recreation of how an engine shed must have looked in the late 1960's. The Great Western engines looked and sounded good. I'm please you enjoyed the video. Best wishes. Tim.😊
As a midlander, imagine my joy at turning up at Ropley to find an Ivatt 2MT and a Black 5 on the trains! Of course, we went behind the Ivatt.
Midland locomotives were straight forward no frills work horses, good at what they were designed to do. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to the Mid Hants.
superb , just what i wanted for a wet bank holiday in wigan , lancs , is it raining in bognor then , i ve invited some mates round for a knees up this afternoon , best nip to asda for some more booze lol , thanks and all the best tim
Hi, I'm self employed working from home, so I opted to work, I can always take time off another day when the sun is shining. It's always nice to have a few mates round, I miss the days when my local pub was a pub rather than a Tesco Local Mini-market, it was good to have a pint with friends and put the world to rights. There was a real ale train running at this event, a beer and a steam train is a popular combination. I'm looking out of my workshop window now, it's looking a lot brighter now although there is still a chill in the air. I glad you enjoyed the video. Cheers. Tim.
@@Timsvideochannel1 nothing wrong with that , cheers tim , from lancashire
2:23 Oh dear! I didn't think locos suffered from "flatulence!" LOL
That's what happens to thorough bred locomotives when they are fed a diet of duff coal .
@@Timsvideochannel1 LOL 😁
@neilforbes416 you could say its all *puffed* out if it ran a marathon
Nice video, thank Tim. By the way, the Urie S15 is a 4-6-0
Hi Chris, I'm pleased you enjoyed the video, I dropped a clanger with the S15 wheel arrangement, I've corrected the video description, I'll just have to hope no one else notices my error on the video. Cheers. Tim.
Watercress..... I think we have a different name for that vegetable in Australia, and it sometimes finds its way into newspaper mailboxes...... *"Lettuce To The Editor!* Ba-dum-tsssssss!
Ouch that joke's a bit of a wet lettuce. Let us be honest we make watercress sandwiches and watercress soup down here Neil. 🥴
@@Timsvideochannel1 A bit watery, ain't it? LOL 😁
@@neilforbes416 Ooo you are aweful 😊.
@@Timsvideochannel1 Shades of Dick Emery there! 😄
@@neilforbes416 😊.
So will they scrap that loco or just store it??
It's very rare for a steam locomotive to be scraped these days. They are usually repaired although some have to wait longer than others depending on what is required to get them running again.
Watercress Line -
Timsvideochannel1 love louis shirley
Hi, I'm lucky to live within an easy day trip of the Watercress Line, it was a great place to take my children and now they have children of their own. I have taken photographs and made videos of the railway since trains first ran in preservation on the line. Bodmin was always my favourite engine, I travelled behind it many times back in the days when the railway ran the "Green Train" on the mainline. I'd love to see Bodmin on the Mid Hants again, even if it is only with a visiting rail tour, the last I heard she was being restored at Carnforth.
The British know how to cherish the steam locomotive tradition ? LOL🥸
The British get a lot of things wrong, but when it comes to preserving steam locomotives, the British are world leaders
@@Timsvideochannel1 Absolutely !🥸
Hi TIM, Another great day out the volunteers really put on a great show for the public, Where do they buy the coal from i know there's no more mining in the UK?, We have plenty of it in Newcastle NSW the coal capital of the world cheers BOB.🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🛤🍺
Hello Robert, it's surprising what a bunch of dedicated volunteers can achieve. Coal is still mined in Wales, although nothing like the amount that was mined in its heyday. The high quality coal required for GWR engines is hard to find, as far as I know it comes from Wales, Poland and one or two other East European countries. I've seen NSW coal trains, they are as long as American freight trains and there are plenty of them. Cheers. Tim.