[Jun 7, 2024] Strictly Bulleid 2 7th-9th of June at Swanage Railway (Swanage Railway)

I think you may be right about 80104. My recollection is that it hovered around Swanage most of the day doing pilot duties and then did one return trip up the line towards the end of the day.
I share your concern about the 3 minute connections at Swanage - it will be interesting to see if that works out. Personally I don't think it's long enough as there will be those who want as much haulage as possible and want to ride behind every loco dashing from one train to the other. Easy to criticise from my sofa here in suburban Surrey though - who'd be a gala planner?

 

There's a lot of Bulleids here already - with more to come.
34081 was due to 'land' on Tuesday but it might arrive tomorrow, I suppose, if the hauliers have a good run down. We'll just have to wait and see.
35006 is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday morning apparently.
This is followed by the last (eighth !!) arrival in the afternoon - 35018 + support coach bringing 5 Mk 1 TSOs and a BSK to Swanage.
From Carnforth on Tuesday (4th): https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:U02666/2024-06-04/detailed [overnight stop at WCRC, Southall]. The journey then resumes ...
From Southall Wednesday morning: https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:U02665/2024-06-05/detailed [The routing via Andover, Romsey and Millbrook is so that 35018 can run round it's train in Southampton's Up Goods Loop - and also take on water perhaps ? - after which it will haul it's train tender-first through the New Forest so that it's the same way round as all the other Bulleids]
35018 expected to return northward on Wednesday 12th but cannot trace timings yet.
Incidentally, you might expect to see 35006 P&O working scheduled trains from Swanage from time to time during the week after the Gala!
EDIT: Apologies for duplicating information in a couple of previous posts.

 

34081 should have been collected Sunday but hauliers are now coming Monday.

 

can see it is a complex timetable

 

Just make sure if you want to make the connection you are in the front 3 coaches then you will have plenty of time

 

The timetables begs to differ. Every up departure during the main period of the day is 3 minutes after the down train arrives.
Nobody was talking about loco doing 3 minute turnrounds.

 

Whilst I understand your pricing comment I think that in 2024 terms the pricing is actually very good value.
The two most recent galas I attended were
Mid Hants 2 visiting locos, plus one on long term hire £38 from memory
Bluebell 3 visiting locos plus one on long term hire, I think £41 based on the price of my members ticket.
This gala has 8 locos, two resident, one that was due to be run in here, and 5 visitors. I reckon that will be 16 low loaders to get them there and back, and two mainline movements to & from Lancashire. Oh and a rake of six coaches. Whilst @Johnb is correct that loco and those coaches are not exactly doing much at the moment, I doubt that that they are being provided as a charity exercise. ( Be funny if they turned up fitted with CDL lights though)

So maybe the question should be have the Swanage Railway underpriced it? Like any event, concert, even packet of cornflakes, the skill is finding a price point the market will bear, yet to ensure you make a decent profit.

 

Ok, see now and deleted my post.

 

Looking the part on my way to the cash machine this afternoon.
(Although I am sure @goldfish would tell me I do not need cash any more, funny how I normally have to queue though .)

 

From Andy Moody.
Does anybody know if 34070, 34072 34081 and 35006 will face Swanage or are all the Locos facing London?
Thanks in advance.
Andy Moody

 

I think it's been mentioned earlier in the thread that all locos will be facing London.

Swanage have posted a picture showing that 34081 has arrived and been reunited with it's tender.

 

Thanks for the info -- must have missed it me being over in Canada .....Cheers Andy

 

The low loader arrived at Toddington, GWsR, this afternoon and was being lined up to collect 35006 with the cab end of the loco facing the cab of the lorry. I'll be back there tomorrow morning.

 

Yes, absolutely - I don't think this one is overpriced for what's been arranged and the uniqueness of it. For me it's purely personal logistics as it's a late call to try to get there so the earliest I can arrive on the day I'm visiting is 2.30pm (it's very much family - work - trains in that order for me this weekend. Well, always actually, as I imagine it is for most of us on here) and it's whether I can cram in enough to justify the full rover price in that timespan, given that the full rover price is understandably a few quid higher for what Swanage is doing than the Bluebell and WSR events I went to last month. If I had a full free day, £45 is a no-brainer for the line-up and timetable.

 

Not having much luck viewing the station webcams. Excess demand on the servers? Never mind, will see it all live from tomorrow pm

 

Seem fine through Railcam, although a couple of times recently (since the second Corfe camera) through the SR website no images at all.

 

Just another quick question about the buses to/from Wareham, how punctual are they, because there's a bus from Corfe Castle village that gets to Wareham Station at 18:48 and my train to Clapham Junction leaves at 18:53? If they're not, I'll look to an earlier bus that leaves Corfe around 6pm.

 

I have usually made that sort of connection at Wareham, but I would not rely on it if it was the last train to get me home.

 

I wouldn't leave it that close personally. I always need a good 10-20 minutes to allow for ticket purchase and traffic. A bit excessive I know but coming from experience.

 

Theoretically you will make it and SWR may well be late, although last Saturday it was on time. But the bus will have to navigate Corfe, where there may be a long queue due to the gala and the village Summer Fair, and Wareham. I have seen the 40 spend 7 or 8 minutes at the Corfe stop on busy days. Also if the 40 is late in from Poole it often leaves Swanage late.
You would be safer with the 30 that arrives at Wareham Station at 18:19 (Swanage 17:45, Corfe 18:00, Norden Station 18:04).