Swanage Autumn Steam Gala 11-13 September

Subtlety not their strongest point...

 

60163 "Tornado" announced

 

Tornado has been confirmed as being the only guest for this event in a comment by the railway on its Facebook page. Something else had been lined up but seems to have fallen through.

I believe 80104 has fallen slightly behind schedule and won't appear either as SLL had previously hoped.

It does mean that, for me personally, it's not a particularly exciting lineup but I'm sure the A1 will still attract some.

 

Unless there is some significant rain by then would Tornado be towed rods off from Darlington? Also there are also nature reserves and SSI's adjacent to the extension which must also be a worry.
The SLL update in RH a couple of issues back was talking about the end of the year for 80104 as suitable road transport delayed the return to Herston Works.

Full line BV trips are something new though.
I am sure regardless it will be the usual chance for me to get wound up with those who regard farmers fields as public land, and the signage about the road to Quarr Crossing only being a footpath or access to the campsite not applying to them.

 

Unfortunately I can’t imagine there will be more than two round trips in a day on the goods, potentially only one. 5 engines doesn’t give you a lot of wiggle room with 4 sets and you need to top & tail to the River, so that’s your 5 used up without factoring in crew breaks, engine servicing, shunt releases at Swanage etc. Tough job to timetable this one!

 

You could have 6 with a 33 (Cannot believe I suggested that) but it has happened at steam gala before.
If it was a 33 needs to be Jenny Lewis as it has the "correct paint scheme" (and certainly not the 20).

 

We were just about to book the hotel for the gala, and rover tickets if/when they become available, however, we see the weather forecast today is for another heat wave for the south for at least a week and still no rain. As we are now only a month away from the event I guess it's looking increasingly like another cancellation/abandonment for fire risk. Needless to say, we haven't booked the hotel and will hold off for at least another week to see what happens.

 

Whilst it rarely gets as hot here as the headline figures due to the coastal location, which of course tends to make the breeze an issue, another couple of weeks of basically no rain, nothing on the BBC forecast at all that runs through to the 20th, it must become an issue. Presumably 60163 would need to be towed rods off to the railway & the T3 has not been used since its "flamethrower day" on July 3.
I had a ride yesterday and 257 was being worked quite gently as you would expect.

 

I am currently looking at Swanage webcam with 34072 about to depart. At Bury they are currently using 34092, big engine not being worked hard better risk than a small tank being thrashed!!
Also 34092 has an ashpan sprinkler.

 

Gala tickets now bookable

 

Just curious, are those prices in line with what Swanage have charged for recent galas?

 

Was less than that in the spring

 

The spring gala tickets were £40 for advance tickets, it's gone up by £10.

 

Well aware of the cost of coal etc., but £250 for tickets for the two of us for the event takes some swallowing, especially being pensioners. But every railway is sliding the same way, I predict an eventual drop in sales/attendance. With the cost of diesel having rocketed up again it's looking increasingly unlikely we will make the trip South.

 

I've contacted the railway about the brake van rides. Normally Gala pages say about how to book brake van rides or additional fees on the day but nothing I could see on the website. I'm hoping and this is a long shot that the brake van rides are included in the price of the entry ticket. If that's the case it'll put a new light on the price increase from the spring gala.

 

If that's the case, I hope they have enough brake vans to meet demand!

 

I just heard back. In an email a spokesperson for the Swanage confirmed brakevan rides will cost extra

 

With all the recent comments on the Fire Risk thread [https://national-preservation.com/threads/fire-risk.1424987/page-27] I wonder if NR's main line steam ban will be lifted in time for Tornado to attend?

 

Brake van rides now up on the booking page.
https://www.swanagerailway.co.uk/events/view/brake-van-rides
Also nice to see my recently departed Dad staring back at me from the photo on the booking page. I will contact the railway to see if I can get a copy of the image.

 

Timetables now live from FB/IG. I expect a downloadable version will be uploaded to the webpage shortly