Steel Steam and Stars 4 - March 6, 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15 2015

I can't imagine it's something I'd do regularly, but definitely something you've just 'got' to do I think.

 

I've done it 3 times and its enough for me but SVR seem to be on to a winner no other railway does it. And a few hardy souls keep coming back for it.

 

Our evening trains only run to 11 ish. Llan isn't the ideal place to do full night trains due to the proximity of local residents.

Anyway, back to SSS and not SVR. A couple of us applied the transfers to 7822's tender this weekend, and top coated it with varnish. Should be put behind 3802 at the back end of this week.

 

I take it it's cycling lion?

 

Yes. I don't think there ever was a manor in black with late crest.

 

A green 9F. Let me be clear, this is wrong wrong wrong. A 9F should be black, very black, blacker than black. It's a breach of my human rights, well somebody’s human rights! Surely there must a be law that says ‘Thou shalt not paint a 9F green’
Ok, it is better than no 9F at all. But green…you’re ‘avin a laugh.

 

Wait until you've seen it in the flesh! I wasn't impressed with the first pictures I saw of 92214 in green in the magazines (and on this site), but when the Severn Valley hired it for the Santa trains and into the New Year, I thought I would at least go over to see it and in common with quite a few other people I spoke to, I actually felt much more positive. It's quite attractive actually.

After all, as I mentioned elsewhere in another thread, 92214's greatest moment in the limelight occurred in June 1964 when Ivo Peters chased it from Bournemouth West along the S&D when it was working the 3.40PM "Up Mail" and managed a number of very good pictures of it. The colour at the time was certainly not "black, very black, blacker than black" but a very grubby shade of something or other.

 

I think it is the only possible replacement 9f, otherwise it might not have been chosen, remember 92212 was the first choice!

 

It would have been get another 9f in, no matter what the colour. Or re write all the timetables, diagrams and crew rosters to suit a different loco. I know which one sounds easier to me.

 

Why would a rewrite be required if any tender loco over a class 5 subbed ?, I can't imagine there's any working at Llan that demands class 9 power.

I've seen 92214 in the flesh, and while it's a decent paint job, it still feels out of place and like it's main purpose is to fool the unwary into thinking 70013 is permanently at Loughborough.

 

It wouldn't be down to power capabilities. It would all depend on what loco would have been brought in to replace 92212. Would that loco look ok with what it's down to doublehead with - a strong S&D theme is planned for the event, so subbing a S&D type loco with something that would never have been near the place might ruin that slightly. Would it have water and coal capacity to cover the 9's diagrams? The timetables each day have been carefully planned to ensure the small (or indeed big) tanks can get water as often as required. Locos on the night turns have suitable coal capacity to cope with 5 or 6 round trips.

 

http://www.6880.co.uk/steel-steam-stars-iv/

Anyway, public timetables now available. Full timetables only in event guide book (as the whole idea behind the gala is making a few quid so we can all see what a grange locomotive looks and sounds like).

 

I've been sent a working timetable but I would still like a programme. Will they be available for purchase at Llangollen a couple of days before the event or will they be unveiled on the first day of the gala?

 

Normally sold directly by the grange crowd or in every station so I'd say gala days only.

 

Or still available to purchase off the 6880 website! My tickets came through yesterday with a note saying the Brochure would be mailed out 7-10 days before, so by my reckoning that's from today till Friday!

 

Looking at the public timetable, except that 5199 is only working on Fridays and all guest locomotives run every day, their is no other information on which locos are running on which days. Does this mean that their is one more loco running on Friday than at the weekend, or does 3802 only run some days? (I do have the brochure coming so if you aren't allowed to give away anything else publicly that's fine! I just thought it was a rather strange extra comment)

 

Off topic maybe...but GCR have announced 92214 will become 92220 for its Railways at work weekend in April... To star alongside an unlined black repainted 48624 and others...

 

Without going into it all, I'd take that as written. 5199 in use on Fridays only. All other locos in use for the whole event.

 

The other slightly strange thing is they are trying to get people to use the car park at Corwen (which I think is a much better idea than clogging up the whole of Llangollen), but the morning departures from Corwen over the weekend are 9:15 (normal), 10:20 (Auto) and 11:19 (normal). This looks like there will be a very busy auto train as this is probably the peak time!

 

To be quite honest, I don't think there is enough afternoon trains to get back to Corwen. Not looked in great detail at the timetables, other than what the locos I'm on are doing, but I did notice there's no trains between 4 and 6.30 in the afternoon.