If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

GWSR Cotswold festival of steam 26-28 May 2018

Discussion in 'Galas and Events' started by Andy B, Oct 12, 2017.

  1. 6026 King John

    6026 King John Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2006
    Messages:
    1,489
    Likes Received:
    734
    Location:
    Hampton Court, Surrey
    Great choice. One of my favourites and actually the loco I have had the most mainline trips behind (7 in total). With 70013 and 6023 on the menu plus the GWSR's impressive home fleet it's shaping up well. I may even forgive you for the S160 eventually :)
     
    flying scotsman123 likes this.
  2. Andy B

    Andy B Member

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2007
    Messages:
    477
    Likes Received:
    585
    Location:
    Bristol
    Just a quick update on the forthcoming Cotswold festival of steam, to say that our traditional 14 coach Saturday evening train will now unfortunately only run as a std 8 coach rake. with an engine on the back it’s still 420 tons or 12 coach equivalent.
    This is because the new 8 coach formations would make 16 plus dead weight loco and it’s been decided this is too much without in depth inspections of drawbars, couplings and the like, above and beyond the maintenance and inspections currently carried out. Secondly, we could run it as 14 but would need to start splitting sets, but they would then need reassembling for the Sunday, we simply can’t spend time doing this with the manpower available.
    We will still use 6023 with the other loco to be advised. Time tables and loco allocations will be released in the week leading upto the event.
     
  3. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,439
    Likes Received:
    17,937
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Ah that's a shame, was looking forward to the king on 16. Is this something that could be resolved with a greater lead time or is that it now in terms of the Saturday evening mega train?

    Just a thought, is using the shorter third rake as one half possible, maybe with the slightly lighter maroon rake might make the difference?
     
  4. Andy B

    Andy B Member

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2007
    Messages:
    477
    Likes Received:
    585
    Location:
    Bristol
    Of the two 8 coach sets, the maroon set is 4 tons heavier at 289.. we looked at lots of option alex, but decided to stick with 8 plus loco each end
     
  5. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,439
    Likes Received:
    17,937
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Oops! Ah well fair enough, sure it'll still be great.
     
  6. Adam Tandy

    Adam Tandy Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2018
    Messages:
    287
    Likes Received:
    268
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    85A (Evesham)
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Excellent choice!! We don't get a 'Britannia' in this area very often, but it will be the 4th time I've seen it, and the 2nd time I record it for YouTube. Here is the video I recorded when 70013 came through Evesham in February:

    Kind regards, Adam
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2018
  7. Britfoamer

    Britfoamer Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2008
    Messages:
    2,172
    Likes Received:
    2,020
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Chemist (semi-retired)
    Location:
    Within 2 miles of the ELR
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Tickets arrived, hotel booked, offerings and incantations made to the rain gods for the area, roll on the event!
     
    Andy B likes this.
  8. Andy B

    Andy B Member

    Joined:
    Jul 31, 2007
    Messages:
    477
    Likes Received:
    585
    Location:
    Bristol
    Ok people, 4th and final guest is pannier tank 6430 courtesy of high Shipton and the Llangollen railway. Original plans were for 4 sets of stock plus the freight, as with a 15 mile run you really don’t want long gaps between trains. A lack of a suitable brake coach has scuppered this idea so we’ve had to settle for a dmu drag. It’s not perfect and it’s certainly not pretty but it’ll still move people around and hopefully help any overcrowding. So the idea of a tank engine is filled perfectly by 6430. The three main sets will be two 8’s and one 7. Now we have a preliminary loco allocation we’re working on the footplate rides that can be purchased and these will be released hopefully this week.
     
    Harbury and flying scotsman123 like this.
  9. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,439
    Likes Received:
    17,937
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Hurrah! Far too long since we've had a pannier on the line, so I'm sure it'll be popular despite the coaching stock.
     
  10. Britfoamer

    Britfoamer Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2008
    Messages:
    2,172
    Likes Received:
    2,020
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Chemist (semi-retired)
    Location:
    Within 2 miles of the ELR
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Without being controversial in any way, 6430 with a DMU drag was quite prototypical in the 1960's. DMU's can be quite annoying good to travel in for the view when compared to side corridor stock. Some extra variety me thinks.
     
  11. JBTEvans

    JBTEvans Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2008
    Messages:
    2,344
    Likes Received:
    673
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Casnewydd, De Cymru
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I know with 5 rakes out it could be hard to manage, but any plans for a non-stopper during the day?
     
  12. Chuffington

    Chuffington New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2018
    Messages:
    95
    Likes Received:
    62
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Is it not also breaking the rule book ie train weight, I would have thought that the civil engineer and P way would be kicking up a fuss given the fragile nature of the railway!

    Nigel
     
    huochemi likes this.
  13. Chuffington

    Chuffington New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2018
    Messages:
    95
    Likes Received:
    62
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Oh dear was looking forward to this Gala S160 and now this, I assume there are not any auto coaches are available?
    Could you not have reduced the train lengths as most other railways are forced to do, to provide shorter but more sets?

    Nigel
     
  14. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,439
    Likes Received:
    17,937
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    The latter was the plan until we found a hole in the floor of what was going to be the fourth brake coach...
     
  15. flying scotsman123

    flying scotsman123 Resident of Nat Pres

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2013
    Messages:
    10,439
    Likes Received:
    17,937
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Cheltenham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    The latter was the plan until we found a hole in the floor of what was going to be the fourth brake coach...
     
  16. ruddingtonrsh56

    ruddingtonrsh56 Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2009
    Messages:
    979
    Likes Received:
    1,470
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Nottinghamshire
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    If the idea of DMUs being used as passenger stock on a steam service is unappealing, just think of it as steam rescuing a failed problematic diesel.
    And give the S160 a break. Yeah, it's not the prettiest engine ever made, but if that's your issue, try closing your eyes and listening to the music it makes!
     
    Johnme101 likes this.
  17. Britfoamer

    Britfoamer Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2008
    Messages:
    2,172
    Likes Received:
    2,020
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Chemist (semi-retired)
    Location:
    Within 2 miles of the ELR
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Noise = S160 at Water Arc North York Moors a couple of years back, wonderful in the confines of the cut.
     
  18. DragonHandler

    DragonHandler Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2016
    Messages:
    1,286
    Likes Received:
    1,590
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    West London
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    I'm as GWR as the next man, but the WSR had an S160 at their spring gala and they're impressive locos, not pretty, but impressive. They make unusual noises but have nice chime whistles. Having something not-British in the line up makes a nice bit of variety.

    s-17.jpg

    6046 departing from Crowcombe Heathfield with the military train.
     
    Britfoamer likes this.
  19. chris meadowcroft

    chris meadowcroft Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2009
    Messages:
    290
    Likes Received:
    117
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Chemical Engineering Manager
    Location:
    Stoke on Trent
    Some people seem to forget that they used to work in this country and helped us to win the war so they are a very appropriate class of loco for the UK!
     
    Bluenosejohn likes this.
  20. DragonHandler

    DragonHandler Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2016
    Messages:
    1,286
    Likes Received:
    1,590
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    West London
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    And a large number of them worked on the GWR, so they're not out of place on a GWR line.
     
    Bluenosejohn likes this.

Share This Page