Bo'ness and Kinneil railway steam gala 2018

828's tender was loaded at Boat of Garten on Sunday, arriving at Bo'ness yesterday. The loco herself was then loaded this morning, and arrived at tea time this evening and also unloaded.

Something we may need to double check with the hauliers regarding route taken down after the A9 turn off at Perth, but quite possibly this humble Caledonian 0-6-0 is the first steam locomotive to cross the Queensferry Crossing. We'll attempt to verify that before validating the claim and making a plaque....

All is looking to be in the place for the gala, some work required on 828 with coupling up to the tender and steam test to do and then the ball begins!

 

A FREE vintage bus service is now going to be offered between Bo'ness & Linlithgow this weekend!

 

Look what has arrived Photo by J Sniegon!

 

The festivities begin tomorrow, with No. 1 and No. 19 on services and freight during a preview day as a build up to the main event on Saturday and Sunday with the Blue Belles.

Both No. 828 and 419 should be on view at the East end of the running shed tomorrow while being cleaned and prepared for the weekend. Look forward to seeing many of you there over the three days, and then some more again during our charters!

 

Let's hope the weather forecast (wind and rain Saturday / Cloudy sun Sunday) doesn't put people off ! My bookings made but hope for sunshine to mae the best of the Caley Blue.

 

A wonderful sight. The first of this weekend's Caley Specials shortly before departure.

 

Sorry to be missing this one - the question has to be asked - which is the right shade of Caley Blue? (Hopefully not the waterproof on the extreme right!)

Steven

 

Both blues are correct. 828 wears the earlier shade, 419 the later. Seeing the two together would have been pretty common during the years which the Caledonian Railway changed from the 'darker' shade to the 'lighter'.

 

Had a brilliant first visit to the BKR yesterday for the Gala! 419, 828 and the Caledonian coaches looked fantastic together (even in the drizzle!) and No.1, No.6 and No.19 also put a great show.

Really enjoyed that even though it was a one train along the line at a time service you weren't waiting around too long between trains and that there was always something going on at Bo'ness station as well as the Museum too look around. Thanks all for putting on a great event, well worth the trip up from Leeds for the day.

Added a few photos from the day here. Looking forward to seeing what is planned next time


1) 419 and 828 alongside the shed at Bo'ness


2) 828 and 419 on the first Caledonian Special on their way towards Kinneil Halt


3) 419 and 828 at Birkhill running around the last Caledonian Special of the day.

 

Substitute Leeds for Sheffield and that's exactly what I was preparing to write!

Only gripe was the free bus service could have done with being advertised earlier, if I'd have known even just a couple more days in advance I may well have gone today instead given the weather forecast, hopefully someone will have got some pictures in the sunshine today to contrast with the grey and dull conditions we had yesterday:

 

A very enjoyable if yet tiring weekend, dodging between cleaning and photographing among other issues! While weather yesterday was foul, witnessing an overflowing carpark over both weekend days with full trains and a full buffet building, with many still out on the platform was certainly rewarding for all involved. Clearly a sign that the gala being moved to this weekend, plus the right gala guest, can do wonders for attendance! An increase on last year's numbers on the face of it, so thank you to everybody who turned up and contributed. Hopefully we'll see many of you next year

Some photos from the highlights of Caley Blue this afternoon.....

Caledonian Railway No. 419 & 828 - Kinneil East by Jonathon Gourlay, on Flickr

Caledonian Railway No. 419 - High Bridge by Jonathon Gourlay, on Flickr

Caledonian Railway No. 828 - Birkhill Old Loops by Jonathon Gourlay, on Flickr

 

And as if by magic!

Lovely, thanks for sharing.

 

Just out of curiosity - is there a reason for very different shades of blue on 419 and 828? Accepting all the usual caveats about interpretation of long-gone liveries - did CR blue vary over the years, or between workshops? Or different degrees of weathering of the two locos? Or some other reason?

Tom

 

The book regarding the subject titled 'Caledonian Railway Livery' is very insightful on this taboo subject, but in summary regarding the shades:

The darker blue is regarded as the 'Classic' livery blue, introduced by Lambie very early on in Caley days. The lighter blue is regarded as McIntosh blue, originally introduced in the late 1890's to specific locomotives at first (with differing lining styles), but eventually spread it's way along the rest of the fleet but with the standard Caley French grey and black lining.

There were multiple variations under both these two shades, generally on lining styles, bufferbeam (plain red, or chocolate with red panel etc...), letting style and shading, crest size and colour of numberplate backing to name but a few!

 

Thanks Jonathon - guessed there had to be a reason, but well of my beaten track!

Tom

 

I can only echo DeccerGW's comments above. This was a very enjoyable and well-organised event. Allocating timed tickets on the Caledonian specials was definitely a good move; it meant one could relax and take one's seat at the allotted time, rather than enduring the bunfights that often make galas so stressful. And there was always something going on at Bo'ness, more so when one wanted to look at the model railway and the museum as well. Staff were all polite and courteous, and whilst the event was busy it was certainly not as crowded as many English galas. I almost wished I had gone for both days rather than just the one!

My only small criticism was the catering. As far as I could tell the cafe was only offering sit-down meals; it would have been nice to have some sort of "grab-and-go" offer available, as there was so much going on I didn't really want to be sitting indoors waiting for my food to arrive! This was only a minor quibble, however; I suppose I could have gone to the Tesco down the road, but I wanted to support the railway.

Well I have to say, the visiting engine was my main reason for making the long trek north! Admittedly it will be hard to produce an event to match the historical significance of this one. Nevertheless, it occurs to me that both Stroudley and Drummond had Scottish connections, so it would be wonderful to see the M7, T9 or a Terrier go north of the border at some point. I would guess the cost of transport from Southern England is probably the sticking point, though? It would also be great to see Dunrobin and 58A return to Scotland once the former's restoration is complete!

 

A further selection from a very mixed weekend weatherise but well worth the effort made to attend :



A couple of images have also appeared in this week's Railway Herald

 

Is 123’s livery again different to 828 and 419’s?

 

IIRC 123 has the lighter livery as applied to 419.