NVR Wagon Group Updates

Hot on the heels of the first event announcement, here is the second (which actually happens first), and it's a biggie:

Please spread this round and help support it - the fee for Scotsman is eye watering, so we really need this to sell!

I recommend going to the NVR website and reading the full details - there are separate day and evening charters.

https://www.facebook.com/nvrwagons/...AQKuc9trxEiPXyJ9oCQwRHarGtKhWe7WLkomDKUbhcohl

FLYING SCOTSMAN ON FREIGHT - FIRST TIME SINCE 1994!
We are so lucky to have been given the opportunity to host a full line photographic day with A3 Class No 60103 'Flying Scotsman' on Friday 28th February 2025.
This is believed to be the first time the locomotive has hauled freight since a previous charter at the NVR in 1994, so this is not to be missed!
The Package
You will arrive at the Nene Valley Railways Wansford Station on Friday 28th February 2025 and participate in a short safety briefing by one of our members of staff.
We would like you to get the most out of capturing Eastern Steam on freight and so London and North Eastern Railway A3 Class Locomotive No 60103 ‘Flying Scotsman’ will be running at the head of our demonstration Goods Train throughout this event.
This opportunity takes place between Yarwell and Peterborough Nene Valley Railway (PNVR) Stations with run pasts through Wansford Tunnel, Wansford Station, River Nene Bridge, Castor Straight, Longueville Junction, and PNVR. There will also be cameos at Wansford involving loading/unloading and the opportunity for shots on shed in Wansford Yard.
This charter begins at 9am with a briefing and then photography from 10am. Our cafe will also be open for you to purchase food and refreshments whilst you are with us should you wish to.
This experience concludes at approximately 4:30pm.
The Cost
The whole package is priced at £200.00 per person.
A Golden Opportunity
On the day of the Photographic Charter, we are giving two people the unique opportunity to ride on the footplate of No 60103 ‘Flying Scotsman’. Sit in the fireman’s seat and watch the action from the
perspective of the locomotive crew in either the morning or the afternoon of our event.
This opportunity is priced at an additional £200.00 per person and limited to one person in the morning and one person in the afternoon only.
For more details, visit https://nvr.org.uk/produ.../569/flying-scotsman-scotch-goods

TICKETS ARE NOT YET ON SALE, BUT WE WILL UPDATE YOU AS SOON AS THEY ARE. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT US TRYING TO PURCHASE TICKETS JUST YET.

 

Is it worth getting this advertised in the printed railway press, Stu? It's one helluva opportunity to see 60103 doing something different for a change.

 

Oh, and although we didn't have a wagon session yesterday, myself and couple of other members of the Wagon Group joined thirty (ish) members from various other areas of the railway on a shunters training/refresher day (also included the loco crews). This will (once the training is complete and we are passed out) give us more flexibility when we need to shift and shunt wagons. With the day starting at -5 when I left home, it had just about reached zero degrees when we headed out for the practical part of the day. Brrrr. The training was incorporated in to some shunts which were actually required, so we were in the group dealing with the wagons, which needed to be moved out of the civils siding and in to Wansford yard/platforms in order for work to take place on the siding. The other participants were shunting various other stuff around Wansofrd yard and the C&W siding.

 

Ah, so that's why the wagons are in the platform at Wansford!

 

Don't worry - we will be trying to get this promoted as widely as possible, but we want the tickets on sale before pushing it hard - and that's not under our control

 

Scotsman tickets now available (The website demand may even have settled down now!)

Scotsman: https://nvr.org.uk/product.php/569/flying-scotsman-scotch-goods

Britannia: https://nvr.org.uk/product.php/567/rule-britannia

 

Well, the ones that include a footplate ride on 60103 and 70000 have already sold out...

 

Another wagon session completed at the weekend, mostly spent wrapping parcels and bundles of newspaper. One more to go before the Scotsman freight photo charter...

https://nvrwagons.co.uk/2025/02/12/09-02-25-scotsman-prep-the-devil-in-the-details/

https://www.facebook.com/nvrwagons/...Ri7d7fRwy2Mnawg7LbL9r6P68i7MeHTZdGWV4eJyqJNxl



Places still available on both Scotsman and Britannia photo charters

Scotsman: https://nvr.org.uk/product.php/569/flying-scotsman-scotch-goods

Britannia: https://nvr.org.uk/product.php/567/rule-britannia

The rake consists have been decided for the Scotsman photo charter and are as follows:

Daytime consist:

First evening consists (hoppers will be positioned to appear as a second departing goods):

Second evening consist:

 

This looks to be very well organised - I'm sure it will be sold out! Well done Big Stu and the team.

 

We can but hope. A lot of effort has gone in to organising and promoting this event - and it is a big deal for us as the cost for the loco (and fuel) just for one day is eye watering - if you want to see Scotsman on freight, this is realistically your only chance. A sellout would be fantastic and actually make some profit for the Wagon Group. We believe our photo charters offer a lot of value both from the loco/rake combos and the re-enactment elements - if people want them to continue, they need to support them!

 

While the railway is currently Scotsman mad, the following freight driving experiences are lined up for April & May (just a heads up for now, unfortunately not bookable yet - don't ask!).

 

Yesterday was a fantastic day - never mind your Grandads, my son fired Flying Scotsman (a big thank you to Danny from Northern Steam for making that happen), and our wagon (LMS M470944) was in the rake. Lots of happy punters and lots of great photos and footage from the day appearing on social media. If you missed it, you missed out, it's very unlikely to happen again. We will be doing the daytime photo charter stuff all over again on 12th March with Britannia on the front.

Some great shots from Jack Boskett here: https://www.facebook.com/jackbosket...rq5kNixd6eMrr4vPdpi4iCSTvEccHf17dv7U1nomHN1hl

Britannia charter here: https://nvr.org.uk/product.php/567/rule-britannia

Wagon Group shot courtesy of @Wagoniester of this parish

 

Very pleasing to see that our Scotch Goods charter made the front page of HR magazine Now to to do it all again tomorrow with Britannia (which arrived earlier today), starting with some early morning exertions around the turntable...

 

I've read somewhere that the turntable was 'down' as it were. Is it working?.

 

It is currently derated but Britannia is within the reduced capabilities (my understanding is that the issue is with the extensions and locos which fit within the original deck length can still be turned - Tornado was turned as separate loco and tender and then coupled up).

 

So what sort of work is needed on these extensions? Expensive ones, no doubt

 

Not sure - what can and can't be turned is determined by classification (so may actually be determined by weight/axle weight). RA7 is the current limit I believe.

 

Another fantastic day with the wagons out on a freight photo charter hauled by Britannia. A few of my snaps and a group shot once again supplied by @Wagoniester - on this occasion there is a mix of original Wagon Group 1.0, and the current Wagon Group 2.0. I don't have many pictures as I'm no photographer and was there to help run the day.

Thomas had to be shunted off the turntable road before Britannia could be turned, then pictured at PNVR and waiting to commence a run at Longueville Junction/Orton Mere.



The combined Wagon Groups

 

A quick update following this week's shunt which was the start of basing all non-passenger stock at Overton - visitors to or passing through Overton will now see freight wagons in the yard.

Tomorrow we have our next working session there, preparing for the open day in May...

https://nvrwagons.co.uk/2025/04/03/31-03-25-from-little-acorns/

 

Will that banana-framed wagon at Wansford(?) be making the move too...?