Watercress Line Timetable Help

I did spend a day at the Mid Hants Spring Gala, and enjoyed it, albeit only photoing from restricted locations because the big locos nearly all face the wrong way, IMHO! But I did get my first ever ride behind a Lord Nelson Class loco!

http://www.germansteam.info/2009/2009-05/2009-05.html Text still to be added

I spent some time checking for legal access photo spots on the climb up from Alton to Medstead for the majority of big locos that now face that direction. If I could have found more than just the very restricted view bridges over the line in Alton I would have owed Chessie a few beers and would have bought them with great pleasure! (I'll check again next time I am there).

Any way. I plan to return soon, hopefully this coming Saturday when both 34007 and 30850 are on the roster.

But the timetable shows half the trains will be demu. So why are two big locos steamed? Will both operate instead of the demu?

Would be grateful for help from any one in the know.

 

DEMU and one steam during the day, two steam in the evening for The Belle and RAT. Somebody else will be able to tell you the specifics of which loco when.

 

30850 is on the RAT and I believe 34007 will be on the service train in the day and the belle as it is the easier to turn around after a days work

 

Thanks guys. Unless the weather is superb I think I'll wait until both locos are working together during the day.

But it certainly helps to know why two steam locos are sometimes rostered for days when Service 1 is operating.

 

You're welcome. I really hope it's LN I'm behind on Sat night but I'll not be disappointed with Wadebridge by any means.

I don't think the weather will be in your or my favour on Saturday, but I'm guessing they'll be plenty of times when both LN and Wadebridge are running together in the future. Don't forget when you do visit, then pop in to Medstead and see Chris (CCT_MAN) for the obligatory cup of tea and feel free also to see if I'm working that weekend, I'm sure between us your photo opportunities may well increase :smt001

 

I usually base myself at Medstead. And did so during my visit at the Spring Steam gala, getting my ticket there and substantially supporting the tea stall inside the booking office!

The guys in/around the booking office were very friendly and chatty, and made for a great day out despite bad weather. It was interesting to see how important the motive power was to them on trains ex Ropley. Not for photting, but whether the loco was big enough to spare a shovel full of coal or two for their station office fire! Wonderful stuff that I am sure reflected days long since gone.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think I may have been on duty that day, as we had a young lad who we dispatched to fill up the coal bunker from every big loco that came through. Definatly the old way of getting coal!

34007 and 30850, should be running when we start Service 2 in the Summer (2 steam)

 

Does anyone know which engines are likely to be working this coming Saturday the 4th July?

The roster shows 850 and 34007, though its not been updated for a while, any info' would be apprecated as I'm hoping to visit.

Thanks!!!

 

I will be delighted to offer you a cup ot tea in our messroom, just ask one of the Station Staff to brinhg you down the yard and I will do the rest.

I hold a PTS so as long as I am standing with you and you have a hi-viz there will be another ,(but legal), photo opportunity for you.

Now there is an offer you cannot refuse?.

Best regards
Chris

 

Without wishing to stir up a hornets nest again, which way round is 30850 facing now?

 

Smokebox out of Altin facing Alresford

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

 

So sad.

I did once promise to buy someone here a few beers if I could get some decent photos from legal positions! If I could get decent photos of locos facing that way.

But no. Not possible,

So my money keeps going, and will keep going to the Bluebell Railway. And I am very regularly told on the lineside that I am not the only one doing that.

Presumably the MId Hants are rolling in money and don't need to care about photographer visitors. Or rather the photographer visitors who would visit and put significant sums of money into the railway if they could get decent action photos of some lovely locos.

It's nice that the Bluebell appreciate our needs and want our money.

 

Yes it is sad, sad that you have been offered photographic opportunities which you have declined to take up because a Loco is facing the wrong way proberbly for operational reasons.

Sad that you think that the Bluebell can do no wrong and want to slag off the Mid_Hants which was possibly your agenda in the first place.

Sad that that you cannot comprehend that you cannot allegedly get a decent photo of our Loco,s because just one is facing the wrong way.

Methinks this thread was used by yourself to have a pop at another Railway, however my offer of a unique photo opportunity still stands so please pm me if you want to discuss this further.

If I do not here from you I will have to assume that you have a hidden agenda.

Regards
Chris

 

How about this for an idea.

Get a group of you together, raise enough monies for the MHR to hire a crane so that they can "turn" the loco round for you and then you can get your photos!

I am sure the MHR railway will do whatever they can for photographers....as do all railways.

But with your attitude is it no wonder that photographers have a bad name.

 

Firstly, I was totally unaware that an offer to join someone legally on the lineside had been made to me! I thought it had been aimed at someone else. I am very sorry indeed to have missed that. I will take up the offer as soon as I am able to come to the Mid Hants again. And I will buy a day ticket or two even if I don't travel by train the day I am able to take photos from decent locations on the climb from Alton.

And no. I don't have a hidden agenda. I would just like to see and photograph the loco climbing up from Alresford to Medstead and Four Marks chimney first. I know others do as well. And I would be prepared to contribute a reasonable amount to turning the loco if the opportunity cannot be taken to turn it if/when it goes away from the railway again within the foreseeable future, ie. within the next year or so. And if others are prepared to join me in funding that turn. I have put my money where my mouth has been before in the steam world.

With other locos I do have to accept what the local railway want to do. If I don't like it I'll go elsewhere. But this loco is different. I believe, (mistakenly?), it is part of the National Collection and therefore owned indirectly by us all. And it falls under the auspices of the NRM whom I believe receive some funding by taxpayers? So I feel our views should carry more strength on which line it is used on and how it is used. If my assumptions as to ownership are wrong would someone please correct me.

I do note some of the posts re my comments about the Mid Hants.

Having returned to support and take an interest in UK steam operations after decades of my interest and financial support being directed at overseas steam, (Germany - South Africa - Germany in that order), the Mid Hants was immediately an obvious place for me to lend support. The loco fleet, actual and potential, is superb for a SR man through and through like myself. On my infrequent visits I find the staff extremely friendly and very welcoming. But I get very frustrated because decent photography is so difficult for trains heading out of Alton.

Very sad if having that view and daring to express it means I am giving photographers a bad name.

But I am encountering things like that in the UK steam scene that I have not met elsewhere. And the sort of posts made above because I have dared to comment on a particular situation is just one of those things. Another one is the fact that in Germany especially, the front coach, (in both directions), on most steam hauled tours was almost always for the "hard core" enthusiast. Those of us who supported particular steam excursion operators week in week out, year in year out by always travelling on their trains. So we got the prime "listening spots", joined by causal observers whenever they wanted to join us. An operational inconvenience sometimes to those running the trains, but they felt their loyal customer base was worth it. I am told it is just luck in the UK whether you can get in the coach behind the loco or not. That doubt is keeping me off UK steam tours at present.

I guess I shall just have to get used to what is happening here in the UK. Although I doubt I will accept everything that I see going on. And being as I am, I will comment on it from time to time. And suffer the slings, arrows and insults for daring to do so. But I have a very broad back and can take it! Sadly I have little choice at present as I am still far from ready to return to regular visits to Germany, and may never be able to go there often and get back to the wonderful level of enjoyment that steam scene once gave me.

 

Not a problem at all to achieve your ambition.

Yes, 30850 is a loco from the NRM, but sadly that gives Joe public no more rights as to it's operation. That is down to the custodian, who I am sure will be more than happy to meet your request re: which way it's facing. It's just a matter of having your cheque book ready. Oh yes, and a very large credit balance in your account, which will soon disappear. Full mainline prep, FTR exam, coal, water, MHR crew, Network Rail authorised crew, etc etc. Then you can have the loco run out to the relevant triangle so that it can return facing the other way. And don't forget to repeat the exercise so that the MHR can have it the right way round again afterwards.

As far as the carriage goes, easy peasy. Just buy your own and ensure it is safe to run and then pay to have it marshalled behind the loco. Then you can tell all the other passengers who have paid exactly the same as you, giving you no more rights than them, to **** off and sit somewhere else.

Grow up! It ain't your train set so respect those other people who pay to use the same service. And respect the operating department of the railway for their operating decisions. This ain't Germany, this is Britain. It ain't 1968, it's 2009. Like it or lump it. But there's a hell of a lot more steam here than there is there. It's a question of attitude, really. If your comments are an indication of your attitude, then there may be some railways that might like to see you not come back.

 

Soooooo, can anyone throw some light on the likely engines for this Saturday???

don't mind which way round they are, I'd ,just like to travel,

thanks!!

 

I guess if that last comment represents the attitude of the UK preservation movement then I will try and face up to going back to the German steam scene sooner rather than later. I do find it sad that is the way things have gone in the UK. But if it works, and everyone here is happy with it, then my 40 year absence gives me absolutely no right to try and change it. Maybe I should have kept my UK interest going and been part of the formative process in the UK. But concerns I had over potential conflicts of interest, (amongst other reasons), as my professional railway career developed meant I let that opportunity slip.

I would have thought a change in direction of the LN if it was considered acceptable, for example, could have been considered during a planned interval away from the Mid Hants, past or future. Assuming of course there are planned moves away from the railway in the coming year(s). Rather than the incredibly expensive way suggested above. It does rather seem like suggesting the most expensive way of doing something as a means of ensuring it doesn't happen. I guess those costs could get close to the sort of financial benefit I helped one particular very worthwhile cause in Germany gain over a period of time, which must have amounted to circa 25,000 Euros. For that amount there were substantial benefits to the development of a particular Museum line. Even though I'd love to see and photo the LN in a variety of new locations climbing up from Alresford, I am not going to put very large sums of money into pockets outside of the direct preservation movement to achieve that! To me that would be a criminal waste of a precious resource needed badly by those working so hard to bring locos back into service etc. The same with the comment aimed I guess at the use of front coaches in steam specials by those who want to stand by an open window and enjoy the noise of the loco exhaust. But if everyone here is happy with what they are being offered, then again, my comment that I have no right to expect change after my long absence is very valid.

But it does help me decide whether to support the forthcoming appeal to raise the money for the overhaul of German pacific 03 1010, for instance. Rather than put any more money into the UK steam scene, ( I have only been putting money in via dribs and drabs so far as I hadn't decided who and what to support), without thinking very carefully through what I am actually subscribing to.

I will still visit a few of the UK steam railways, including the Mid Hants, and photo main line trips from the lineside. But I will do so in the knowledge it is unikely to be a scene I ever want to be more closely involved with. If what I am reading here truly represents the current UK steam scene.

 

I keep hearing about the 'significant sums' that photographers put into railway's coffers - I would wager that you could count on the fingers of one hand those who actually do contribute said 'significant sums'. Obviously I could be wrong though, maybe someone who knows, not just hazards guesses (eg someone in the finance dept of a railway, could quantify these claims.

 

I thought the 25,000 Euros I mentioned above was significant! But from what I am reading in this thread I guess I am so far out of touch with the UK steam scene it must be seen as a pathetically small contribution.