KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TANK'!

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

All my photos of Fri's running are now in the above album.

But I also joined an excellent guided tour of Haworth engine shed, and visited the museums at Oxenhope and Ingrow. My efforts can be seen here:

Keighley & Worth Valley Railway museums, 2012 - andrewstransport's Photos

Cheers for now

Andrew N

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Summer gala anybody?

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Yup!

At least if it all goes pointy bits up you can go for a stroll on't moors. By the by - I heard a few hard core types moaning about it being half term and their connecting trains being packed full of kids and they wouldn't come next year if this was repeated, something for the organisers to consider maybe? (This would also minimise any family suffering on the WV trains too?).

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Evening All, thanks for sharing the photos and videos.
Another Gala weekend down, successful despite some operational problems and the cold weather.

49395 arrived late to the Railway because of the heavy snow falls earlier on in the week, we were unaware of the problems with steam heat until it was too late. Obviously, as a visiting engine it was booked on quite a few trains resulting in some cold trains due to the lack of heat. Because of the late arrival and unknown problems it was too late to try and put a plan B in place without seriously affecting the timetables.

Timekeeping on Friday was problematic due to coupling problems with the vintage stock and KWVR stock of BR Mk.1s, hence some cancellations to try and save the timetable. Saturday timekeeping was due to problems with shunting at Keighley.
The cold weather did not help things this weekend although that is not an excuse.

The half term has always fallen straight after the KWVR Gala weekend, it has done for some years now so we can't change that. To do so would step on other Railways toes with their events.

The Coal Tank was turned in preparation for Photo charters in the near future.

Plans for October will now start. We have our engine already! We might use a simpler timetable so that shunting of sets doesnt cause the same problem.
Regards

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Half term, good job to, if it had been a week earlier sunday would have been cancelled due to the gas explosion at Oakworth, so a few minor issue due to a combination of unforseen issues and trying to shuffle the stock, which after all was for our benafit, we are more than happy to live with. Penny didn't complain about extra rabbit hunting time for one.

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

As for the chippy being shut - Well the one in Ramsbottom was for the ELR Winter gala as well. You would have though that they would have stopped open and made a mint out of us punters.

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

The chippy at Ingrow is shut for a couple of weeks!

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

I'm sure many people visiting these galas do have a good time despite the cold weather - which often makes for good pictures - but people must remember that not every passenger travelling is a hardened enthusiast keen to brave the elements for that ride behind a certain loco, or to get that wonderful picture. In fact I would hazard a guess that many people are just "normal" visitors, who I suspect would be extremely unimpressed at the 60+ minutes of late running experienced on Friday and Saturday and the near arctic conditions on most of the trains.

Why locomotives and coaches which are not even fitted with steam heat in the first place are booked to operate all day, and on full line trains, in the middle of winter is beyond me. It may look nice, but it certainly isn't a pleasant travelling environment.

As regards the Super D - rumour has it that the steam heat failed over 4 weeks ago and has not been fixed? If this is so, then this is surely something which should have been detected prior to the loco's arrival at the KWVR and hence it should either have been fixed, or not allowed to operate on its own for any length of time. The response from the KWVR rep above that they didn't know about it, and then when they did they didn't want to do anything the alleviate the problems because it would have affected the timetables and diagrams is another cop out. I am, like many enthusiasts, pleased that these railways manage to put on a gala such as this, but surely some consideration should be paid to those actually paying good money to travel on the trains who might not want to get frostbite or sit in the middle of nowhere for hours on end in the process.

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Blaming the lack of heat on the Super D is only half the problem after all the rolling stock did spend a large amount of time sat at Keighley doing nothing in between trains. A good example is the Suburban rake on Friday which was brought down ECS in the morning and then spent the majority of the day stuck in a siding at Keighly before being used! No wonder it was freezing. There was way too much shunting of stock at Keighly which only compounded the situation, I do think for the winter gala just stick to the minimum required stock and keep the trains moving and the passengers warm. During the Summer then it's fine when the lack of heating is less of an issue.

On paper it was a good looking gala but as soon as something went wrong the complexity proved to be its downfall.

Another thing that didn't help was the poor gent on the ground frame at Keighley having to walk backwards and forwards passing messages etc to the train crews.. two way radios would have been a distinct advantage here.

regards
Alistair

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Can the timetable that has operated for diesel galas in previous years (every 45 minutes from each end with 2 rakes of stock, {which also had DMU shuttle to Ingrow}, this has 20 minutes at each end for running round, etc) be used for the Autumn steam gala?

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

I was present on the Friday, looking after some reps from the NRM, on behalf of VCT and was caught up in the "no train" scenario.

Seems the problem was a problem between the buckeye couplings of the "Chatham" coach and the KWVR Mk 1 fleet - at least the one we were trying to couple to! The problem was rectified by using an "emergency 3-link" coupling carried for just such an occasion as this. It did mean, however, that the coach was then isolated from the rest of the set as we couldn't open the corridor doors betwen the coaches. And of course the cancellation of that train was inevitable. This was unforseen and unfortunately has to come under what we would call the "embuggerance factor" which can come and bite us at gala events and I know how hard the guys on the ground worked to get the set up and running.

The Chatham and the Bullied run well together as a pair and this how they will operate most times.

As far as the lack of lighting in the Bullied goes, VCT apologises for the inconvenience caused. We are aware of the electrical problem and are in the process of dealing with it, but time ran out on us before we could complete the job. The Chatham had the same issue but has now been sorted thanks to the hard work of our electrical engineer, who will finish the Bullied now the gala is finished.

I hope folks will understand that we are all volunteers and sometimes time just defeats our best intentions.

So, sorry for the inconvenience and I hope folks still enjoyed what KWVR, BLS and VCT between them had to offer - the Coal Tank looked superb all day!!

regards,

Ian Smith
Committee Member, VCT

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Just wanted to say thank you very much to everyone at the KWVR for organising a fantastic event. I only visited yesterday so can't comment on the timetable disruption earlier in the weekend, certainly to my knowledge everything seemed to run ok yesterday, with only minor delays in the middle of the day which seemed to have been made up by around 3pm. The timetable was complicated, but from my perspective it worked pretty well - I was able to have several journeys behind pretty much all of the loco's, and in all of the different stock. The connections between the 'shuttle' and the services at Keighley were all great, and staff were very helpful in pointing out to folks where they should be. I even managed to walk the Worth Valley Way from Oxenhope to Haworth which was a bit exciting due to all the ice! The stock and loco's all looked and sounded superb - especially 1054, well done to all involved in her restoration.

One of the things I enjoy the most about going to the KWVR galas is the chance to ride in the VCT stock which doesn't get used as much during the 'regular' service days, and I think it would be a great shame if this wasn't used at such events just because of the steam-heat issue. To be fair to the KWVR, they are always careful to point out in the event guide and on the www that travelling on those trains is an 'authentic' Victorian experience! There were a lot of young families at the railway yesterday which personally I find very encouraging to see, and I didn't hear a single complaint about this at all during my trips in both the Bulleid/Chatham set or the LYR stock.

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

I thoroughly enjoyed Friday, problems with the stock notwithstanding. 'It' happens occasionally, as we all know... I agree with the comments about being able to ride in the older carriages; the L&Y Club Car was a superb 'bonus' for the day.

Thanks to all involved in the planning, operation & support of the event

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

This gala is now a permanent fixture in my planning of the diary for the railway year, and this year was well worth the journey from Cornwall. So many highlights - Coal Tank and Super D on recreation of Abergavenny - Merthyr last train, the Midland 0-6-0 back in service, the Ivatt on freight working on Friday and so many other attractions.

Yes, things didn't always go to plan, but if you're prepared to take the rough with the smooth, it's a great weekend. The buffet at Oxenhope was very good with it's pie and peas, and chocolate cake with cream highest in my affections.

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Although the timetable may have gone a little awry, the frequency of trains would still be as great as the line can handle, so a lot less waiting around than usual. Lots to learn from this one - but im sure it will be.

Good to see the L & Y Rake going from strength to strength (though it did look odd with the red and whites) Just need the directors saloon on now !

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Many thanks Fred, it was a very enjoyable evening

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Really enjoyed Fri/Sat at the gala. So many excellent happenings!! Personal highlight was the restored L+Y train esp the club car which was finished to a very high standard. Hauled by 957 on the 09.25 ex K on friday was awesome.
Even my daughter+missus were positive.......
Lots of other touches such as the vintage bus covering for a canc train.
Quite a lot late running.... an "authentic" feature for me with the ECML having problems today........
Consumed a lot of SOUP!!!

THANKS to all the many helpers

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

Full marks to the KWVR this weekend, their Hosptiality and ability to put on such a show never fails to astound me.
The Shot of the day:

1054 looks and sounds amazing, looking forward to sampling her on the SVR later in the year, Photo's on my Flickr account (Click the banner below)
Regards
Tom

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN


Here are three of my pictures from the weekend. I travelled up with my mum and dad on Sunday, we had a really enjoyable visit to the railway. Yes the carriages were cold, one coach was in darkness and the trains were not exactly on time, but the photographs we got made up for that.

 

Re: KWVR WINTER STEAM GALA - FEBRUARY 10th, 11th & 12th 2012 -RETURN OF THE 'COAL TAN

I agree with Ray Mason about late running - much more authentic although I'd draw the line at having too many cancellations!

If you insist on every train running exactly to time, you may be happier in Switzerland.