Great Goodbye at Shildon alert !

Finally managed to download the 500+ pics and vids from the camera to my computer. Since I wouldn't be able to match the skill level of the others in terms of photography, I thought I'd just enjoy and experiment a little. Hopefully I'll be able to edit a nice video together
Here are a few choice images:






Mr. Coulls was really pleased with the turnout and was chatting to many of the photographers





I've uploaded an album here if you'd like to see more:
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Butch/library/The Great Goodbye

 

The location was always going to be a difficult one to sort for everybody to be happy. Was great for me personally, same as the chance to see some Olympic action last year was a no chance situation.

The give away is London North East Railway, a point was chosen mid way between the 2 main termini, that was attainable on a day trip, and from both ends of the LNER mainline.

Do I want to see a line up of 6-10 southern based locos in the future???? Maybe if I lived near London or the area that they operated, I would, I assume lots of people would, but not many out of the locos past operating catchment area.

As to the complaints about Shildon, again I thought the staff were excellent, and maybe they are victims of their own success, the numbers are really astonishing. Ok toilets were portable, but at least they sorted the situation quickly.

Lets hope an operator takes notice, a large untapped market are waiting for some local start A4 action.

 

Great shot! So there really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow !!!

 

Thank you,
not just any pot of gold,
its a SNG pot of gold !

 

Just a little food for thought I suppose although it may be obvious to some members. NRM I reckon have made money on Shildon with all the visitors but just for starters, I understand there was 5 photographers evenings for the "classic" line-up. If that is correct then NRM added £22,500 to their bank account! Add the car park fees, brake van rides, food/drinks, souvenirs, donations and some cheaper early morning photters gatherings then it all add's up to a little pot of gold! And that is before you add the money obtained from the two NRM York gatherings, along with the associated talks, dinners etc too. So financially, it must be deemed a success surely?

 

Good. Maybe that can go toward running the museum in the face of government cutbacks etc.

 

Well, that's the income side worked out. Have you considered the expenditure side? Six loco movements to Shildon and six more back again after it is all over; possible hire fees for the three privately-owned locos; out-of-hours payments for NRM staff involved in the night shoots; the lighting rig; a ton or two of coal per day per loco for the three working ones. It soon adds up! I hope the NRM has made some money, but it is not as if the event is pure profit. The costs are pretty high too.

Tom

 

Don't forget the staff working in the car park (very helpful and friendly btw)

 

I accept what you say and yes there is expenditure involved no doubt about that for the "whole" Great Gathering event, some of which has been off set by "sponsorship" of one sort or another, along with importantly a small army of volunteers too. But at the end of the day if the NRM have not made some sort of profit out of the whole event, then there is a possibility that the DSI and our paymasters will be asking some questions in the light of departmental budget cuts.

 

I'm sure that I've read somewhere that the NRM reckoned they had made £½m 'profit' on the whole affair so far, and that was before this last week. How factual, I don't know.

 

All depends if the NRM's remit was to make a profit in the first place.

 

Hey chaps, my video from the event is here, hope you like
http://www.national-preservation.com/threads/my-video-from-the-great-goodbye-hd.225343/

 

Well, I recon they could have made a whole lot more if they'd bothered to produce some sort of souvenir guide book commemorating the event.

Personally, I was glad to have had the opportunity to see the A4s but I found the whole Shildon experience a bit of a disappointment, to be honest. The building itself is quite nice, but the exhibits within appear to be arranged completely randomly, whereas with a bit of thought they could have been arranged to actually tell some sort of story, and indeed to allow some decent photos. And there is a whole road of vehicles in the middle which you can't actually see - what's that all about?

I had also wanted to have a close look at two particular vehicles which the NRM's website lists as being at Shildon - well, I saw the end of one, poking out from behind something else on the aforementioned centre road, and the other had been shunted out onto the running line, so I had to contend myself with a photo through the window. Not really what I had in mind, to be honest.

Left home at 07:40 and got back at 22:40. Was it worth it? On balance yes, but if I was picking a railway museum to go back to any time soon I'd be off to Barcelona, Utrecht or perhaps Bochum.

 

I think the whole point of that line is that it is hidden from view - it gives somewhere undercover to store vehicles in dry conditions which are rather tatty/fragile/vandalised or otherwise not really suitable for putting on public display.
That's not to say sometimes other stuff doesn't get stuffed down there as well, but basically it's out of view storage.

 

Don't forget also the profits don't go to the NRM they go to the Science Museum group who then splits or allocates funds to what/where needed so in the end a lot may not actually go to the two NRM York and Shildon.

 

Hello all,

With the Great Goodbye event finishing tonight at Shildon, pictures of the final days work have been uploaded to the site with well over 100 pictures of the A4s at the event, some 39 of which are of the Monday evening Line Up at the photography event.

I really enjoyed seeing the general public get much from the event, and think that it was given the image of railway interest a much needed chance to show that it is not just those who think they know it all, but rather its an interest that all can enjoy and take part in no matter how casual the interest.

A review and pictures of the week can be seen at the following page on my Black Hat website:

http://www.blackhatrailwaypictures.co.uk/f815564053

This as well as pictures of the charter to the event here:

http://www.blackhatrailwaypictures.co.uk/p870610390

Feedback, comments on the pictures are available on the website, as are the pictures to be printed and purchased if desired.

Enjoy,

David
aka the Black Hat

 

My Pics from Friday

Farewell Dwight & Canada, it's been great having you.

 

News now coming through that over 120,000 people visited Shildon NRM (see article in Northern Echo today) over the past nine days. This sort of record-smashing blockbuster event has inspired thousands of people from all over the country to come and experience railway preservation.

They might've come to see the A4s, but they'll have spent time in the rest of the museum learning from and enjoying it all inside too. The media coverage of the event has spread news of railway preservation far and wide too.

I know that the team behind the project have worked long and hard on it - they all deserve our thanks - now I need to work out how we can get this number of people over to Sierra Leone

 

Thanks everyone for your kind support and words. I'm catching up with emails and the web and then taking this afternoon off.

No.9 and Mallard have gone back to York this morning and it's all over bar the memories, photos and videos. Trying to balance access to the locos for punters and photos was never going to be easy - the locos were placed where they were so we could get steps up to the cabs, not to spite photographers as some suggested - but for me the challenege was trying to make the people and the spectacle the photograph. And what a spectacle it was - parents showing their children and saying "you'll never see this again" - that's what it was all about.

Oh yes, I forgot - all the money made at Shildon will stay at Shildon and be re-invested.

PMH - I'm sorry that what you wanted to see was out of the way, but we'd had to shunt things to make space for the A4s. Come back soon, and I'll make you a cup of tea and explain the ethos behind Shildon.

Trains and railways are cool once more. Thank you once again.

 

I suspected the set up was due to access to loco cabs......certainly in no way to spite loco photographers.......anyhow as has been said before...you'll never see that again.....well done I say....a lot goes on that the public don't see and appreciate......but there is always someone to moan about things......yes well done indeed.......