MHR Autumn Steam Gala 2014.

As someone who regularly works with the BTP I can confirm that Heritage lines do not fall under their jurisdiction. They are funded by the ATOC members and Network Rail. If any heritage lines in other areas have an agreement with BTP I do not know. While out and about with them last September we had a call to attend a trespasser in the Alton area. On arrival it was established that the person would have been on MHR property and the officer handed it over to the civies as he had no jurisdiction. We did however look from the platform and from roads/paths in the area but couldn't see anyone and even if we had, both mine and the officers PTS would not be covered on the Mid Hants property.

If anyone thinks that this lets them off then think again. Firstly there are a lot more civil officers than BTP officers so more chance of seeing one turn up. Secondly. They are often a little more heavy handed than BTP.

As part of my day job duties on the big railway, I'm often called out to trespassers. They can be of any from any background and be trespassing for any number of reasons which staff have to be aware of due to potential personal safety issues. It pains me to say however that some of the hardest to deal with are the enthusiasts. They seem to believe they have a devine right to be there. The fact that when there is a mainline steam service running does not mean that the big railway stops. The risks taken by some is sheer madness and some of the excuses used are unbelievable yet they say them with such conviction that I'm sure they honestly believe they are in the right. One of the worst I've ever heard was, "Don't you know who I am?" It turns out he was a professional photographer who regularly submits to the railway press. Maybe he does, but if he crosses an open line at the wrong time, the only thing the press will publish will be his obituary! Personally, I don't care if you are the Pete from down the road, the Queen, Pope, Prime Minister or the President of the United States. If you are inside the railway fence, you are trespassing and you WILL be either asked to leave or be removed.

It's simple really: Don't do it!

Going back to the gala:

It was an absolutely brilliant gala and that is saying something from someone who has very little interest in products from Swindon. I visited on the Saturday and Nunney Castle was as I remember her from last time; supreme. Raveningham Hall looked superb and 1450 was a real dream. I could have travelled quite happily on that all day, however if I had, I would have missed the excellent run behind the Black 5 out of Alresford. 4270 looked great on the freight but I wouldn't recommend travelling behind it while trying to have a drink or eat. You'll lose your drink and have your food covered in large pieces of unburnt coal. (It did sound good though!)

I have finally got round to uploading some of my photos from the day which can be found on the flickr site stated below for anyone who would like a perusal. The last few were taken from the Ropley car park field. I know time is always an issue when volunteers are relied upon but if anyone from the railway has the opportunity to do so, cutting the grass verge back would open up an excellent viewpoint for photographers away from a station and without the need to trespass.

 

I understand the NYMR maybe covered by them perhaps Bean Counter can provide further info
edited

 

EDIT - thanks simon

It is the case that, because of our Network Rail operation, the NYMR has an agreement with BTP and contributes to the costs of the service, and hence is covered by BTP.

There has in the past also been some question as to whether heritage railway sites leased from British Rail/Railtrack/Network Rail are under BTP or local police jurisdiction. I am not aware of a definitive answer to that question.

Steven

 

Evening All,

If anyone would like to have a look, my pictures of the Autumn Steam Gala are now on Flickr. This is the first one in the Photostream :

RD10423. GWR 0-4-2T 1450 at Alresford. by Ron Fisher, on Flickr

Clicking on it will enlarge it and take you to the others. Alternatively, they can be found in this Album :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/train-pix/sets/72157648557524500/

Hope that they are of interest.

 

The lack of a PTS has never stopped a civvie copper from entering the railway in my experience. They tend to crack on regardless with no regard for their own safety.

 

I can't argue with that and have in the past demanded they leave the railway and reported them to their Control and NR Control along with colar numbers. The fact that they are consider themselves as "The Police" obviously means that they can go where they like, do what they like, when the like and how they like without fear of being bowled over by a train running at line speed!

 

Or maybe just don't know better ?

 

Finally got around to uploading my photos from the gala

I had the pleasure of attending the Mid Hants Railways Autumn Steam Gala this year with Mr LocoYard himself and had to say that the Watercress Line held another fantastic steam gala. When 2 of the scheduled visiting locomotives dropped out I did start to worry about the gala, but the four Great Western visiting locomotives ranging from the mighty Castle to the tiny 14xx class supplemented by the railway’s home fleet insured there was non-stop steam action.

http://locoyard.com/2014/11/13/mid-hants-autumn-steam-gala-2014-brookes-castles-best-shots/

 

Bit late to the thread, but wanted to throw in my appreciation as it was great seeing that Great Western line-up in some different surroundings. Due to work over-running, I only ended up with two hours there rather than the hoped-for half-day, so it was case of mostly soaking up the atmosphere around Ropley rather than getting to enjoy either the Hall or Castle up the banks properly (committing to a run out of Alton would've used up too much of the limited time I had whereas staying off the trains meant I got to see and photograph everything working, and the railway still had my rover fare plus price of lunch), but I was still very glad I made it. The railway had made a big commitment with that slightly incongruous theme and a LOT of lorry movements, and I can't imagine there will be many/any opportunities to see a Hall/Castle/two GWR tanks through Ropley in quick succession again.

I'm intrigued by the conversation about photo locations and trespass. At the moment, both my photographic skills and my camera spec are too pathetic to justify getting lineside passes - I'd just be laughed off the embankments by anyone I encountered. So I do rely on accessible locations and stations. And the Mid-Hants does offer some good station possibilities, hence Ropley being such a fruitful place to spend two hours, but they can get samey so I would like to expand and I need to wander further down that footpath west from Ropley over future visits, as well as figuring out if there's anywhere accessible in the woods between Medstead and Alton (it's all farmland between Medstead and Ropley isn't it?).

And the point about footpath crossings interests me because I've always assumed that even though the route from one gate to the other across the track is technically a path, if a train's coming, the crew is going to want you to be behind the gate/fence/style/whatever's there rather in the no man's lead alongside the track, unless you've got a lineside pass and suitable gear. I'm happier to play it safe like that and not risk annoying or unnerving any footplate crew even if a cheekier approach would yield better pictures and sometimes there's ample space. I'm thinking of the crossing just west of Bishops Lydeard on the WSR as an example that I know fairly well - you can stay behind the gate and get a reasonable shot of a westbound train there but you'd have to be in the ample-but-surely-dodgy space between gate and four foot to take a decent pic of a down train coming up the gradient there. I don't want to do anything illegal or give train crew anything to worry about.

 

Sorry to say I can't remember seeing too many of the general public using there iPhone's when trespassing on the big railway or any preserved railway. Most of the people I've seen trespassing are rail photographers with SLR cameras around their necks. Which makes me think they aren't just the general public. They are rail photoghaphers should know better than to tresspass on any railway line. Just to back up my point just look at the link below which proves my point. I don't see any iPhones do you? I see small digital cameras and SLR cameras.

It's an easy way to say. It's not us but the gernal public trespassing. But in reality it's both groups trespassing.

http://www.prclt.co.uk/Trespass-Rogues-Gallery.html

 

Surprised to read in the latest Steam Beano that this event only just made a small profit according to Colin Chambers.

Seemed busy enough to me. At least it didn't make a loss like the diesel gala did.

The suggestion that maybe there are too many galas is an interesting one.

 

It always struck me as surprising that the MHR staged two steam galas a year. We're bigger than them and we only have the one, which makes a healthy profit each year. Perhaps, like we are doing, they ought to look at having one big event and a number of smaller ones, like a beer festival or craft fair. These can bring in a lot of money for relatively little outlay so I'm told.

 

It made a profit, that's good in its self given the haulage costs and lack of any sponsorship, it was a brave call by the organisers and I'm glad it paid off...... but its done & dusted mow, so time to let sleeping dogs lie!

 

Also you don't just view galas in terms of profit. It's also a great time to recruit new volunteers I decided to get involved with the mid Hants after the 2013 spring gala as I got the chance to chat to other volunteers and loco societies and they really sold it to me.

 

Absolutely, quite right, but even if a gala is breaking even it still takes a lot of volunteer effort and amazing (to me anyway) this leads to volunteers complaining about having too many events! It boggled my mind when I heard complaints of this here, where we only have one major event a year.

 

I seem to recall the loss of a mainline cert loco, meaning that there were additional road transport costs rather than bringing in locos in a single movement.
Sunday was nowhere near as busy as the spring gala (mind you, all 3 days seemed busier than on the diesel gala).

I'm hoping you keep us busy in Feb

 

Oh I shall be there, weather permitting in February and being able to travel up from Devon.

Just to add that I visited on the Sunday and it was comfortable, but by no means standing room only like some gala days/weekends in the past that I have attended.

Also I would have loved to attended all three days but the clash with half term meant that there was not a cheap room to be had in the Hants area, meaning an up and back drive from Devon was the only viable option on the day.

 

Bigger in what sense? Interested in how you are measuring that.

Each railway makes its living in its own way dependent on what traffic is offered and what resources it has. Comparisons in anything more than a general sense are difficult to make. We run a beer festival 30 times a year....its called the Real Ale Train. Also what we view as a poor profit for an event I know from talking to other railway's officers would be seen as a very healthy return, and that is not because we are greedy. The fact is that our ordinary trains earn less than many other railways. As I said each railway makes its way as best it can.

 

Mid hants 10 miles, us 12, getting on 14 for a start. Size of coach rakes is about 5, as opposed to 7, or 6 on gala days, how many rakes operated on a normal and gala day though not incluing frieght or dining trains? (2 and 3 respectively for us) And how many serviceable locos? currently we have 4/5 by next year, we'll have 7/8. Annual turnover/profit? (~1,000,000/~100,000 for us) On the other hand, here, it says that the MHR carried almost double the passenger numbers, so perhaps I've been a little rash, I don't know the line well, if there's many things there that the mid hants have more of, then fair enough. Just realised though, our passenger numbers were taken when the line was in two pieces, so not really a fair comparison. However, I think our passenger numbers re still only hovering around the 100,000 mark.