Mid Hants Railway Operational Matters

With talk of the Autumn Gala now brewing will this be the 45th Anniversary of re-opening event that was originally planned for Spring 2022 or have plans for this been abandoned due to the state of the world at the moment?
I recall reading in the railway mags last year that the railway was intending to bring in rather a lot of visiting loco's to represent former residents of the MHR and classes that had been visitors in the past.

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There isn't much on the website nowadays regarding the Can Pac blogs. I can't remember when we had the last one.
Since Becky Peacock left the railway a few years back, nobody can be bothered it seems to do them.
However Will does at least keep us informed from time to time with his excellent videos.

Going back to the website, since the revamp back in early 2021, a lot of stuff is now no longer available and even worse there are large areas that even after 18 months still say "Coming Soon", here is just one example. https://watercressline.co.uk/coming-soon/

 

I think if that was the case we would have heard something about it by now. For this year I'll be happy just to see any sort of gala. I saw today that the West Somerset have cancelled theirs, due apparently to lack of available visiting locos and poor advance ticket sales. Hopefully there will be at least one visiting loco, but I wouldn't expect anything more.

 

My Loco for today

My thanks to the Ropley cleaning gang for all their hard work, she looks superb.

 

A look around Ropley station on the Watercress Line/Mid Hants Railway.

Drone footage shot with a DJI mini 3.

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I assume that you had permission to fly your drone over Ropley depot?

 

https://watercressline.co.uk/photography-filming/
Section headed 'Private Filming and Photography' applies.
Pat

 

Well the U's are no.
Hunslets can only do shuttles.
I suppose you could get 35005, 45231, 73156 or 92203 as what did run the railway.

As for visitors? Well:
L92, 4270, 4612, 5199, 5526, 7822, 30541, 34046,
34081, 35028, 43106, 45596, 46100, 70000, 80078 and 80151 have all been visitors in the past, from what I remember seeing and still in service now.

 

Yes I spoke to several people on the day. I was asked to not fly over the lines but the depot and sidings was fine.


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53808 - SDJR 7F on the Mid Hants Railway.

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Steve
With respect, speaking to a few people on the day is not the same as reading and complying with the requirements on the company’s website (link in post #4767 above) which clearly state that drones must not be operated on or within 50m of Mid Hants Railway property.

Inclusion of your company name/logo, and asking viewers to subscribe to your channel, could also make it difficult to claim that your photography is purely for private use and not for commercial gain.

I strongly recommend that you contact the MHR to make sure they are happy with what you are doing.

 

Actually considering the drone is sub 250g and I’m fully licensed and insured and not taking off from their property there’s very little they can do. They have no no fly restrictions in place with the civil aviation authority, me asking people at the station on the day was doing more than I legally have a responsibility to do. I respected the wishes of the staff on the day and spoke to people in both the station and yard to make sure there were no issues, if they had raised them I wouldn’t have flown. I’ve gone above and beyond my legal responsibility and that of a responsible drone operator. My wife was further up the track and informed anyone coming that I was flying and I was up for less than 3 minutes. The line doesn’t own the airspace. I’m not trying to be difficult here but I sought permission on the day, that’s more than I had to do. It really doesn’t matter what you state on the website, they have no legal standing. In fact on Alton station the staff were incredibly helpful getting me the right shots for filming on the train with the full knowledge it was going on YouTube. Everyone I spoke to at Ropley also knew this, I’ll take their permission over yours.


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Actually the 50m limit IS an airspace restriction. No drones (regardless of whether they’re in A1 sub 250g or not) are allowed to fly within 50m (horizontally) of a railway. This includes heritage lines as they still operate under orders granted by the government, the same as any network rail metals effectively.
Of course, I can’t comment on whether your discussions with railway staff were enough to represent permission to fly within that. I’ve done some flying with my mini 2 with a local preservation railway and we agreed on what flights would be done and how close they were etc.
But my point is that there are airspace restrictions for all drone users, flying in sub 250g does not exonerate you from following the rules, it just means we have more flexible rules than the larger drones.

 

Anyone who doesn't obtain written authorization signed by a manager with the authority to make such an authorization on behalf of the company is taking quite a risk. No volunteer and most employees would not have such authority and even if they said it was fine, it probably wouldn't be. There are probably only three or four managers who could provide authorisation. That would be true of any railway, not just the Watercress Line

 

As I understand sites can do there own restriction and won't be quoted in airspace restrictions, there can also be bylaws that don't appear in airspace restrictions and the advice is to seek proper authorisation before you fly over other peoples property.

 

It is not for me to grant or deny you permission to do anything. I was politely pointing out the MHR's requirements for your future reference in the hope that you would follow them out of courtesy, if not for legal reasons. I am fully licensed and insured to drive a car but I would have the courtesy to follow the requirements of the owner of any private land that I might drive upon.

If, as you suggest, the yard and station staff knowingly permitted a drone to be flown over the railway in contravention of the railway's own rules, then the railway has a problem.

Your "there's very little they can do" attitude does you and your fellow drone enthusiasts no favours whatsoever.

 

Even if the drone is of a lower weight class, a drone is a drone and a standard gauge railway is a railway
its like how you cant fly a drone above Eastleigh works
Drones are not allowed without permission, you see amazing drone shots of the mhr on the YouTube channel, they are done by pilots with permission

Staff might have given indication for good filming opportunities for other shots knowing it was going to YouTube but on the train is a different scenario since there are people on the line almost every day who want to film for personal use on platforms and on trains.
But even with a normal camera rules still apply, you cant go track side without a pts and you cant film out the window

and yeah the attitude that you didn't even need to ask the property owners permission and mentioning it to someone on the day is above and beyond is a bad attitude especially as a drone, even a small one can be dangerous

Also you said you didnt take off from there property, well that would suggest you took off from either a council road or a farmers private field which again you would need permission

 

Gala looks home-fleet only: Watercress Line Event - Autumn Steam Gala

 

With the way costs are going for transport, coal etc, this doesn't surprise me.

 

That sounds like an extremely arrogant attitude to me. As someone else has said does the image of the hobby no good at all.