| My first Gala on a
Heritage Railway was in the autumn of 1978, when I went along to
the Severn Valley Autumn Steam Gala. I was impressed, and from that
moment in time, I have regularly attended Galas at many of the preserved
lines around the UK. Throughout the 1980's all my weekends seemed to comprise
"Main Line Steam" on Saturdays, and "Heritage
Railways" on Sundays. Initially, most of the Galas seemed to be
based on the idea of running as many locomotives as possible.
Subsequently the idea of "themes" became popular, particularly
Vintage weekends, Branch Line weekends, Wartime weekends. And many lines
have tried the "Somerset & Dorset" theme.
Some Railways Galas were better than others. I always enjoyed The North York Moors Galas, until they started using Pacifics and double headers (locos often facing opposite directions, which looked ridiculous). The West Somerset can always be relied on to put on a good show. And the Bluebell Branch Line weekends are a sheer delight. And who will ever forget the East Lancashire Railway 1993 "25 years since Steam" Gala. And I really enjoy the "different" events put on by the Foxfield and Leighton Buzzard lines. So which Galas really stand out ?. I have already mentioned the "Somerset & Dorset" theme. Whilst the Great Central and Severn Valley lines thought they could get away with it by renumbering a 5MT 4-6-0 and an 8F 2-8-0, it was the West Somerset line who showed them how it should be done. In March 1996, they lined up Standard 5 no 73052 (ex 73096), An Unrebuilt Bullied Pacific, 34105 Swanage, a rebuilt Bullied, 34039 Boscastle, a S & D 2-8-0 no 53808, and a Midland 4F, no 44422. And the result was a superb Gala, which also included a fair amount of snow and a blizzard (shades of Ivo Peters photographs of 1963) The Somerset line also put on a splendid "Branch Line Gala" in March 1999, the locomotives being 41312, 4160, 6412, 5541, 9466. 76079, and 7820 Dinmore Manor. All of their Galas are done properly. One of my favourite Bluebell Galas was in September 1985. when they turned out 323, 58850, 55 Stepney, 488, and 72 Fenchurch. The East Lancashire "Main Line" Gala of 1993 lasted several weeks and had numerous locomotives. The ones I travelled on during my three visits were 2857, 7715, 6998 Burton Agnes Hall, 3822, 53809, 5407, 45596 Bahamas, 5593 Kolhapur, 506, and 35005 Canadian Pacific. And the Foxfield July Gala is one I never like to miss. On the Narrow Gauge, the Ffestiniog usually have May Gala, nowadays an "Interactive" weekend, and a Vintage weekend in October. And I am not averse to Diesel Galas. The leaders in this field are those lines that have a home diesel fleets. For example the Great Central, Severn Valley, East Lancs, and Llangollen. So a final verdict. In THIRD PLACE the East Lancs 1993 Main Line gala, for the sheer number of locomotives they turned out. In SECOND PLACE, the magnificent West Somerset "Somerset & Dorset" 1996 Gala. They got the loco fleet absolutely spot on. Top of the list in FIRST PLACE is the Ffestiniog "Hunslet Hundred" Gala of 1993. The place was awash with Hunslet engines, all of which were a delight. The weather was fine, the trains were full, and everyone had a smile on their face. And at every gala that the Ffestiniog have put on since, visitors still talk in glowing terms about the Hunslet Gala of 1993. |
||||||
|
||||||
|
Two Hunslet engines...Lilla (left) and Holy War (right) |
||||||
