ARCHIVESite contents © D. Bailey 2001-2006
Autumn Steam Gala on the Moors
During
the weekend 29th September to 1st October 2006 the North Yorkshire Moors
Railway held a three day Steam Gala.
For many people, star of the show was the ex-LNER A4 Pacific 60007 'Sir
Nigel Gresley' which had only recently returned to traffic after a rather
protracted overhaul by the A4 Preservation Society.
The A4 ran on all three days with a rake of mainly teak coaches.
It was on the second train of the day from Grosmont on the Sunday morning
and, disturbed only by the hammering of a couple of builders repairing
the roof of a nearby farm, I was able to get this recording of the loco
passing Beck Hole with 8 coaches behind the tender.
What an amazing sound. British builders working on a Sunday. They must
have been on double time!
848KB
I was also able to visit the line on the Friday,
29th September, when for most of the day just three locos worked the trains.
The weather forecast was not too good but the morning proved to be sunny
and warm with hardly a cloud in the sky.
I had gone to one of my favourite recording spots on the climb from Grosmont
to Goathland; the field at Dowson Garth at the opposite the line at Green
End at the other side of the Murk Esk valley and had settled down to sun
bathe between trains.
In the early afternoon a few clouds appeared, well, more than a few actually
and as they were large and black I decided that it would be wise to seek
somewhere with some shelter and moved into the adjacent Spring Wood where
I was able to find a suitable, hopefully waterproof tree.
And only just in time as, soon after, the heavens opened.
The next train from Grosmont was hauled by the ex-LNWR G2 Class 0-8-0
49395 usually referred to as a Super D and, as it approached, I began
to hear thunder.
While I was pleased to get a recording of a steam hauled train during
a thunderstorm, I was not too happy to be sheltering under a tree at the
time, not a wise place to be with lightning about!
Still, I survived and am quite pleased with this recording of the Super
D climbing the gradient to Goathland.
2.2MB
It was fortunate that the rain stopped soon after I had made the last recording as the tree that I had chosen wasn't as waterproof as I had hoped so I was glad to be able to return to my original spot and get this recording of the ex-S&D 7F 2-8-0 53809 climbing the gradient past Green End.
1.6MB
The last train I recorded on the Friday provided
the only variation to the three engines that had worked throughout the
day.
Although the rain had stopped the weather still didn't look too good so
I decided that it would be sensible to go somewhere where I could find
shelter, other than a tree, in case of further thunderstorms! Esk Valley
seemed ideal with a handy bridge to provide shelter if required.
On two occasions during the course of the afternoon I had seen the recently
overhauled ex-SR Schools Class 4-4-0 30926 'Repton' take short light engine
trial runs up the bank as far as Green End and assumed that it was being
prepared to return to traffic later in the weekend.
I had expected the last train of the day to be hauled by the Super D but
when I heard the loco approaching it certainly wasn't the Super D.
At the head of this 7 coach train was the LH&JCR 0-6-2T No. 29 while
at the rear banking the train was 30926.
The pair make a fine sound beginning to climb the 1 in 49 gradient to
Goathland.
979KB
During the Sunday afternoon 60007 'Sir Nigel
Gresley' is heard from high on the hillside opposite Esk Valley beginning
the 1 in 49 climb from Grosmont to Goathland.
Shortly before the train arrived so did a light shower and the A4 slips
occasionally on the greasy rails but is never in danger of stalling.
1.2MB
My last recording of the weekend was made at
the other end of the line at Levisham and is of the ex-S&D 7F 2-8-0
53809 departing with a train for Grosmont.
The 7F was running a little late but the driver makes a determined start
raising the echoes as the train passes through the trees on the climb
into Newtondale.
An excellent recording to round off an excellent weekend!
882KB
