Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

Last-minuteline-up change

for Mid-Norfolksteam gala

WordsandpicturesbyBrianSharpe

THE Mid-Norfolk Railway is the
exceptionto the rule in holding its main
steam gala in mid-summer.
It also makeseffor ts to securebig
name class8Pacific powerfor the
even tand 2019wasnoexception.
Bookedto star inthethree-day event
on June28-30wereLMSPrincess
Coro nationPacificNo. 6233Duchess
of SutherlandandLNER A4Pacific
No.60009UnionofSouthAfrica.
Both Pacific sare main linecertified
and werebookedtoarrive over the
railway’s main lineconnectionat
Wymondham. But just days before
the eventNetwork Rail advised
thatneither enginewascurrently
gaugedforthe route, despiteboth
locomotives having used itrelatively
recently.The MNRwasleftlooking
forreplacementmotivepower forits
big event.
BR Standard4MT 2-6-4T No.80078
wasonthe railway forthe summer
season and HunsletAusterity0-6-0ST
No.75008Swiftsurewasalsovisiting,
but something biggerwasneededto
compensate forthe non-appearance
of thePacific s.
Fortunately,NER T2 0-8-0No. 2238
could be madeavailableby the North

EasternLocomotivePreservation

Group and arrangementsweremade

to move it to Norfolk from its baseon

the NorthYorkshireMoors Railway at

shortnotice.

To makeup thefour-engineroster,

it wasinitiallyhoped that regular

visitor GWR 0-6-0PT No.9466 could

travelfromQuaintonRoad,but this

did not happen andinstead USATC

S160 2-8-0 No.5197was thefourth

locomotive, callingin en routefrom

agalaappearanceatthe Epping

OngarRailway backto its base onthe

ChurnetValleyRailway.

The2-8-0 wasavailablefortraffic

only on theSaturdayand Sunday of

thegala but nevertheless therailway

wasabletorecast its timetableto

oper ate afour-engine steamservice

as planned on thosetwo days,with

the main lineengines operating

between Derehamand Wymondham

Abbey,whilethe Austerityworked

shuttlesonthe northern section,

fromDerehamtoHoe,witha

DMU trailer.

BRStandard4MT2-6-4T No.80078 arrivesat Yaxhamwithaservicefrom

WymondhamAbbeytoDereh amonJune29.

USATC S1602-8-0No. 5197 arrivesatT huxtonwithaDereh amtoWymondhamAbbeytrain.

Visi tingNERT20-8-0No.2238 runsrounditstrainat Dereham.

NELPG’s J27tor eturntoWensleydale Railway forpeaksummerseason

ByRogerMelton

THENorthEasternLoco motive

Preservation Group’s popular J27

0-6-0 No.65894 will again provide a

steam presenceatt heWensleydale

Railway (WR) this summer–having

previously operated on the linein

August 2018.

TheJ27 has seenregular useat the

NorthYorkshireMoors Railway and

by mid-June it had already clocked

up around 1600 miles.

It is notconsidered powerful

enoughforthe heavy peak season

trains,soits operating commitments

on theNYMR endedby July21, to

coincide with the startoft he Gold

timetable the next day. The0-6-0’s

operations on theWR will last

fromAugust 2toSeptember1and

involve23steaming days.

Thepossibilityofincluding driver

experiencedaystowards the end of

the hireperiod,and anypotentialfor

an extensionto the hireperiod,will

be considered nearer the time.

At theend of thehireperiod,the

0-6-0 will thenreturn to the NYMR

and re-enter traffic therefor th erest

of the season.

Members of the classwere

regularly seen on theWR’s route

between thewars,when aJ27 was

allocatedtoLeyburn shedto run

freightservi cesalong the line.

28 Heritagerailway.co.uk indusonwww.facebook.com/heritagerailway

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