Great Central Railway - 'Winter Steam Gala' 28/01/2023

Countering the winter gloom, the Great Central Railway held their ever-impressive annual 'Winter Steam Gala' over the weekend of January 27th-29th.
The gala would feature a variety of motive power, with two visiting locomotives attending. Courtesy of the Urie Society, S15 Class - 506 would make an appearance from the Watercress Line, being joined by 5MT - 73082 "Camelot" visiting from the Bluebell Railway. The pair would flanked by members of the homefleet, bringing the operating total up to 7 steam locomotives. Supporting the steam fleet, a resident Class 101 DMU would also be in service alongside Derby Lightweight 'Bubble Car' - M79900 "Iris" (name not carried). The intensive timetable for the event would feature a variety of passenger workings; including a two coach suburban set. In addition, two demonstration freight sets would also be in use.
After its period in private ownership, resident 9F - 92214 was bought by the GCR not long before the event. Marking this, the railway quickly repainted the BR Standard out of its previous lined green livery into BR plain black, being completed imminently before the gala. Another resident of the GCR was also on display at Quorn and Woodhouse station throughout the event. Rebuilt 'West Country' Class - 34049 "Boscastle" is undergoing an extensive overhaul presently, with the end now in sight for the pacific. Displayed without its boiler, the locomotive was positioned at Quorn over the weekend. The Class 101 DMU had not been scheduled to operate over the event. BR Class 45 - D123 had been scheduled to be in service, but was failed before it worked any services on Saturday. This resulted in the 101 being pressed into use, as well as a minor shuffle of some locomotive allocations.
Locomotives:
Ex-LSWR S15 Class - 506
BR Standard Class 2MT - 78018
BR Standard Class 9F - 92214
BR Standard Class 5MT - 73082 "Camelot"
Ex-LMS 8F Class - 48305
BR Standard Class 2MT - 78019
BR Class 101 DMU - E51427+M50321
BR Derby Lightweight 'Bubble Car' - M79900
BR Standard Class 5MT - 73156
All footage filmed on Saturday the 28th of January 2023.

[@andrewlefevre3277]

Great video as ever. Nice to see Camelot in unfamiliar surroundings and paired again with another 5mt.

[@bobingram6912]

What a fine turnout, great variety and good to see our locals flying the flag!!! That sure is a mixed selection of freight, never seen so many all in one hit and good to see a black 9F doing what it was built for. Hope the ghost of Boscastle soon materialises into something more solid!!! Excellent as usual Matthew👍👍👍👍

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

It was a great event, and very busy around the railway too. The 9F looked great in its new livery. Fingers crossed for "Boscastle". Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@SEJohnson95]

Brilliant quality footage and a good range of footage for all the locos involved. My mate and I were there and it was our first experience of the GCR main line experience. I particularly enjoyed passing the mixed freight on the opposite lines when leaning out of the window. The double header was impressive when viewed from the passenger coach! I am a big fan of the 9F so I was pleased that 92214 took a leading role - we waited in the up loop in the DMU for it to come steaming past, before riding it back to Loughborough from Rothley. Day most definitely made!

[@winco68]

Excellent footage. Although not the most scenic of heritage lines you certainly made the most of it with the landscape takes in between trains and the long view over the reservoir. Particularly enjoyed the 9F and double headed 5MTs.

[@johnlunnun9769]

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Steam railways, simply wonderful!

[@CustomiZe_]

I'm glad I managed to see 92214 City of Leicester in the br green last autumn then as they've repainted her. I know 9f's should be in black other than Evening Star, but it was just nice to have a change from the usual BR black and it actually be running. 👍. Great gala, always confusing that they have diesels running but as a diesel fan I can't complain. 🤣🤣

[@joshwestwood3727]

The peak actually failed. Turns out they used the green class 101 as well to fill in certain light engine movements probably from what other people have said. It wasn't originally on the rooster. Saturday was unbelievable! It was the busiest I've ever seen the GCR in all my life I've been around! It was standing room only on most trains all weekend! What a turnout!

[@CustomiZe_]

@@joshwestwood3727 wow really! I thought the autumn gala was busy, but at least you could sit down. Shame the peak failed 😞

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Fully agree with you. While it's nice to have the 9F in black, the green was a good choice while it lasted. It was a fantastic gala, despite its niggles. Yes, the Peak failed before its first service of the day, with the 101 being pressed into service as a result.

[@neiltonks4627]

There aren’t enough steamers for the timetable they run at these events so diesels lent a hand. The failure of the peak was sad but not really surprising-it’s had traction motor blower problems for a while so that might be the cause.

[@HemelDownModelRailway]

Brilliant footage thanks for sharing

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@crompton33022]

Fabulous. Thank you 👍👍👍👍

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Cheers

[@AndreiTupolev]

Nice view of the 9F storming out of Leicester North. S15 looks good on the Minerals too.

[@oldgittarist]

Hugely enjoyable shots!

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@andrewtipper2792]

Superb professional footage!

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@louislamonte334]

Let's hope the bridge connections are completed for this line very, very soon!

[@TrainsBoatsPlanes]

Great content. Well filmed.

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@rjathomas2990]

Excellent Filming

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@Kivetonandrew]

Brilliant video of what is probably my favourite heritage line. The fill in shots between the trains, made the video somewhat different. The S15 pulling the DMU across Swthland Viaduct was a nice touch. Had the DMU failed or was it deliberate?

[@gunterbartsch9284]

❤️ 🚂 I LOVE IT 🚂 ❤️

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@SimonTog]

Super video :)

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Thank you

[@AndreiTupolev]

23:00s Unusual move.

[@mistersurogat]

very nice,like

[@michaeltaylor1869]

Great

[@TheSouthernerYTChannel]

Cheers

[@jgodfrey546]

Curious as to the significance of the star on the cab sides of 48305...

[@winco68]

The star denotes re balancing of the wheels to reduce hammer blow on the track and rolling on poorly aligned track. Some 8fs had this improvement undertaken in order to allow them to operate semi and fitted freights on the mainline at 50mph.

[@jgodfrey546]

@@winco68 Thx much for the clarificarion