Didcot Railway Centre - 'Once in a Blue Moon' - 06/04/14

Preservation history at Didcot Railway Centre, because for the first time in over 60 years, three BR Express Passenger Blue liveried locomotives could be seen together in one place. The event, fittingly titled 'Once in a Blue Moon' was held over the first weekend of April, and because the blue is my favourite of all the BR liveries, I had to go! The three locomotives in question consisted of Didcot's own 6023 'King Edward II', now in her cut down form in preparation for mainline running, 60163 'Tornado', who I last saw at Didcot in 2011 when she was in BR Green, and 60007 'Sir Nigel Gresley', who I last at 'The Great Goodbye', although this would be the first time I've seen her run since December 2010!
Included in the video, we see the blue trio lined up outside the shed in the morning, with close ups of each loco. Afterwards we take a look at each loco running up and down the main demonstration line, including all three combinations of double heading. GWR Diesel Railcar no.22 makes a brief appearance running on the demonstration line. Afterwards the trio is seen lined up once again, in the afternoon. The final shots show scenes from the end of the day, after most of the general public had gone home. This meant I could get some nice close ups, having the locos pretty much to myself.
A pretty good day all round if I do say so myself.
Filmed on a Panasonic HS900 with a Panasonic VW-VM2SE microphone.
Enjoy.

[@hughvane]

@ 7:47 - a spot of wheel slip for the watchers, good stuff; and I enjoyed hearing the engineer giving the throttle a blast occasionally. Fair 'nuff too, steam power is often associated with noise - or vice versa.

[@Haltwhistle00]

Lovely video. Its great to see Tornado back in steam after her brief overhaul.

[@matthewtrainspotter7588]

Brilliant! Love the whistle competition between Tornado and Sir Nigel Gresley! 😂

[@LDEGM]

Fantastic video with Steam locos!!! Beautiful images and county! I love this video! Thank you for share! Thumbs Up Greetings and Respects from Romania Andrew

[@AaronThompson]

great video nice to see sir nigel greasly and Tornado together!

[@Burrell871]

wish I could have been there looks like a great event, and also a great video

[@JPSteamMedia]

Looked like a good event. Was anyone talking during the day about when 6023 will become Mainline? Cheers, Jack.

[@kineticrail]

From what i have been reading seems like they are preparing the loco at the moment and a trial may happen early summer time

[@PhotoWays]

We were there yesterday, taking photos and videos. It's a great place to spend a day.

[@RailwayGirl97]

This is incredible! Wish I could of been there! But hoping to see SNG, tornado and blue Peter in 2024 😊

[@Geoffmay33]

Wonderful wonderful wonderful ..... Thanks

[@SatNavDan]

Fantastic video. :-) Those three are blue-tiful. ;-)

[@WestCountrySteamVideos]

wow I whish I turned up for this

[@hovermotion]

The QUAILTY picture is stunning...do you still use this camera?...

[@Haltwhistle00]

I reckon that 6023's whistle at 8:33 was to tell the driver to take it easy on the regulator. :-)

[@Traindriver844]

Nice, very nice!

[@struck2soon]

Interesting to note the different shades of a supposedly "standard" colour. The "King" looks almost purple when seen next to the A1. I wonder which colour is correct?

[@jacobwoods8738]

Maybe 6023 has some ultramarine in it, she looks like a mix. SNG is idle, and 60163 is a lighter shade.

[@hovermotion]

wonderful ..........................................jim

[@foxcell]

Great shots pity I could not make this event

[@nightlightabcd]

British steam engines are awesome!

[@inglian02]

Lovely video of an historic event. Was it as sparsely attended as it looks?

[@streamleazefishhouse]

I would like to hear a driver talk about performance of these three engines but there probably isn't a driver which has driven all three in anger... The King looks tiny to Tornado but the performance figures on wikki seem similar is that true?

[@rhdrbob]

The king's, I believe, were some of, if not the most powerful British express locos ever built, definitely more powerful than the A4's for example. I may be wrong though.

[@jonathandn1981]

Which moron was driving the King?! I'm surprised they didn't make it prime with such heavy handedness. On a better note, BR blue is such a fantastic livery. They all look amazing. Wouldn't it be lovely if just once they panted 46223 in BR blue? ;)

[@red5_skywalker]

1:54 The people at the left didn't feel so good...

[@TrainBoi6095]

10:14 what is that ?

[@ncs8730]

"GWR Diesel Railcar no.22", you can read in the description.

[@hangunyoung6694]

SIR NIGE GRESLEY

[@3900Class]

What do you mean by "cut down form"?

[@rhdrbob]

The 3 remaining king class locos have been reduced in height very slightly to allow them to continue to run on the mainline.

[@WOLFROY47]

a double header to pull to coaches ?

[@proudyorkshireman7708]

WOLFROY47 yep it's a special event

[@WOLFROY47]

i get it, its just or show, now, how about shifting your caboose, and doing some every day work, on a real line ?

[@trainboyben7718]

I was their

[@hangunyoung6694]

60163번의TORNADO호경적장치는이안에있다.

[@hangunyoung6694]

60007번의멜러드호 경적장치가굴뚝앞에있다.

[@hangunyoung6694]

KING EDWARD H호

[@WOLFROY47]

sorry, but they look to shiny, to be actual working engines, its like stoking the boilers, in a morning suit and top hat, it just doesnt ring true

[@proudyorkshireman7708]

WOLFROY47 passenger engines were normally kept in a clean state until the last few years of steam

[@hangunyoung6694]

6023번