| On Saturday the 12th of September 2009, it was back to Preston in Lancashire again, this time for the Ribble Steam Railway's annual steam gala, which was taking place over that weekend. The event featured 6 passenger plus three freight workings, and two if their steam locos were in use (plus one visitor), with one additional diesel loco to assist whenever required.
I'm forever complaining about the way it always rains whenever I visit the narby ELR, yet just barely 20 miles away on the western side of the county, the opposite always seems to be true, and every time I've visited the RSR so far the weather has always been beautiful, with blue skies and bright sunshine the order of the day. Maybe I have just been very fortunate, or maybe I'm living in the wrong part of the county palatine! 
Locos in steam on this day were: Barclay 0-4-0 ST 'John Howe', Hunslet Austerity 3155 'Walkden', and star attraction was the visiting loco, 0-6-0 Hunslet Austerity ‘Cumbria’, which is owned by the Furness Railway Trust, and which according to the RSR website, had never run on any line other than the Lakeside line near Windermere. The diesel in use on the Saturday was the Class 03 D2148, which I believe was replaced on the Sunday by a Class 05 due to a mechanical fault. The RSR may not have one of the longest of lines, but being based around the Preston Docks area it is certainly based in a very dramatic location, and the Marina always looks very picturesque when bathed in bright sunshine. The swing bridge across the entrance to the docks must be one of the biggest and most interesting level crossings in the country I would think. I had just been commenting to a friend that I'd never seen it open to let any boats through, when the tannoy asked everyone to clear the bridge, and then promptly opened it to let a small speedboat come out. The approaching locos were held up at the signal whilst this was taking place, and I'll be placing a number of shots of this opening and the Marina and its craft in my Fotopics Maritime Gallery in due course. All in all an enjoyable day out, and it's always a pleasure to visit the RSR and have a look around their workshops too. Hopefully we will be back there next month for the Diesel Gala if we're not tied up elsewhere that day. My thanks to all the RSR's volunteers and staff for their hard work, it's always much appreciated. |
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