A trip out of London yesterday to visit the Mid-Hants Railway for the first day of their Spring Steam Gala. It promised to be a great day with no less than 6 engines in steam (5 on passenger services) working on the line.
Arriving at Alton, my first trip was to Ropley behind 4464 Bittern. I am a real fan of the A4 Pacifics and so this is a magic moment although it does seem strange to see it hauling tender first as there is no way of turning a loco at Alton.
By the time I arrived at Ropley the rain has begun to fall. A chance here to visit the Engine and carriage shed, although with 6 steaming locos and 34051 Winston Churchill having left for York two weeks earlier the former is pretty empty.
The next stage of my journey is to Alresford and I do this behind 925 Cheltenham
The rain is really coming down hard but a good chance to grab a hot drink and visit the various model railway layouts all of which represent the workings of the Mid-Hants line at various times in its history.
Then its is back to Ropley, this time on a dual-hauled service behind 925 Cheltenham and 850 Lord Nelson.
By the time we reach Ropley the rain has stopped allowing some time to photgraph 34007 Wadebridge hauling a goods train before completing my trip back to Alton behind 70000 Britannia.
In one return trip I have managed to travel behind 4 of the 5 steam locomotives in operation (only missing out on ‘Black 5’ 45379). An excellent day despite the weather although this proved a real challenge to photography.
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