Great Central Railway 'Steam Railway' Gala 'Go East' 091010 Part 3 of 3

Eventually my computer has stopped playing up and allowed me to upload this video!
Without a doubt, the best Gala I have been to this year. The Great Central Railway's annual 'Steam Railway' Gala, sponsored by the magazine of that name, was this year based around the theme 'Go East', a title which I should thought should have been 'Go North', as 7 out of the 8 locomotives in action had ties with Scotland. The visiting D49 and K4 had both spent their entire working lives north of the Border, 71000 ran service trains into Glasgow on a regular basis, the Black 5s and Standard 2s were both used extensively across the country, and at the grouping of the LNER in 1923, a handful of O4s and N2s were sent to Scotland to replace many old North British Railway locomotives. The railway fielded 9 locomotives across the weekend, 5 of which were guests. The final line-up was:
|LNER D49 'Shire' 4-4-0 246 'Morayshire' (visiting from the Bo'ness and Kinneil railway)
|LNER K4 2-6-0 61994 'The Great Marquess' (courtesy of John Cameron)
|BR Unique 8P 4-6-2 71000 'Duke of Gloucester' (visiting from the East Lancashire Railway)
|BR (NER designed) J72 0-6-0 69023 'Joem' (visiting from the NRM Shildon)
|LMS 5MT 'Black 5' 4-6-0 45305 'Alderman A.E. Draper' (minus nameplates, recently restored from overhaul, with blue smokebox numberplate)
|BR 2MT 2-6-0 78019 (as scrapped Scottish classmate 78054, with blue smokebox numberplate)
|GCR 8K/LNER O4 'Tiny' 2-8-0 63601
|GNR N2 'Teddy Bear' 0-6-2T 1744 (failed on Saturday afternoon) (not featured in this part)
|GWR 49xx 'Hall' 4-6-0 4953 'Pitchford Hall' (Sunday only, replaced failed 1744) (not in any parts)
It was a fantastic event with a brilliant line-up, for me, a huge fan of LNER locos and 3-cylinder machines, it was nice to see some emphasis on the best of the Big 4 companies after this year's hullabaloo about GWR175. The event was only marred by the late-running of most trains by about 20 minutes, the absence of the sun all day, and the failure of the N2 on Saturday afternoon which resulted in its last train being hauled by the Black 5. This was my third GCR Steam Railway Gala, and for the first time I stayed for part of the twilight steam show, including the twilight TPO, this year hauled by 71000. Although, due to late running, it was dark by then and I didn't get a spectacular look at it or video, the sound was fantastic, as befits a 3-cylinder express locomotive. I met up with Jules46443 and 34027, and also saw RailwayFanatic92220 and met Thelnerrules throughout the course of the day. The Plan I did was:
|0930 Loughborough -- Quorn and Woodhouse (71000)
|1029 Quorn and Woodhouse -- Rothley (45305)
|1210 Rothley -- Quorn and Woodhouse (71000)
|1309 Quorn and Woodhouse -- Rothley (69023)
|1335 Rothley -- Quorn and Woodhouse (1744)
|1459 Quorn and Woodhouse -- Rothley (246)
|1538 Rothley -- Quorn and Woodhouse (61994)
|1648 Quorn and Woodhouse -- Loughborough (45305)
|1710 Loughborough -- Quorn and Woodhouse (45305)
|1907 Quorn and Woodhouse -- Loughborough (246)
Highlights in this part include 61994 on the TPO, and the Twilight Steam show, starring 78054 LE, 63601 on the Minerals, 246 on a passenger, and 71000 on the Twilight TPO, which took place after dark
I would like to thank the GCR for putting on this truly amazing gala, Jules46443, 34027, RailwayFanatic92220 and Thelnerrules for the varying degrees of company throughout the day, and You for taking your time to watch this video

[@grantham8]

Enjoyed all 3 pts---