Unfortunately the Saturday of the event didn't quite go to plan, long delays being encountered and compounded as the timetable was very intense with no room for error. I am pleased to say that the timetable worked better on the Sunday, and even the weather was unexpectedly sunny and pleasant for the best part of the day - the forecast rain staying away.
One of the stars of the show - 71000 "Duke of Gloucester" at Wansford, near the end of the day. Not clear from this photo is how beautifully turned-out all the locos were.
The other star visitor - GWR 4-6-0 No.4936, "Kinlet Hall" crosses the goods train at Wansford station.
Crane demonstrations in the yard added an interesting side attraction, lifting the LMS 'Medfit' from one track to another. Shed tours were also in operation and seemed popular. Thanks to all who put donations in the pot!
By special arrangement the goods train was longer than normal - we managed to add a couple of the Civil Engineer's box vans and their 'Lowmac'. We also added authentic wagon labels to the spring clip on the solebar of some of the wagons - although we're not sure anyone noticed! As seen here, Tim's brake van got it's first proper outing this weekend and it performed faultlessly. It was also great to authentically run the goods train with the 'main line' locomotives such as '4F' 44422 and '5MT' 73050, a sight I wish to see again in future.
