‘Recreating the experience of a busy mainline in the age of steam’, was the subtitle of the Autumn Steam Gala on the first weekend in October 2019. They certainly achieved this as I saw eight different engines in the first hour and a quarter that I was there on the Saturday. I arrived at 08-30 and left at 18-00, tired but happy. Rarely running more than a few minutes late the performance by the GC and its staff was well up to the usual high standard. During the day I shot 6990 Witherslack Hall in the fastest and most dramatic run that I have ever seen on a heritage railway. I also had the good fortune to shoot a double header crossing another train in a perfectly composed shot, no credit to me as I just happened to be in the right place at the right time!
It was very noticeable, during my ride from Quorn to Loughborough, that the number of lineside trespassers has increased since the withdrawal of most lineside permits. Whilst I now enjoy filming on the GC without a phalanx of orange marring the shot I fear that the trespass situation will be exacerbated when the fast growing hedge, inside the carpark fence at Quorn, has grown unless, hopefully, the level is trimmed to the height of the fence.
My thanks to all involved in presenting the gala, I hope that this video does it justice.
4 окт 2024
