Hello & Welcome to Harnetty Railways
In this multi day video we are at the 1st spring steam gala of 2024 The Legends of Steam Gala on The East Lancashire Railway.
Guest loco number 1 was Locomotive Services Group's 70000 Britannia which was not only making her revenue earning return to service but also being able to visit the lancs as it had been 4 years in the making as it was supposed to have visited back in April 2020.
However due to the pandemic that didn't happen & the loco being withdrawn that summer for overhaul.
Guest loco number 2 was the tribal chief of the mainline steam front SNGLT's 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley which was making a return to the railway for the 1st time since October 2014.
The 3rd loco was making her last operating weekend on the lancs before she leaves the railway Chris Beet's 45690 Leander.
The 3 locos were supported by Lancashire & Yorkshire tank 51456 in disguise as 11305.
We start on the preview day near Chat Moss on The Liverpool & Manchester mainline at Astley Crossing & Signal Box as we see 70000 & 60007 double head with their support coaches & class 37 D7667 from their base at Crewe 5A to Bury ELR running 12 minutes early after Network Rail let the pair off ahead of schedule.
We move onto the following day the main event on the Friday as we mostly had a bashing day travelling on the trains.
After months of waiting & frustration due to having a van in her consist on normal running days we finally had the chance to get a full line length bash behind Leander & crucial as well with the gala being her last weekend operations.
The Jubilee performed magnificently in the hands of her owner Chris Beet himself at the helm.
At Rawtenstall I left Leander's train and we can finally say we have done it & can finally lay it to rest
For our last filming of the Friday of the event we had a ride behind 70000 Britannia on the last round trip of the day from Rawtenstall to Heywood & back.
The northbound run was a non-stop express not calling at the intermediate stations between Bury & Rawtenstall.
This was to be our 1st bash behind 70000 Britannia on a heritage railway since September 2018 when she was at The Severn Valley Railway's Autumn Steam Gala 6 years.
The Brit performed magnificently with the 7 coach load all the way back to Rawtenstall which is were we end the Friday of the event.
2 days later we returned on the last day of the gala weekend back to more familiar territory at the lineside mostly focusing between Burrs Country Park & Brookbottom tunnel.
The main priority was getting both 70000 & 60007 & the odd rerun lineside shot of Leander from last year but this time with a heavier load of 7 coaches.
Starting north of Burrs Country Park before working our way through to Brookbottom tunnel we started the Sunday seeing 60007 & we finished the day seeing 60007 happy days.
We would like to conclude by saying a huge thanks to all the unsung heroes of The East Lancashire Railway, Locomotive Services Group, The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust & West Coast Railways in providing more coaches for the gala weekend in making the steam gala possible.
Thanks for reading enjoy the film.
#locomotiveservicesgroup #70000britannia #60007sirnigelgresley #45690leander #eastlancashirerailway
18 мар 2024
