Each month on preservation railways in England has its "special event" weekend. The most popular are the "1940s Weekends" where everyone dresses up in World War II outfits, costumes, and uniforms and takes the steam train up the line. Whether it's kids' weekends (next weekend on the North Norfolk) or simply extra steam locomotives on the line, the galas bring out the crowds of visitors.
This weekend on the North Norfolk was one of those gala weekends - the "Mixed Gala" where steam was running alongside diesel. Where the diesel pulled the train up to the end of the line and the steam loco pulled it back. Or where a diesel pulled the train down, did its runaround to couple back up to the train and was then double-headed back up the line with another diesel. Or it was simply a freight being pulled up and down the line. Every permutation and combination of motive power you could think of you were bound to see this weekend:
- 3 steam locomotives
- 3 diesel locomotives
- 2 self-propelled diesel coaches
- 20 Mark I passenger cars
- 4 1894 Quad Art cars
- 4 goods wagons
- 2 brake vans
Stuff all of the above into 5.25 miles of single line track. Add two stations with runaround tracks (Sheringham and Holt) at each end of the line. Put one station with a passing siding halfway up the line (Weybourne). Add a couple of thousand visitors and you have the makings of a "Mixed Gala".
Arriving at Sheringham station for 9:45, I caught the Class 25 diesel-powered train that was supposed to stop at Weybourne but kept on going to the end of the line at Holt. Holidayers were lineside with their cameras and camcorders shooting the scene as the train went by. At Holt, the diesel uncoupled but stayed in place. At the other end of the platform, 4-6-0 Black 5 moved out of the siding to couple onto the other end and back down we went to Weybourne where I got off to go to the shops. As we were pulling in, another train was coming up from Sheringham pulled by a Class 37 diesel. Just behind that was the 0-6-0 steam locomotive #65462. Down at Sheringham 0-6-2T #69621 was coupling on to the 1894 Quad Art set of four carriages.
I ambled into the shops to find that André and the guys were re-arranging the locomotives on different tracks. This went on all day so, in between doing some work, I stood and watched the action, talking to Phil, Noel and the rest on different loco matters. I got down to doing some work, starting off by stringing out some power cord to the container flat. I then put a grinding disc on the 4 1/2" angle grinder and proceeded to grind the heads off of some rivets that needed to be removed. After grinding the heads off, I took a 2lb hammer and a steel punch and whacked the beejeeezuz out of them until they popped out. In 25C heat, it was a sweaty ordeal. This required lots of breaks watching the shop switcher going in and out of the shops with various and sundry locos and wheeled parts.
Around 3:30 I started to clean up, had a shower, and walked up to the station platform to watch a few trains go by. The steam locomotives were finishing their runs and had steamed back up to the locomotive sheds at Weybourne. With the locomotives being shunted around all day, I could get some clear shots of the locos dropping their fires. Of course, only 10 minutes before I happened to be right alongside them.
One of the lads pulled in on the head of the Class 37 diesel so I hitched a ride in the cab back down to Sheringham. You get a different perspective of the line when you're in the cab. The top of the rails were quite shiny with all of that traffic.
The walk back up Cliff Road to Camberley House was a bit slower than usual. The Mixed Gala continues tomorrow but we're off tomorrow on our pilgrimage to Stephen Moore's pit hole in Letheringsett.
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