A dull day at the WDSME with rain on-and-off. But as eager as ever, Chris was the first on the track with his LNER O4 despite the fact he had only arrived on site 40 minutes earlier! He was later accompanied by Paul with his GWR 4560 2-6-2 who bravely battled the afternoon's rain showers. When Tim arrived on the track with his GER 0-6-0 Simplex locomotive, Chris retired to the station loop to let the tank engines run the show. To finish the afternoon off, Tim & Paul joined forces to double head a train of 3 coaches with Chris hot on their tail! All in all, a good day. Well, so it was until approximately 3:50pm when the heavens opened just as it was time to pack away. If that didn't put a dampener on the day I do not know what (If you'll pardon the pun)
Today saw another lovely day at the track. Chris started running with his LNER O4 at about 10:45am and before twelve noon, our official opening time, we had already had about 24 passengers. The nice weather certainly brought them out early and steadily until 4 o’clock when we managed to force the entrance gates closed.
During the day we had Joe with his lovely J4 loco, the newest to his fleet. Being closely followed by Adam driving the debut appearance, into traffic, of Geoff Birch’s Sweet Pea Loco, after a few laps to get used to loco he was then soon commandeered into carrying passengers.
We then again saw Tim with his Simplex (better known as the Timplex) taking his turn at conveying our many passengers.
While all this was going on we had a visit from two guys, who seemed to be quite professional, armed with video cameras tripods and all sorts of photographic wizardry. They proceeded to take shots and films from every conceivable position including actually inside our signal box, being given strict instructions not to pull any levers or push any buttons while the trains were running.
Today saw an almighty 6 runners; Paul Malin with his 5" GWR Prairie; Stephen Nott with his 5" Simplex; Joe Holdsworth with his 5" Class 08 Shunter; David Howard with his 5" GWR Prairie; Chris Newton with his 5" LNER Robinson O4; Tim Hines with the Club's 5" Class 47.
The weather was fantastic today, very sunny, but not too hot or not too cold. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy today, especially the passengers!
Full of eagerness as always, Tim hauled the first train of the day with the club's 5" Gauge Class 47. The 47 was then joined by Joe Holdsworth's fantastic Class 08 Shunter which he recently completed. The 08 and 47 then successfully ran passenger trains until they were joined by Stephen Nott with his 5" Gauge BR Liveried Simplex, no. 47281. The 47 then came off for a well deserved rest before lunch, just as Paul Malin came on the track with his 5" GWR Prairie, no. 4560, which ran brilliantly as always! For the first time in a while, we had three trains on the track at once, not something which happens very often - super speedy service!
Lunchtime saw Joe return to the shed with his 08 shunter, and a surprise visit from Chris Newton with his superb 5" LNER O4. It certainly runs as good as it looks, and Chris very generously let Tim and Adam drive the O4 later on that afternoon! Dave Howard came and joined the fun with his 5" Gauge GWR Prairie, no 5541 and coupled up to the front of Paul's Prairie. They then successfully double-headed for the entire afternoon, and both Chris, Paul and Dave stayed on until around 16:30.
Hopefully everyone had a great day!
Paul and David's GWR Prairies (4560 and 5541) Double Headed
Chris Newton's Superb LNER O4 on Shed this Afternoon
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A Video of the Double Headed Locos Performing Well!
Article, Pictures and Video by Adam Hodson (WDSME)
Well,on Sunday last the weather was kind to us which allowed one of the top link locos of the LMS (6159 The Royal Air Force) to perform to its usual high standard.There were other locomotives in attendance Chris's LNER O4 and Tim's GER 060 which, whilst having put in valiant performances,could not quite match that of 6159.However,it was a good day with many happy passengers leaving with memories from the past ..."I remember ........"!And ,what is more,the loco drivers had a great time !
After braving the torrential rain on the journey to Manchester, myself, Dave Wilson and his running foreman Hillary arrived at the Urmston track. As the rain was still coming down we sheltered and had a welcoming brew in the enginemen's cabin. As this was only the second public run with the 04 I braved the last of the showers and went out on to the mainline with two of their carriages. The aluminium rail is not best suited to rain and proved to be very slippery. Dave came out next with his pride of the fleet 'City of Carlisle' as always it performed excellently and ran for around three hours. The 04 ran for about four hours and was still steaming quite well. The guys at Urmston were really good at looking after us providing tea and sandwiches, nothing was too much trouble. Despite the weather there was a good turnout of locomotives about eight all taking their turn on the track. From Dave and myself I would like to say a big thank-you to the guys at Urmston. They are hosting IMLEC this year, it should be a great day!
Here is a Fantastic Video by Jason Pattinson of Sale Area M.E.S of Chris Newton's 5" Gauge Great Central 2-8-0 O4 Loco Running Around the Urmston & District M.E.S Track
Once Again, a Huge Thanks to All the Members of the Urmston & District M.E.S Who Have Made This Wonderful Weekend Event Possible!
