WHILE ENTHUSIASTS flocked to the north west for the East Lancashire Railway’s Autumn Steam Gala on October 11 ‐13 (see separate story), there was plenty to see at the opposite end of the country the same weekend at the Bluebell Railway’s ‘Giants of Steam’ gala.
The sole guest locomotive was ‘A4’ No. 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley (which itself graced the ELR earlier this year). The BR blue locomotive provided a proper 1950s throwback during the gala, paired with the Bluebell’s carmine and cream BR Mk 1s. As well as participating in ‘Giants of Steam’, the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust-owned ‘Pacific’ stayed on at the West Sussex line after the event to haul both regular passenger services and ‘Golden Arrow’ dining trains on October 19/20, before returning to its current Crewe base on October 23.
However, it was arguably the Bluebell’s home fleet that stole the show. In the run ‐up to the gala, on October 7, the railway became the Somerset & Dorset line for a Jon Bowers photo charter, featuring BR ‘5MT’ No. 73082 Camelot running as scrapped classmate No. 73087 Linette. The Riddles 4 ‐ 6‐0 was allocated to Bath Green Park at various times from 1956 until 1960, and was a frequent sight on the Bath-Bournemouth West line. During the charter, it was paired up with rebuilt ‘Battle of Britain’ No. 34059 Sir Archibald Sinclair, emulating the double-heading of BR Class 5s and rebuilt Bulleid ‘Light Pacifics’ on the famed ‘Pines Express’ over the route in BR days.
Both No. 73082 (subsequently reverted to its true identity) and Sir Archibald Sinclair were in action during the ‘Giants of Steam’ weekend, alongside newly completed LBSCR ‘H2’ No. 32424
Beachy Head and on-loan ‘Modified Hall’ No. 6989 Wightwick Hall. There was more double-heading of various combinations throughout the event, with ‘Number Seven’ hauling a non-stop express from Sheffield Park-East Grinstead and return each day.
There were two ‘A4s’ running at the gala, as the 10¼in gauge version of Sir Nigel Gresley (in LNER Garter blue as No. 4498 minus its side valances) was brought over from the Eastleigh Lakeside Railway. The miniature machine has now met two of its full-size counterparts, having encountered No. 60009 Union of South Africa at ‘Giants of Steam’ in 2018.
