Mid-Hants Railway - 'AUTUMN STEAM SPECTACULAR' 30/10/2011

Normally, the Mid-Hants Railway's 'Autumn Steam Spectacular' is held in September. Originally, the 2011 was to be held over the weekend of September 9th-11th (the same weekend as the Swanage Railway's own 'Grand Steam Gala'). However the event was moved back to the 28th-30th October to coincide with the already planned visit of new-build LNER A1-class 4-6-2 No.60163 "Tornado" who would be running over this weekend as well as the one before (22nd/23rd). With "Tornado" already booked, the MHR then looked to creating an 'Eastern' theme for the gala following the 'Great Western' theme the Spring Gala had had. Soon LNER A4-class 4-6-2 No.60007 "Sir Nigel Gresley" (from the North Yorkshire Moors Railway) and Jeremy Hoskings' BR 'Britannia'-class 4-6-2 No.70000 "Britannia" were added to the line-up. Sadly, "Sir Nigel Gresley" had developed firebox problems by the summer and was withdrawn from the event. A suitable replacement was found in the form of classmate and former Mid-Hants resident No.60019 "Bittern", now running as No.4492 "Dominion of New Zealand". This meant the gala would feature three Hoskings-owned locomotives with "DoNZ" and "Britannia" joining resident BR 9F-class 2-10-0 No.92212. The two Pacifics along with "Tornado" worked a triple-header from Southall to Guildford where "Tornado" then ran around the other two + support coaches to run tender-first to Alton. A fourth visitor joined the three Pacifics in the form of the much travelled GNR N2-class 0-6-2T No.1744 from the Great Central Railway. This meant that both the Swanage Railway gala visitors were also present at the Mid-Hants' (the other being "Dominion of New Zealand"). The rest of the line-up was the railway's Home Fleet. Three of which had only recently returned following visits to other preserved railways. No.92212 had spent the summer on the Severn Valley Railway; LMSR 'Black 5'-class 4-6-0 No.45379 had gone back to its former base at the Avon Valley Railway for its 'Steam Gala' and SR unrebuilt 'West Country'-class 4-6-2 No.34007 "Wadebridge" had visited the Great Central Railway for its 'Autumn Steam Gala'. The gala was a great success but not without a few problems. "Britannia" had trouble with its braking-system on the Saturday and missed its booked return run with "DoNZ" from Alton to Alresford and instead worked on the next train with "Tornado". Then on the Sunday, "Lord Nelson" failed at Alton and was side-lined for the rest of the day; finally, a points failure delayed things even further, meaning that the trains continued to run late into the night. This footage is from Sunday 30th October 2011. Locomotives in action were... - GNR N2-class 0-6-2T No.1744 (visiting from the Great Central Railway) - LNER A4-class 4-6-2 No.60019 "Bittern" (making a return visit to its former Home Base & running as No.4492 "Dominion of New Zealand) - LNER A1-class 4-6-2 No.60163 "Tornado" (visiting between Main Line duties) - BR 'Britannia'-class 4-6-2 No.70000 "Britannia" (visiting between Main Line duties) - BR 9F-class 2-10-0 No.92212 - LMSR 'Black 5'-class 4-6-0 No.45379 - SR unrebuilt 'West Country'-class 4-6-2 No.34007 "Wadebridge" - SR LN-class 'Lord Nelson' 4-6-0 No.E850 "Lord Nelson" (failed at Alton and took no further part in the event) - SR U-class 2-6-0 No.31806 - BR Class 33 'Crompton' No.33053 (on pilot duties at Alresford)