Good evening,

Tonight we are looking at the upcoming Watercress Line gala which starts tomorrow and will be featured on Locoyard in the upcoming weeks. Traditionally Dave does the preview post but as I type this he is showing a troop of Brownies around Ropley so this time it’s up to me so here we go:

The Spring Steam gala has a Guildford Shed theme with the line having 2 visitors in the form of the NRM’s T9 class 30120 and the Bluebell line’s Q class 30541.  Both locomotives are the only survivors of their respective classes and the opportunity to see both side by side will be worth catching!  I have been hoping to catch the Q class in steam for some time, so I am very happy to hear that it’ll be visiting the Mid-Hants Railway!

The Southern BR era atmosphere should be heightened by the return to service of Ivatt 2MT tank 41312. These Midland designed locomotives were a common sight in the south of England towards the end of steam.  Myself and Dave will be hosting stands at the gala with Dave on the Canadian Pacific stand at Ropley and I will helping out on the General Steam Navigation stand on the Saturday so if your around we’d love to meet you.

Thanks for reading