OK, strictly speaking Fridays are not normally part of my weekend, but the timing of the West Somerset Railway and Great Central Railway Autumn Steam Galas required that I took the day off work in order to visit both events as, in their own way, each was something of a landmark.

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The West Somerset made history this weekend by operating the first ever all chimney first gala in railway preservation, made possible by the turntable at Minehead and triangle at Norton Fitzwarren.  This is a development that has certainly changed my approach to photographing trains on the line as it is no longer necessary to chase only those trains running chimney first from one end of the line to the other to get a worthwhile number of shots.   I would have been even more pleased with my results from Friday if the weather had been better.   The morning had started off grey with only the occasional brief glimpse of small patches of blue sky.   By the time that the above photo was taken, it was necessary to shelter under an umbrella, and conditions were to deteriorate further.    I am certainly glad that my 5D Mk III can easily cope with the low light levels that prevailed.

The weather was so much better the following day, an almost total contrast with clear blue skies and brilliant sunshine virtually all day.   Ideal conditions for photography on the Great Central Railway with its North-South orientation.   This year saw the first gala that made full use of the loops at Swithland. With movements every few minutes there was plenty to photograph throughout the day as trains passed on the main lines or were turned back in the loops.   I suspect that Kinchley Lane, usually a magnet for lineside photographers (though I've never been there), was relatively deserted if the number of orange vests I saw was anything to go by.

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The fact that the trailing crossover between the Up and Down main lines is positioned in the middle of the layout, rather than north of it, makes for some interesting shunting movements for those trains that are turned back in the Up loop.   After the locomotive has run round it has to push its train backwards onto the Up main before it can use the crossover.  Once the Mountsorrel branch is completely rebuilt, the activity at Swithland should become even more intensive, though it was good to see locomotives occasionally using the branch as a headshunt.  

I would hope that the GCR will earmark some of the funds that it hopes to attract from its latest share issue towards improving the facilities at Swithland even further.   Covered accommodation for the vehicles still stabled in the open at Rothley and Swithland while awaiting restoration is a necessity.

The only negative thing that I have to say about the GCR gala is that the buffet car on the 09:00 from Loughborough was woefully unprepared for the first rush of business.   I was one of the first in the queue and ordered a bacon bap at 08:40 - I didn't get it until an hour later!