A day of Winter steam photography at the GCR featuring resident 9F as 92000 hauling mineral wagons

About this event

One of the most awesome sights in steam preservation is that of a British Railways standard 2-10-0 locomotive hard at work, and we are delighted to be able to offer you two days of Winter action featuring the Great Central Railway’s 9F No.92214, for these charters running as pioneer of the class No.92000. Designed by Robert Riddles as the last of the twelve ‘standard’ classes, there were 251 locomotives built between 1954 and 1960 of which 198, including 92000, were built at Crewe with the remainder built at Swindon including the last, and arguably the best known, No.92220 Evening Star. Although some members of the class survived to the end of main line steam in 1968, No.92000 was one of 65 withdrawals in 1965 and was not preserved.

For our two days of charters, we will have No.92000 facing north to take advantage of what we hope will be stunning early morning lighting as the sun rises over Rabbit Bridge. Today, we are running with as long a mineral train as we can muster (around sixteen wagons) to accurately recreate trains of the late 1950s until the close of British Railways main line steam in 1968. At this time of year, conditions should be perfect for excellent backlighting to give us strong Winter glints and, late in the day, silhouettes near Quorn Station. We will run from dawn until dusk with as short a break as possible around lunchtime for servicing the locomotive and changing crews. The Butler Henderson cafe at Quorn will be open for refreshments.

Starting point will be Kinchley Lane and we ask you to meet there from 07.30 for our regular but extremely important safety briefing before we begin our charter at 08.00 hours. As this is a goods working we will need to follow by car; car sharing will be encouraged at some points during the day to ensure easier parking at restricted locations. Please do not enter onto the lineside until we do so as a group once the light engine has worked past en route to Swithland Sidings.

We expect this to be a very popular event, so please book early to ensure your place.

Event requirements

Equipment

• Spare batteries
• Camera
• Lenses
• Camera protection - rain covers etc

Other things you should bring

• Snacks
• Bottled water

Knowledge

• All levels welcome

Fitness

• Medium

Other essentials

• High vis jacket
• Sturdy outdoor shoes
• Warm clothing
• Wet weather gear