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Avon Valley Railway Industrial Gala---5 November 2017
A small Gala with some interesting older Industrials on this short presreved line in Avon.
Final shot of the day at Bitton and also for the sake of completeness was the 4th and last loco working at the Avon Valley Railway Autumn Steam Gala today.It is a Polish loco a TKH49 type 0-6-0T loco number 4015 'Karel' built at Fablok in Poland in 1947.A strong loco that is faintly reminiscent of the USA-type tanks used by the Southern-Rly.Sadly by now the sun had faded away to cloud as this engine crossed the cycle-path at the end of Bitton Station heading a service to Oldland Common.
..5 november 2017..
0-6-0WT 'Bellerophon' looks very much at home working the AVRly-Gale demonstration freight train.Here returning the Bitton from Avon-Riverside in just a hint of sunshine but with the dark clouds behind me gathering.A Classic Loco!
..5 november 2017..
The Avon Valley Railway uses one track of the original mainline into Bath-Green Park from Mangotsfield and the North.The other trackbed is now a well used cycleway between Bristol and Bath.You take your life in your hands walking down here with cyclists pelting along at up to 30mph. Several brushed by me missing me by inches! Anyway here is WD-132 returning to Bitton and onwards to Oldland-Common with a service from Avon-Riverside.Lighting here being quite difficult due to the backlit nature of the setting.Strangely all the locomotives here on this railway face north so there is no chance whatsoever of getting a shot 'on the nose' unless of course it is one of the pair of Class-31's that live here as well!
..5 november 2017..
After a few hours in which we idled our time away eating egg-n-bacon' butties and drinking tea the sun had moved round enabling shots from the more favoured platform here at Bitton. Here is 'Bellerophon' again about to set off on yet another trip to Avon-Riverside.Considering it is now over 140 years old it was running like a sewing machine and when 'off-regulator' was completely silent with no mechanichal noisy whatsoever!
..5 november 2017..
Hunslet Austerity WD-132 gets away from Bitton going to Avon-Riverside.Carrying the army name of 'Sapper' this genuine ex-WD loco was in superb condition after a fairly recent overhaul from largely derelict condition at the well known 'Flour Mill' restoration works.
..5 november 2017..
Here is an interesting little 0-4-0 Well Tank Loco.Due to the lack of a saddletank because the water is held in the 'between to frames'tank this engine looks completely different to the usual small saddletank type locomotives.This one is named 'Willy' number 3063 and was built by Stuart-Kerr in 1918 so is nearly 100years old now! Fully operational it had just come off a working from Oldland-Common and is seen in the siding adjacent to the platform at Bitton.Sadly by the time its next turn of duty came round in the afternoon the local weather had taken a severe turn for the worst with rain and dull clouds so I didn't hang around to see it actually hauling some carriage stock which was a pity.
..5 november 2017..
The reason to visit this railway today was to view and picture this famous old quite unique locomotive.Named 'Bellerophon' it was built way back in 1874 by the Haydock Foundry as one of just six in the class.The Well-Tank loco has many interesting features such a Gooch/Stephenson outside valve gear and fitted with piston valves 20 years ahead of the any other loco's.Now owned by the 'Vintage Carriages Trust' it is rather an iconic piece of victorian engineering and should be much appreciated as such. The loco is seen in Bitton Station just setting off to the southern end of the line at Avon-Riverside with its load of three Mk-1 carriages.
..5 november 2017..
The Avon Valley Railway held a small Gala using just Industrial Steam Locomotives.One of the first shots of the day just about catching sunlight on the eastern side of the line was of Hunslet built (1944) WD-132 'Sapper' working a demonstration freight through Bitton to the northern end of the line. This loco was an original MOD loco issued with the number 75113 and went on to become just about the final steam loco to work in day to day service in industry in this country.