Beamish Museum - 'Wheels Of Industry' Steam Gala - 06/04/2024

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  • Опубликовано: 6 апр 2024
  • Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham pioneered the concept of a living museum: an attraction where visitors can quite literally step back in time to experience the sights, sounds and scents of Victorian Britain first hand. Featuring a high street, pit village, colliery and farmyard, among others, the 350-acre site contains an entire recreation of pre-war life in the North East. Naturally, steam railways are a key installation across the museum, highlighted this weekend during Beamish’s ‘Wheels Of Industry’ steam gala.
    A huge range of visiting road and rail traction would supplement Beamish’s extensive home fleet. Heading up the guest list would be Manning Wardle ‘L’ 0-6-0ST ‘Sir Berkeley’ from the Vintage Carriage Trust and the Middleton Railway, shunting wagons in the colliery yard alongside Head Wrightson 0-4-0VBT ‘Coffee Pot No.1’. Two visiting Quarry Hunslets graced the narrow gauge network in the form of 0-4-0STs ‘Britomart’ and ‘Hugh Napier’ from the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway, almost certainly the farthest north either engine has ever ventured. Supporting the Hunslets was Barclay 0-4-0WT ‘Glyder’, originally built for work in Penrhyn Quarry, and replica Lewin 0-4-0WT ‘Samson’.
    Representing the trailblazers of railway technology was the Pockerley Waggonway setup, designed to showcase early forms of steam traction. A replica of ‘Puffing Billy’, built by Alan Keef in 2006, was in operation providing rides along a short stretch of line. Furthermore, a wide variety of steam-powered cars, traction engines and other vehicles could be seen active across the whole site. Unfortunately, the popular North Eastern Railway recreation at Rowley Station is currently mothballed and did not see operation.
    I visited on the Saturday of the gala. The day started out overcast but the sun started to peek through in the afternoon, although heavy winds battered the county most of the day. ‘Sir Berkeley’ and the ‘Coffee Pot’ took turns shunting around the colliery, whilst the narrow gauge fleet swapped out on three separate rakes, even teaming up for a quad-header in the late afternoon! In conjunction with the event, Steam Dreams chartered a railtour from London Kings Cross to Newcastle and return hauled by LNER A4 60007 'Sir Nigel Gresley', with coaches waiting at Durham to transport passengers to Beamish. The entire site was rammed with patrons; some having to be turned away as the car park had reached full capacity by noon!
    I hope you all enjoy the video. Beamish is a fantastic museum, unlike any other in the world. I highly encourage anyone who hasn’t yet visited to do so soon. With thousands of artefacts and exhibits, who knows what you’ll find on your trip back in time. Special thanks to the staff and visiting locomotive owners for their assistance. Check out our Instagram page at / secondvalvesteam for exclusive photos and behind-the-scenes footage. Feel free to comment and subscribe!

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