Watercress Line - 'Spring Steam Gala' 24-26/04/2026

Summer really does come soonest in the south, as warm sunshine and bright blue skies graced the Mid-Hants Railway ‘Watercress Line’ for their ‘Spring Steam Gala’; held over the weekend of April 24th-26th. The event would see a wide variety of steam traction, with differing design ethos and purpose, represented in just 6 locomotives.

The home-fleet stars would be 35005 “Canadian Pacific”, S15 Class - 30506, and Ivatt 2MT Tank - 41312. 41312 is featuring a refreshed look for this year, with British Railways sign-written on the water tanks, showcasing the transitional period during the formative years of BR before the adoption of the “Cycling Lion” crest. For the Urie Society, owners of 30506, 2026 heralds a significant milestone as it marks 50 years since their locomotive departed from Woodhams Scrapyard in south Wales, and arrived on the Watercress Line for restoration; therefore marking 50 years of the Urie Society being based on the Hampshire heritage railway. In fact, 30506 departed from Woodhams on the 26th of April 1976, with the Sunday of this gala marking the 50th anniversary of the occasion.

Visiting from the Great Central Railway, would be 5MT - 73156 and Austerity Saddle Tank - 68067 (7 “Robert”). The latter would experience steaming troubles during the gala, thus spending most of the time paired with 41312. This would force the MHR to employ the services of Class 20 - D8059 to fill in timetable gaps.

Completing the visiting trio would be Furness Railway Class 17 (A5) - No20; a stark contrast compared to all the other locomotives in action. No20 was built in 1863 by Sharp, Stewart & Co Works, and survives as one of only three preserved locomotives from the Furness Railway, currently holding the title of the oldest working standard gauge locomotive in the UK. No20 would appear courtesy of the Ribble Steam Railway, and the Furness Railway Trust.

The official class designation of No20 is a slight cause for debate. Until the late 1800s, the Furness Railway did not have any locomotives of their own designs, instead buying standard designs that were already being constructed by various locomotive workshops and assigning these locomotives with their own class designations once they were ‘on the books’. According to FR records, No20 is an example of their Class 17, but the FR was known to reuse class designations upon the withdrawal or sale of complete and/or obsolete locomotive classes. As such, when Bob Rush wrote comprehensive books detailing the Furness Railway, he applied his own class designations to their locomotives to ensure that there were no duplicates. FR Class 17 (which was comprised of only 8 locomotives) was deemed obsolete as early as 1870, with 6 examples being sold on for industrial use; No20 was among them, being sold in 1870 to Barrow Haematite Steel Co. (BHSC) at Barrow. From the FR perspective, the designation ‘Class 17’ was only ever applied to this design, not being reused since the FR had retained two of the locomotives for their use; eventually both were withdrawn in 1918. However, in his books, Bob Rush designated the design as ‘Class A5’, which was significantly popularised and subsequently adopted (along with the rest of his designations) in further media. As such, both designations are included in the video description.

Locomotives:
Ex-WD Hudswell Clarke Austerity Saddle Tank - 68067 (7 “Robert”)
BR(M) Class 2MT Tank - 41312
BR Standard Class 5MT - 73156
Ex-LSWR S15 Class - 30506
BR Class 20 - D8059
FR Class 17 (A5) - No20
Ex-SR Rebuilt 'Merchant Navy' Class - 35005 "Canadian Pacific"

00:00 - 68067 & 41312 Horse Lane
01:40 - 73156 Northside foot crossing
02:59 - 73156 Horse Lane
04:18 - 30506 Northside foot crossing
05:28 - 30506 Horse Lane
06:53 - D8059 Bighton Lane
08:28 - No20 Bishop's Sutton
09:19 - 35005 Bishop's Sutton
10:21 - 35005 Bighton Hill
12:08 - 30506 Bighton Lane
14:35 - 73156 Bighton Lane
16:18 - 68067 & 41312 Bighton Hill
17:59 - 73156 Bighton Hill
19:09 - 41312 & 68067 Turk Street
20:40 - 73156 Bighton Hill
22:01 - 41312 & 30506 Bighton Hill
23:08 - 35005 Bighton Lane
25:22 - 41312 Northside foot crossing
26:39 - No20 Northside footpath
28:21 - 30506 Northside footpath
29:42 - 73156 Rookwood Lane
31:15 - 35005 Northside foot crossing
32:37 - 35005 Rookwood Lane

All footage filmed on Friday the 24th, Saturday the 25th, and Sunday the 26th of April 2026.