WAS THIS THE BEST MOORS AUTUMN GALA EVER?
For many enthusiasts, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s (NYMR) autumn steam gala is one of the highlights of the year.
The autumn colours of the moors has again resulted in fabulous photographs, while the line itself offers the opportunity to catch the visiting engines working far harder than they do elsewhere.
This year the event seemed guaranteed to be a winner with a top-notch line-up of visiting locomotives and the prospect of several home-based engines returning to traffic just ahead of the event, giving the possibility of up to 15 appearing.
In the event, while the visiting engines all turned up and performed as planned, there was a little more inconsistency in the home-based fleet. A month or so before the gala, for example, it was announced that Peter Best’s USATC S160 2-8-0 , (not strictly a home-based engine nowadays as it is due to move to the Dartmouth Steam Railway on long-term hire), which had been undergoing running-in trials after completion of its restoration at Grosmont, was remaining on the NYMR until after the big event, meaning that it would be able to appear in the gala and bring the potential turnout to 16 steam locomotives.
