A Ride On The Gartell Light Railway - 28/07/13

The first of two videos from my visit to the Gartell Light Railway. A private 2ft Gauge railway which runs along a small section of the old Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway just south of Templecoombe. I visited during their Steam & Vintage Show which saw a variety of steam traction engines, steam rollers, vintage cars and other attractions, although my main focus was the railway itself. The event was held over the last the weekend of July, the 27th and 28th.

Locos in operation during the event:

0-4-2T no.6 'Mr.G' built by the North Dorset Locomotive Works in 1998, she is based on the W.G. Bagnall locomotive 'Polar Bear' which runs on the Amberley Museum Railway.
0-4-0TT no.9 'Jean' built by the North Dorset Locomotive Works in 2008.
Ex- Southend Pier Railway Bo-Bo DH no.1 'Amanda' re-built by the GLR in 2000 to resemble a BR Class 33 (Running on Sunday only).

This first video features a ride along the line behind Mr.G, spliced together with some lineside shots featuring Mr.G, Jean and Amanda in (attempted) real time. It's the first time I've done this sort of video so feel free to give any constructive criticism.

A descriptions of the route:

Starting away from the main station at Common Lane we start climbing at 1 in 32, the climb then eases to 1 in 50 as we make a sharp left-hand turn under a flyover which carries the northern extension to Tower View, opened in Spring 2012. We continue climbing at 1 in 50 to Pinesway Junction and its station. At Pinesway Junction the engine runs round and a train from the southern end of the line at Park Lane arrives, heading for Common Lane. both trains then make a simultaneous departure from Pinesway Junction, one for Common Lane and the other for Tower View, giving the unique experience of parallel running. From Pinesway Junction the line climbs at 1 in 38 as far as the flyover, then drops at 1 in 67 to negotiate the level crossing over Common Lane. After this the line climbs at 1 in 45, easing to 1 in 118 for the rest of the journey to Tower View. A quick run round and it's back to Pinesway Junction, running straight through the station. Afterwards we continue south to Park Lane, dropping at 1 in 132 with a brief climb at 1 in 190 into the station. After running round we make our way back to Pinesway Junction. Departing Pinesway Junction we get some more parallel running, although this time we're the ones looking up! After passing back under the flyover we get a passing view at some of the other attractions at the even before finally ending back up where we started at Common Lane Station.

The next video to come will feature just lineside shots, so keep a look out for that as it's coming soon!

Filmed on a Panasonic HDC-HS900 with a Panasonic VW-VM2SE microphone.

Enjoy.