Kirklees Light Railway Gala

Kirklees Light Railway Gala These are a selection of the photographs taken over the course of the weekend and are shown as taken. K Ashton

15/08/2026

Here are the next few answers to our standout memories question:

Driving Typhoon when it visited from Romney.

Sitting on a bridge in the still evening air and the peace being shattered by the sound of all the engines on the Shelley or Bust whistling from over a mile away, an incredible sound!

The Saturday evening trains in the dark are very atmospheric and memorable......especially if the wheels on the engine suddenly stop going round!

A titanic trip on the Shelley Shuttle with the tram double heading with Red Gauntlet, it was a real struggle and when I asked the other driver about it he just grinned and said "I didn't help".

Little hickups like finding a giant boulder sat on the track during a cartoon themed event. Oh and Zebedee falling out with itself!

One gala rain turned it into "Hell in the Pacific" being at Cuckoo's Nest and seeing it coming up the hill tender first so the pilotman could drop sand from the tender.

Riding on Typhoon on the Saturday evening train with two of the organisers driving and firing.

Running for a 3/4 mile from just outside of Clayton West to Cuckoo's Nest with a bucket of sand and keeping the Battle of the Atlantics Shelley or Bust on the move, it nearly killed me and I was glad to get back in the carriage.

I remember two challenging trips on Romney Pacifics Typhoon and Hurricane, it always seems to rain just before I have a go, and they don't grip well going up hills. We were down to about 2mph with the loco tugging on the tender drawbar but we somehow managed to keep going without resorting to putting sand down. Of the two the Hurricane trip probably stands out as, as we arrived at Shelley the most amazing rainbow appeared. But I think both are trumped by a 20:00 run with Saint Egwin, it is probably one of the best trips I have ever had on the footplate. It was a perfect cool evening, the sun had just dropped and as we dug in for the climb out of Clayton West there were bats flying overhead. The engine performed flawlessly and produced some remarkable pyrotechnics in the tunnel, a perfect evening on a brilliant engine.

What are your favourite memories?

14/08/2026

The last of our volunteer questions was "Do you have any standout gala memories (that you can share)?"

Sadly none of them were shareable so this is a short post..........only kidding, here are the first few of the answers:

There was a year where the owner of the McLaren steam roller had timed its journey home to be rolling under the high Bridge on Barncliffe Lane, near Shelley, as the Shelley or Bust train crossed above it, in the wonderful autumn evening sunlight.

Having a drive of Soony, it was a brilliant little engine, it looked so different in terms of its proportions and yet it put on a great show for everyone, even if we did burn the smokebox paint off!

Some of the dafter things we have done like the four poster bed (sleeping car), the life size cut out of Alan Titchmarsh in the box van and watching the faces of the staff when one of the large kids ride on cars from the shed emerged decked out as a sports car on the back of the well wagon, oh and who can forget the advert for the "Theres a Storm Brewing Gala".

The time I managed to get photos of the Shelley or Bust from 3 different locations, Shelley, Skelmanthorpe and the look on the faces of the crews when I was then at Clayton West was a picture in itself!

More to follow.........

Another of our home fleet celebrating a big birthday this year is our very own pocket rocket Badger, who like the railwa...
13/08/2026

Another of our home fleet celebrating a big birthday this year is our very own pocket rocket Badger, who like the railway itself celebrates its 35th birthday this year. Badger was the first steam engine to be outshopped from Clayton West entering service in 1991, older sister Fox arrived on site complete having been built earlier and stored in a disused church in the Colne Valley.

It isn't just engines that are celebrating anniversaries. On Sunday 13th September we will have our very own version of...
10/08/2026

It isn't just engines that are celebrating anniversaries. On Sunday 13th September we will have our very own version of Northern Rock.
We are delighted that for our 20th gala we will be joined by the amazing Rock Choir South Yorkshire, who are celebrating their own milestone of 15 years.
We will be joined by up to 60 Rockies, expect huge vocals, feel good songs and plenty of crowd favourites. There will be two separate performances both at Clayton West with the first being at 13:30.

Some more BIG news, the second visiting engine for our Milestones and Memories 20th Anniversary Gala is celebrating its ...
10/08/2026

Some more BIG news, the second visiting engine for our Milestones and Memories 20th Anniversary Gala is celebrating its 60th birthday this year. Appearing courtesy of the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Co.Ltd and the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Preservation Society is River Mite.
The loco was a firm favourite with everyone last time it visited back in 2015 and we can't wait for it to return.

Photo courtesy of Christopher Glover

The next headline performer at our Milestones and Memories Gala, although not a visitor, is our very own Katie. Whilst ...
09/08/2026

The next headline performer at our Milestones and Memories Gala, although not a visitor, is our very own Katie. Whilst Northern Rock is celebrating its 50 birthday, the excellent book "Katie's Other Sisters" written by Stan Buck and published by Sian Project Group sets out that whilst Katie's actual completion date may have been earlier, it is the general consensus that she entered traffic at Dudley Zoo in 1956, making her 70 years old this year.
Copies of the book, which is a thoroughly good read, should be on sale over the weekend on the Sian Project Group stand.

We also asked our volunteers what they most enjoy about the gala and here are some of the responses:The sense of communi...
09/08/2026

We also asked our volunteers what they most enjoy about the gala and here are some of the responses:

The sense of community, before we started holding gala's we were quite an insular railway and we feel much more part of something bigger now.

Galas are really about people, the engines and railway just gel it together. It is good to catch up with familiar faces and see new people enjoying themselves.

Getting to put on a bit of a show, seeing the happy faces of visitors and staff alike.

The weird and the unusual, makes the event more interesting.

The meeting of old friends and getting to make new ones.

The camerarderie and meeting people from other railways.

New and familiar faces, other photographers, the general public as well as those partaking in the event from other railways.

The team spirit and getting to catch up with lots of railway friends.

Meeting and getting to know others from the rest of the 15" gauge community.

There is a lot of stress with a gala, especially in the run up. One of the things I enjoy most is looking at the crowd just before the Shelley or Bust leaves, its the moment in the weekend when I am just about starting to relax and it reminds you of what a special thing we have just done. We were virtually on our own for the first one and I have to pinch myself sometimes now.

Here's the next of our gala questions, we asked our volunteers which their favourite gala was.Estate Railways and Moor S...
09/08/2026

Here's the next of our gala questions, we asked our volunteers which their favourite gala was.
Estate Railways and Moor Steam both appeared on the list but there were two strong leaders with interesting polling.

All of the people poled who were involved back in 2008 voted for Battle of the Atlantics. However just winning by 1 vote was our 2016 gala Fairbourne in the Hills where we rebranded the whole railway, even renaming all of the stations!

Which was your favourite?

In what is quite a remarkable coincidence our 50th different visiting engine happens to be celebrating its 50th birthday...
08/08/2026

In what is quite a remarkable coincidence our 50th different visiting engine happens to be celebrating its 50th birthday this year! The first confirmed visitor for our 20th Gala weekend, courtesy of the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway Co.Ltd, is Northern Rock. We are all really looking forward to seeing and hearing this one tackling the climb to Shelley.

Photo courtesy of Christopher Glover

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