Mid Norfolk Railway (MNR) 23rd September 2011
The Mid Norfolk Railway (MNR) Gala on 23rd-25th September 2011 was to be the last time 31438 worked at the MNR, it having just been sold and would make its way to the Epping & Ongar Railway immediately after the gala on the Monday!
31438 had been a bit of a poor example in its latter days on the main line when working in the North West however after a lot of hard work it had been turned into one of the best examples in preservation and it’s swansong was well worth the effort in getting out of bed early for and braving the Friday rush hour traffic to get to deepest darkest Norfolk.
31235, which also featured, hadn’t worked at all in the previous 4 years so it was a welcome return to traffic for it. Unfortunately it wasn’t in as fine a form as ‘438 and on its first run on Friday morning (with ‘438) it covered everyone bellowing in a sheet of carbon as it cleared itself out……
37003, 37219 & 56302 also featured at the Gala on the Friday, the day had to be handed to the 31s though, which did no less than 6 single trips in a pair. A cracking day out!
