HMS Ark Royal
Established Member
I think the OP is spot on with this. Last September my family and I attended the LMS Steam Gala event at Barrow Hill as a belated birthday treat for my father and I. It was a brilliant day out and everyone enjoyed themselves.
Having watched 43106 run past a little too closely my youngest son and I had a our faces covered in soot / smut. Not to worry though as my wife (once a mum, always a mum etc) produced a near endless supply of wet wipes from her bag to clean our happy faces. Having noticed that two other enthusiasts had also received a liberal coating of soot they too were given wet wipes along with a friendly smile. In return she received scowls of contempt before they marched off. Now if they wanted to look like they'd just spent a shift down a coal mine that was up to them but surely there was no need to be so rude!
Once we were back in the car, my youngest daughter (aged 20) remarked that the enthusiasts her age looked like and behaved like a of bunch freaks. Sporting badly fitting jeans and wearing t-shirts with oh so not funny slogan's I'm afraid I had to agree with her. Not to mention behaving like they'd been let out of the asylum for the day.
However, what really shocked me was watching two teenage lads turning on their parent / guardian because they were going to miss the Duchess moving around the shed yard. By all accounts he'd booked (and no doubt paid for) the train tickets without having any way of finding out when certain loco's were moving. Those two lads needed a strong word or two but he was seemingly not prepared to do so and of course it was none of business.
I've often thought about attended a Diesel Gala but none of my family / friends would want to go and on the basis of the Barrow Hill gala I'm worried that I'd be surrounded by the same freaks that my daughter described.
Do the Diesel Gala on the NYMR - its all friendly here