Welland Steam Rally 2024
The Hill

This is one of a series of pages which I have uploaded to illustrate facets of steam rallies we have attended in the UK. Such events occur all over the country in the summer months, they are easily found by using your favourite search engine and may have anything between a handful of steam engines and hundreds (as at the Great Dorset Steam Fair which could probably be fairly described as having an excess of riches). Click here for the Welland index and click here for the overall 2024 index.

A few years back, Welland introduced (almost unannounced) a heavy haulage area, but it was flat and was not available on Friday as the area was needed for the auction then.

For 2022/3, a rejig of the area to the south of the main arena resulted in the creation of something akin to the famous hill at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale. It was an immediate 'hit' with exhibitors and spectators and it is a wonder that it had not been tried before. In 2022, firefighters were kept busy extinguishing successive small fires but that was not the issue in 2023 after Wednesday's downpour. In fact, I was amazed to see any action at all. A year ago, I took a reflection picture of the tank but it was clear that dust not mud might be the issue in 2024. Anyway, for whatever reason internal combustion superpower seems to have been banished and the surface on the Hill was still in good condition by close of play on the Sunday

The good conditions encouraged a fair percentage of exhibitors to 'try their luck', including, to me, a surprising number of steam rollers. Not surprisingly, the best action was supplied by the road locomotives, the amount of smoke was great for photography but maybe not the local environment. I wasn't totally satisfied with my results, it's clear I need some more practice!