The Great Central railway often is an excellent example of the sights and sound of a railway running as they used to, years ago. The railway does have a nice character and quality to it, but on gala events, with TPOs and freights running too, the railway takes on yet another dimension. Photos in these two galleries taken over the Weekend of the 28th and 29th January 2017 show the railways winter gala in all its splendour. In many ways, the weather added to the atmosphere, with sunny spells allowing glorious photos mixed with challenging conditions for lighting, but then sometimes gave an excellent backdrop. The railways home fleet has quite an impressive line-up. The mix of midland region engines like the Black 5, 8F and Ivatt 2 gives of a nice midland feel. The other elements like the BR standards such as Cromwell and the BR Standard 2MT add to put the fleet in the right general period and context, and while the resident Hall on the line might not be in keeping with geography the matching rake of chocolate and cream coaching stock makes the engine fit in well. Indeed, these also go nicely with Cromwell and the Ivatt 2 out shopped in the western green style. For many the Southern engines were an attraction, the Q class joining the King Arthur class engine that is resident on the line. Its true that many did like seeing the pairs together, but personally, the Great Central winter gala allowed some excellent chances to photograph the double track railway and its infrastructure with trains that could have been thought to have been on the great central, midland, or western region in the dawn of a year in the early 1960s.