Something slightly different as an Organ Thing of The Day today. Why? Well why not? It was art, it sounded wonderful, it was more than musical, well in a left field cutting-edge experimental soundart kind of way. The Greatest Gathering just happened, a massive three day festival that sold out in a matter of hours, who was headlining? Well those in the mainstream press who did actually pick up on it were busy comparing it with ‘Glasto’, it wasn’t really that though, I doubt there were many household names on the bill. I guess for Glastonbury’s Elton, Rod or Dolly you could maybe read Flying Scotsman or at a push Tulyar maybe? No, Tulyar would definitely be more ArcTanGent festival thing surely? The locomotive equivalent of those Melvins or Kayo Dot? Actually a set from Tulyar at a festival like ArcTanGent would sound wonderful, a duet with a Chopper even better (and no need for a PA!). No, this was no Glastonbury, this was a serious festival, this was proper stuff, not some middle class green welly parade, this was one the festival highlights of the Summer, this was something far far cooler than bloody ‘Glasto’.

“Who the hell is Tulyar?” I hear you asking, well we’re not talking the racehorse of that name, no, were not talking the winner of the 1952 Epsom Derby, this Tulyar is serious hotsepower, this Tulyar is one of the surviving English Electric Deltic diesel locomotives (named after that racehorse) and the Greatest Gathering was just that, a more left field ArcTanGent or maybe a Download or a 2000 Trees for trainheads. This was the greatest gathering ever of classic steam, diesel and electric railway locomotives, well over a hundred of them all gathered together in one glorious place, this was a Greatest Gathering as part of the year-long celebrations of the 200th anniversary or Railway travel.

That’s right, this was a railway festival, easily the biggest ever, easily The Greatest Gathering ever and over three days around 40,000 people turned up in Derby to drool over all those locomotives and much much more. For three days people from all over the land and beyond these shores came to look at them, to listen to them fire up, to smell them, to photograph them, to stand in the rain surrounded by the smoke, to stand in the sunshine to just view that glorious line of Peaks and that Western on those curved tracks and yes, even the Sheds were appreciated (as was that gleaming new freshly arrived dark blue and golden yellow Class 99). Tickets sold out within hours, they could have held it for way more than just the three days but Alstom is a working industrial site, not some festival field or some heritage home for retired shunters. Alstom is a great big complexed forward looking modern still very much working railway factory, a very big site with a massive history and Alstom are hosting this probably never to be repeated Greatest Gathering across their massive site (apparently they were able to host it all during the work’s annual holiday two week shut down).

People have come from far and wide, so have the engines, the units and the rolling stock, there’s been hours of time spent watching the footage of convoys of engines heading from different parts of the land – that or standing out waiting for them to pass – strange combinations of coupled-together stream and veteran diesel engines running through stations confusing the travelling general public and here we are on an early morning Sunday train out of St. Pancras heading for the last of the three days ourselves. Off we go past the delight of that John Betjeman statue and that Tracey Emin neon that hangs above the arriving Euro trains. Should we mention the irony of the extortionate ticket prices today’s railway companies charge as we head for a celebration of rail travel? Or the nightmare of negotiating those damn websites trying to find something near decent tickets prices and then not getting the seat paid for on an overcrowded train that has no catering because they don’t have catering on Sundays on East Midland Railways? The journey home wasn’t much better, nah, we won’t mention any of that, we’re off to a celebration of rail travel, the reality of privatised railways can’t be allowed to dampen the day and all the fun of what probably was the greatest gathering…

Art? Music? Underculture? Of course it is! Listen to that gloriously filthy sound of that Tractor firing up (that’s a Class 37 to you and me, a still serving, still working diesel locomotive from the 1960s). We’re here to admire an almost reborn Baby Deltic, to take in the smell of the smoke of Clan Line and while we’re at it, to make some sound art and record some of it. A proposal to make some art resulted in an invitation from Alstom for us to come to the event and to grab some field recordings, to point microphones, to spend a day at the Greatest Gathering enjoying railway engines and making art (as well as leaving a piece or two, well we couldn’t go all the way to Derby without leaving leaves. Watch this space, the sound from the day comes soon). Hey, I could write a massive piece on this great gathering, trains are cool, everyone knows that, a could go on for way too long about how good those Peaks looked all lined up on that curve, about those 40s and that (hidden) Hymek, about design and logos and typefaces and shed plates, about the art of noise and where were the 20s? Those 20s sound so so good, a bit like the 40s, alas the 40s were silent as well, there no better sounding locomotive than an idling 40 waiting to just do what they were built to do. Yes, I could write a massive piece about how upliftingly good that Avanti West Coast Pride Pendolino looks in that full train rainbow wrap – a full car, look at that Duster! How things have changed – the 390 Pendolino is Alstom built I do believe? I could write a massive piece on all the traction action and how damn cool it all was, the culture of it all, the art of that beautiful blue 1937 Gresley designed A4 stood over there in the open air, of that British Rail “Double Arrow” logo designed by Gerry Barney in 1964 (although really not sure about that new Great British Railways Union Jack version of it that’s on the way any day now?). I could write a massive piece about The Greatest Gathering, besides the six hours a day opening time not really being enough to see it all and an engine or two being rather strangely parked out of view (what was that Hymek almost lost behind the fence all about?), beside a couple of relatively minor things, this was a brilliant event, a glorious celebration, a wonderful gathering of railway traction, of people, art, sound, design and lots more.

Ah, what a day it was, what a three days it was and Derby surely was the perfect place for the Gathering (although they maybe might have something to say about that in Crewe, Doncaster or Swindon?). Derby is a train town, the buildings, the pubs, the people, they all ooze trains, there was a brilliant conversation with a man who started working at the works in the 1950s, there were loads of brilliant conversations at the event and in the pubs afterwards.

And yes, a 110th leaf of the year left hanging on one of those railway workers houses, a 110th #43Leaves piece of 2025 and one of thousands that have now been left hanging on waiting nails – always on nails, hooks or screws that are already there, no damage done, nothing disrespected – a leaf left hanging on one of the railway houses, one of five pieces left that day in Derby. As always, pieces painted on found unwanted recycled material picked up off the street. Material cleaned up, painted on and then left hanging back out there for people to just take should they wish to. This 110th piece of the year was left hanging on a nail waiting in a wall by these beautiful 1842 railway workers houses just over from Derby railway station. Apparently the building at the end of the unusual U shaped terrace was originally a pub and brewery, the railway is everywhere, so are railway pubs. Another piece was left on the severed head of a Class 37 locomotive that just happened to be hanging about in another pub car park just up the road (like I said, this town is seriously into trains, The Alexandra Hotel is dripping in trainery), this Greatest Gathering surely had to be here in Derby.

Derby Litchurch Lane Works is where we actually were, formerly the Derby Carriage and Wagon Works, a seriously big railway rolling stock factory presently owned by the multinational transportation manufacturer Alstom, it has a rich history, the works originally commenced production of rolling stock on behalf of its then owner, the Midland Railway, during the mid 1840s. It it is very much a working factory, an industrial complex and yes Alstom did a brilliant job in terms of allowing and making this all happen (when they surely really didn’t have to bother?), as did the brilliant people who look after all these old steam and diesel engines, an excellent job from all involved and yes it was as much about the people as it was about the engines and trains. Railways are people.

There were some brilliant conversations, tales (and yes, some of the tales and conversations were recorded). Yes, I could write way way more about it (Organ probably isn’t the place for anything more than this though), this was indeed the greatest gathering, probably the best festival of the Summer, far more than just a (bloody) Glastonbury for trains (for a start no one was cynically milking us for money like they do at most music festivals these days, hell, the massive event programme was free for gawd sake, it would have set us back a good twenty quid or more at Download or Reading). The greatest gathering was exactly what it promised to be, The Greatest Gathering was a rousing success of an event, can we do it again next year please?

And yes we did see someone in an I Like Trains shirt, was it one of the band? And yes, we did spy an Eastfield t-shirt as well, good to see those self-declared Urban Rail Punks represented, nice Class 47 on their t-shirts, fine band indeed. This was a fine fine gathering, trains are cool, it all sounded so good, it looked good as well (even in the grey skies and rain of Sunday), more to follow, watch this space… (sw)

www.thegreatestgathering.co.uk / railway200.co.uk / www.alstom.com/greatest-gathering

As always, please click on an image to see the whole thing or to run the slide show