Sadly, though, the arrivals were concerned with the impending 'Cotswold Festival of Steam' as four of the five visiting engines arrived during the last week. As the theme revolves around the much lamented Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, there was one particular visitor that was rather unusual. It isn't a diesel, despite having internal engines, but isn't a conventional steam engine either....although it does run on coal.
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| Sentinel 0-4-0 47109 'Joyce'. A former S&D shunting engine that has two, transverse, steam-powered engines! Despite the number, it most definitely is not a Brush Type 4!! |
It certainly had a lot of attention on Saturday. Our two serviceable shunters at Toddington, D2280 and 11230 have been incredibly busy shunting the new arrivals around the yard as preparations got underway on the weekend. Both were used to shunt wagons and locos around as preparations for the Gala were in full swing.
However, the major event the past weekend was the 'Steam and Ale' event on the Friday and Saturday. A bit of a misnomer as the diesels were in use as well, but that is one for the event organisers to mull over. On both days, the Class 117 set, L425 was used to provide a shuttle service between the two beery hubs of Toddington and Winchcombe with Class 24, 5081 and Class 20, D8137 being used on the Friday and Saturday respectively.
I was present on the Saturday as I was rostered to crew the Class 20 and to start conversion to this class, as I had done with 45149 a few weeks previously. I was rostered with the loco's owner (and owner of 20228), Steve M. Also in attendance, working on D5343 was Dave S, Alex R and Tom C.
With the Class 26, the trio of Dave, Alex and Tom got on with more sanding of the loco's bodysides and roof area.
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| Dave S takes a quick break from sanding off filler around the vents on D5343. |
While Dave started on the body sides, Alex and Tom went up on to the engine and up through the roof hatch so that they could continue with sanding on the roof area. The '26' has quite a large space above the engine that allows you to access the roof area without needing to physically get on the roof.
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| The roof hatch above the engine that allows access to the roof areas without having to physically stand on the roof! Under the tarpaulin is the engine block which provides a nice platform to stand or sit on. (Alex Raybould) |
By the end of the day the areas around the roof hatch had been primed ready for eventual undercoating.
Out in the yard, I was learning how to prepare the Class 20 for service under the expert tutelage of Steve.
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| Waiting, willing and ready. D8137. |
I had crewed on the loco many times before but had never had the opportunity to drive it, so this was going to be a baptism by fire! You are much more reliant on your Secondman when travelling bonnet first. You also have to re-assess braking and stopping distances compared to double cabbed locos when running that way...it takes a bit of getting used to, I can tell you!
Once we had successfully prepped and started the loco, we were asked if we could help the Steam Department with a little job. D2280 was being used to move a couple of wagons from the Goods Train for the gala and one of the wagons needed to have some 'lifters' fitted under the buffer beam. However, the buffers needed to be compressed and the Class 04 wasn't powerful enough to do this effectively. Cue 1000hp of English Electric power! However, after a couple of attempts, all we succeeded in doing was pushing the '04' and the wagons further along the rails. Back to the prep, then!
It is some time since D8137 had it's last repaint - Steve recalled it as in the early/mid 2000s - and the BR Green livery has certainly seen better days. The yellow warning panel at the cab end had been repainted about 5 years ago but the bonnet was not completed and this is also showing a lot of fading. However, Steve has a trick up his sleeve to get the paintwork looking almost fresh and shiny.
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| Shiny!! But how? |
Steve would return a few minutes later with a pot and a couple of rags. Later would include a couple of paint brushes....but no paint! The pot contained a heady brew of kerosene and oil. Applied liberally to the body work and it gives a very pleasing shine. Just remember to wipe away the excess!
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| Alex gets his revenge! Yours truly trying hard not to fall off the running plate. (Alex Raybould) |
Sadly, we didn't get time to do the other side. A very effective way to bring a bit of life to the paintwork...especially on a sunny, Cotswold day.
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| On the recently reinstated Siding 1 - escaping from the chaos of the shunt going on in the yard. |
We had the luxury of, not only doing the usual single round-ish trip that you get on the Purple timetable (of which the event timetable was a modified example), we also got the luxury of a second full round trip to get the punters back to their places of origin. Even on the final trip south, both Toddington and, especially, Winchcombe platforms were absolutely rammed!
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| Ready for the final, ECS, trip back to Toddington. It's not often we are still going at 20 past 7 in the evening. |
During disposal, Steve had another trick up his sleeve to ensure we had the correct fuel level reading for the prep sheet.
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| Not the usual use of a 'T' Key! |
The fuel gauge on the loco is prone to sticking and, so, tapping the ring around the dial frees up the float mechanism to give a more accurate reading. With the exorbitant cost of diesel at the moment, every little drop is sacred.
What about the departure? Well, you may remember that some months ago the Cotswold Diesel Railcar (CDRL) group - who own the DMU vehicles we have - decided it was time to rationalise their fleet a little and offered up for sale their ex-Strathclyde PTE liveried Class 107 DMCL, Sc52029. The DMCL vehicle had arrived at the GWSR in around 2015 (I think) but, due to the size of the maintenance team and the priorities of the Class 122 restoration and day to day maintenance on L425, the time for Sc52029 to reach the restoration phase was a considerable way off. Offers were invited back in June 2021 and the successful bid was from the Fife Heritage Railway. This would see the vehicle returning to it's spiritual homeland, as all Class 107s were based in Scotland for their entire operational lives. However, the vehicle would remain at Toddington as the new owners couldn't yet afford the transport costs. A JustGiving page was set up to raise the necessary funds and, on the 31st May 2022, Sc52029 was pulled onto a low loader for it's new adventure. Photos by Neil Carr and Alex Raybould.
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Sc52029, still wearing some of it's former Strathclyde PTE livery waits on the unloading road for it's transfer to the Fife Heritage Railway.
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Good luck to Sc52029 and the restoration team at the Fife Heritage railway. Here's hoping it isn't too long before the vehicle is back in action.
