Again, it has been some time since my last trip up to Toddington because of commitments elsewhere - the joys of shift work and being a part-time 'rock star'! However, in between gallivanting around Europe with my band (including a frustrating, on-going, crusade to get our van home after it blobbed in Denmark!) and trying to recoup lost earnings by taking on as much rest day working as I can, I found a free day in my diary to head up to the railway to refresh my lapsed competence on the shunters and to have one last trip out on a soon-to-depart member of the department.
As mentioned in the last blog, and you may have also seen on the social channels for the railway, the owners of the DMU fleet, Cotswold Diesel Railcar Limited, had taken the decision to place the 3-car Class 117 DMU up for sale. As part of any sale they had also included one of the spare driving cars, W51372, which had spent its entire duration at the GWR as a donor vehicle to keep the main set in operation.
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| W51372 is placed over a pit at Toddington whilst being prepared for sale back in 2023. |
Over the weekend it was announced that the CDRL had agreed a sale of L425 (vehicles W51363, W59510 and W51405) along with W51372 to the SRPS at the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway in Scotland. After announcement the SRPS announced it on their socials with a video to promote the fundraising appeal to help pay for all four vehicles to be transported north over the winter. You can view it here.... https://fb.watch/vhX1Dfd-_i/
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| A sight soon to be consigned to the history files! |
With its last running days at the GWR set for our Autumn Showcase gala over the weekend of the 26th and 27th October, time is short to experience the DMU before it leaves. For tickets, timetables and general information visit https://www.gwsr.com/galas/autumn-showcase
The loco roster for the event will see 20137 and D6948 operating on the Saturday and 45149 and 47105 in use on the Sunday.
With this in mind, and the fact I won't be around, I decided that as I was already at the railway and the BLUE timetable was running, I would have one last chukka on the ol' fart cart - a nickname it has gained in the department due to one of it's normally raspy exhausts having no silencer and being even more raspy!! Obnoxiously so!
On arrival at Toddington, Chris W was busy in the shed working on one of the cab heaters from 47105. He had had the same idea and so, whilst I went off to prove my ongoing competence on one of the Class 04s for an hour, Chris disappeared off to join Paul C, who was Driver for the day for a round trip.
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| One of the cab heaters from 47105 having some running repairs. |
After being certified competent for another year on the shunters, and due to the unseasonably nice weather, I headed across to Toddington station to have my lunch al-fresco and to await the DMU for my round trip.
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| The 'fart cart'. on arrival at Toddington with Chris W having a final 'go' on the handles. |
I joined Paul in the cab and experienced a final round trip in the cab of L425. I declined the offer of a final drive as I was dressed in 'civvies' and not in the appropriate attire.
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| The compact driving position of the first-gen DMU. |
A fairly uneventful round trip was interspersed with conversations amongst the train crew about what might happen post-Class 117 as there is still uncertainty around the the availability of the Class 122 'bubble car', as its overhaul continues and there has been no confirmation that it will be staying - although it is not for sale and its presumed that it will stay, along with 'spare' Class 117 driving car W51360.
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| A view that is very much enjoyed by the public but that will be less frequent in the coming year - the forward cab view looking south from Toddington. |
From a mainline diesel perspective, it does mean that, for 2025 at least, there are likely to be more days where the big diesels are operating for the full day however the final picture of how 2025 will look is yet to be agreed.
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| L425 basks in the late autumn sun at Cheltenham before its last trip north. |
Its universally excepted that it is sad that the DMU is leaving us as it is a very useful piece of the motive power jigsaw, but who knows what will happen in the future. One thing is for sure, the circumstances of its arrival and any upkeep would need to be organised very differently to how it was with L425 when it arrived back in the mid-2000s.
Class 20, 20228 has been taken out of traffic after successful outings at the Diesel Gala and on it's first 'Double Up Sunday' running days so that the work can be completed on the reinstatement of its exhauster. This had been removed when it was overhauled and prepared for export to France in the 1990s. The loco's owner, Steve M, along with a small band of helpers, have been busy reinstating the electrical feeds and also sourcing the required pipework - as well as overhauling an exhauster ready for fitting. Luckily, Steve had prepared for this eventually a number of years back when he purchased fellow ex-France Class 20, 20035 to use as a spares donor.
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| The mortal remains of ex-CFD Class 20, 20035 inside the shed at Toddington as it undergoes component recovery in 2018. |
20035 gave up a huge amount of spares for use, include a myriad of pipework. This has been put to good use in resurrecting 20228's exhauster.
Said exhauster is now in situ within the nose of the loco and has been secured to the solebar. Some of the pipework has been sited and primed ready for testing, although there is still some work to get it to that point.
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| The overhauled exhauster now sited in the nose of 20228. Clearly visible is some of the reinstated pipework and electrical elements. |
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| From the other side showing the securing points. |
Things are well on schedule for the 'chopper' to make its solo bow on service trains in 2025. Things are also, now, fairly advanced on the overhaul of Class 26, D5343.
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| D5343 still resides in the David Page shed as its overhaul progresses. |
As you can see from the above photo progress is now pretty advanced, although there is still a fair amount to complete. Most of the painting around the bogies and below the solebar is progressing with liberal coats of 'chassis black' rather than the green primer. The cabs have had the majority of the welding completed and the first coverings of primer have been added. The lamp brackets have been welded back in place, as have the brackets for holding the multiple working cabling. The cab window glass has been removed for refurbishing and the lights are awaiting refitting.
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| Externally, no. 2 end is pretty much at the same stage as no. 1 end. |
Internally, the cabs have been dismantled to allow for a complete refresh, as can be seen below. Some sections of the cab desks have been removed at no. 1 end to allow access to the pipework behind it while a thorough clean up and tidy is being conducted.
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| No.1 end cab showing the work being undertaken to overhaul the internal environment. |
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| No. 2 end cab is in a little more disarray as the process of overhaul is just starting in comparison to no. 1 end which is further along the process. |
It is hoped that the 'Rat' will also be making its highly anticipated return to traffic at the beginning of the 2025 season.
Elsewhere on the overhaul path is Class 24, 5081 which has had the start made on its engine overhaul. The pistons and liners have been removed from the Sulzer block and are now sitting around the shed to await attention.
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| 5081 at the back of the shed in early stages of its engine overhaul. |
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| 5081's pistons having on the storage bench in the shed. Now all covered, they awaiting cleaning, assessing and overhaul. |
Services for the remainder of the running season are predominantly in the hands of the DMU, however the end of October does so some mainline diesel action before the Autumn Showcase and the winter shutdown. The roster currently looks like this....
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Date |
TT |
Rostered Loco(s) |
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Sat 19 Oct |
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47376 |
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Sun 20 Oct |
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L425 |
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Tues 22 Oct |
|
L425 |
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Wed 23 Oct |
|
L425 |
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Thurs 24 Oct |
|
L425 |
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Sat 26 Oct |
AS |
L425, 20137, D6948 |
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Sun 27 Oct |
AS |
L425, 45149, 47105 |
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Tues 29 Oct |
|
D6948 |
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Weds 30 Oct |
|
D6948 |
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Thurs 31 Oct |
|
D6948 |
Looking forward to 2025 and the Diesel Experience dates have been published. They start on Friday 4th April 2025 with a Class 37 Experience Day. The days are always highly enjoyable and give you the chance to drive one of our large mainline diesels on a full 7-coach train (240 tonnes) along the whole 14 miles of our line. The cost is £525 and further information and booking can be found on the GWSR website - www.gwsr.com
The full list of dates are:
4th April 2025 - Class 37
9th May 2025 - Class 47
4th July 2025 - Class 45 'Peak'
5th September 2025 - Class 37
3rd October - Class 47
These do sell out very, very quickly (especially the Class 37 days) so you need to be quick!
Finally, as an aside, I made a visit to the Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway back in September with a couple of my work colleagues in September. It happened quite by accident as we had initially headed to the Dean Forest Railway for their Diesel Gala. Sadly for them, and through no fault of theirs, luck was not on their side and, after a succession of failures - their guest Class 25, 37510 from Europhoenix and 09107 all failed leaving just 37884, the visiting Class 73 from the Swindon and Cricklade Railway and the home fleets' Class 08 to run services - we decided that after round trip run behind 37884 nothing else really appealed, so we headed off somewhere else. The PBR was having their steam gala so we decided to head there and experience the gradient to Whistle Inn.
Whilst in the queue for a snack, I got talking to one of the traincrew who, on recognizing my Growler Group hoodie, offered me a trip to the restoration shed and a look at the progress on both of their Class 37s - 37023 and D6916.
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| D6916 inside the shed at Blaenavon and in the throes of its ongoing restoration. |
It was interesting to chat with some of the restoration team and to see how different their approach to the restoration differed to that at Toddington, particularly on the similar restoration of our own D6948, given the relative sizes of railway and the availability of volunteers to complete the work. Most of the team working on D6916, and those that will work on 37023, are contractors paid for by the owner of both locos.
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| 37023 resides out in the open at Blaenavon. Internally, the loco is in very good condition. |
They hope that D6916 will be in traffic at some point in 2025, with 37023 following suit soon afterwards. Perhaps, when it is finished, there may be an opportunity to pair D6948 with D6916 - the only two centre headcode Class 37s in BR Green! It will certainly be some noise listening to D6916 heading up the 1 in 40ish gradient from Cwmavon to Furnace Sidings!
