Sunday 31 May 2015

24081 was the diesel loco on this weekends red services. 

You can follow our booked traction here: http://gwsr.com/enthusiasts/locomotive-roster.aspx

Subject to the usual disclaimers.


26043 underwent various repairs this weekend and was also visited by the guys from the North Norfolk Railway ahead of its visit to the coastline railway later this month.

If all goes according to plan the small Sulzer will leave the GWR on Monday 8th June.

Tuesday 26 May 2015

D6948 - The first signs of Green on the loco

Over the recent Bank Holiday weekend, the first coats of Masons P Type Deep Bronze Green paint were applied around the Cab Window area of D6948 (37 248) giving the first opportunity to see how the loco will look after it's extensive Bodywork Restoration.

The first signs of Green on D6948 - Photo Kev Jarvis

The fun and games of installing the Cab Window Glass with new window rubbers and filler strip awaits the restoration team......

Elsewhere on the loco, more rubbing down of the bodyside undercoat has taken place showing more filling and sanding requried to get the Bodywork as flat as possible.

Bodywork prep continues - Photo Kev Jarvis

Wednesday 20 May 2015

Heritage Diesel Weekend 24th - 26th July 2015

The Heritage Diesel Weekend being held over 3 days from the 24th - 26th July 2015 builds upon the great success of previous events and has much to offer enthusiasts and visitors to the line.

We hope you will come and enjoy the 1000 miles of heritage diesel running we have on offer from our collection of heritage diesel locomotives and enjoy the open days of our facilities at Toddington and Winchcombe.

We are also very pleased to welcome the sight and sound of a classic Maybach engined Western Region diesel hydraulic locomotive to the line - class 35 'Hymek' locomotive No D7076 - immaculately presented in the BR blue livery of the early 1970s which is very much in keeping with the latter years of the Honeybourne line at this time. This follows on from the successful visit of sister locomotive No D7017 from the West Somerset Railway at our 2014 event which attracted a great deal of interest. Thanks to the Bury Hydraulic Group at the East Lancashire Railway for the visit of D7076.

The extension from Toddington northwards towards Broadway will be use, giving a full 24-mile round trip, which together with passing trains in our loops at Gotherington, Winchcombe and Toddington allows a 40 minute frequency of service along the entire line, helping to re-create some of the main-line ambience of this former through route from Bristol to Birmingham. 

For the haulage enthusiast, this allows a wide variety of 'moves' to be made throughout the day in pursuit of your favourite traction. For the general visitor and enthusiast alike, come and re-live the atmosphere of travel by British Rail (remember them?) from 30 and 40 years ago! The 1970s and 1980s live again!






Home fleet - in use and working trains
Class 20 no. D8137 (20137)
Class 24 no. 5081 (24081) - the 24081 Locomotive Group
Class 26 no.26043 - Cotswold Mainline Diesel Group
Class 37 no.37215 - The Growler Group
Class 45 no.45149 - Cotswold Mainline Diesel Group
Class 47 no. 47376 - The Brush Type Four Fund
Class 73 no. E6036 (73129)
Class 117 3 car DMU L425 - Cotswold Diesel Railcar Limited

Home fleet - on static display
Class 37 no.D6948 - The Growler Group
Class 47 no. 47105 (cab visits available) - The Brush Type Four Fund

Guest locomotive - in use and working trains
Class 35 no. D7076 - The Bury Hydraulic Group

For more ticketing information, click here

Please note - Text pulled together from various posts on the GWR Main Website for consistency in content.

Tuesday 19 May 2015

New trainees!

Congratulations to Adrian Kenny (Per Way) Driver and Gareth Arlett (Diesel dept) secondman on starting their practical footplate training on Sunday.

Welcome to the GWR Diesel Dept Blog

Welcome to the GWR Diesel Dept Blog.

This blog will be regularly updated with news, restoration updates and photos about all of the GWR based Mainline Diesel Fleet including running dates and gala information.

The blog is updated by people who work in the GWR Diesel Dept.

Thank you for taking a look at what the Dept achieves and when you can see these fine locos out in service.


D6948 (37 248) undergoing extensive overhaul and bodywork refurbishment.