No work and no play......

Nearly four weeks into the Covid-19 lock down and the world is very odd place! Having to adapt to a very unusual set of circumstances has put a lot of people, myself included, into situations that we would never have envisaged in a month of Sundays. With us all being told to stay at home the fleet has been isolated as well and no work has been allowed to be conducted. So, what to do with the blogs?

We are very lucky within the department, and in the wider GWsR community, to have a number of volunteers who have a huge array of photographs obtained either through their own photographic talents or through gifts or purchases. Having been a volunteer for a relatively short 7 years, I always find it fascinating to look at photos from 'the archives' so, for this tome, I thought I would ask around to show off some photos from fellow volunteers of the locos of years past as well as some of the current fleet at the GWsR in earlier guises.

Special thanks to Dean Tabor and Andy Smith for allowing me to use these pictures.

Firstly, we have a loco that has returned to capital traffic since its time at Toddington. 37099 arrived at the GWsR on the 18th April 1999 after withdrawal from Transrail in 1997 and purchase by a private individual. The loco was placed into custodianship of The Growler Group and work started on returning it to a former guise in BR Blue as 37324 complete with its 'Clydesbridge' nameplates - a number it wore when allocated to Motherwell TMD as one of its Ravenscraig metals pool. Here are a trio of pics from Dean Tabor on the day of its arrival at Toddington - still wearing the Civil Engineers 'Dutch' livery.

37099 (37324) arrives on a low loader from its first, brief, home on the North Norfolk Railway. (Courtesy of D. Tabor)

Easy does it! (Courtesy of D. Tabor)

Safely on the rails again at Toddington. (Courtesy of D. Tabor)

The loco stayed on the railway until March 2013 when it was moved to the East Lancs Railway. It stayed there until 2016 when it was purchased by Colas, reinstated to mainline traffic as 37099 and renamed 'Merl Evans 1947 - 2016'.

Next up we have a few pics from Andy, a Guard and Duty Ops Officer on the GWsR, showing a couple of the current fleet in action as well as a couple of long departed locos from way back in the mid-1990s.

Class 31, D5541, arrives at Winchcombe in March 1996. (Courtesy of A. Smith)

Brush Type 2/Class 31, D5541 (31123 under TOPS) was withdrawn from BR stock in 1992 and arrived at the GWsR sometime in 1994 being repainted into BR Green and having its 'D' numbers reapplied. Sadly, the loco only saw a few years service before a serious engine failure saw it being sidelined from 1997 for a number of years whilst repairs were discussed and planned. They were to never happen and the loco was sold to the A1A Group as a spares donor for 37271 and 31418. The loco was finally cut up in 2006 at Booth's.

Class 20, 20137 passes the site of Hayles Abbey Halt in August 1995. (Courtesy of A. Smith)

EE Type 1/Class 20, 20137 arrived on the GWsR at some point in 1994 having been withdrawn from BR service in December 1992 and purchased by a private individual. Initially running in its final BR guise of Railfreight Grey with Red Solebar, but minus its 'Murray B Hofmeyr' nameplates, the loco was eventually renumbered to D8137, repainted in to BR Green with small warning panels. It now resides in workworn BR Green with full yellow ends.

24081 heads through Dixton Cutting at somepoint in the mid 1990s. (Courtesy of A. Smith)

Another current resident, Sulzer Type 2/Class 24, 5081 (24081 under TOPS) arrived on the GWsR in 1995. The loco is a bit of a celebrity as it was the final representative of its class still in use by BR, not being withdrawn until October 1980 and then entering preservation immediately. 5081 is back in full service after its bogie overhaul and some electrical work.

One of three Class 14 'Teddy Bear' locos that have been based at the GWsR prepares to take the plunge in the yard at Toddington during March 1996. Class 26, 26043 is seen to the left, still wearing its 'Dutch' livery. (Courtesy of A. Smith)

The GWsR was once home to three Class 14 Hydraulic locomotives with D9537, D9539 and D9553 all arriving during the early 1980s and being the mainstay of diesel services during the early years. The final example to be based at Toddington was D9553, which was privately owned, moved to the Vale of Berkeley Railway in 2016 having last run in 2009.

Photographic contributions of the fleet, past and present, as well as diesels on the line prior to 1976, are always greatly received. If you want them to appear in a blog (or in an eventual book/brochure) then email them through to me, with details, at g_arlett@hotmail.co.uk

Finally, the GWsR is still running a fundraising campaign so that the major landslip between Gotherington and Bishops Cleeve can be fnished. At last count the amount raised stood at around £165,000 of the £250,000 needed to complete the work. If you would like to donate to this or to help with the railway's finances during lockdown, then click here to go to the GWsR website.

Stay safe.