Anyway, moving on and the last two weeks have been very busy in the Department with a loco being out on every running day since the restart of normal operation. This has allowed a large number of us that are footplate crew to regain certification or get a refresher turn, but it has also allowed the fleet to get a good level of exposure as we start the railway's 40 Year celebrations. All of our serviceable mainline fleet have had a run out with 37215 and 45149 being used on the PURPLE timetable services in July as well as 37215 being used on stock moves - described in the last blog.
Friday 30th July saw the first 'Special Event' of 2021 and the first 'Gala' since 2019 when we ran our 'Summer Diesel Day'. The weather definitely didn't get the memo regarding it being summer! By about 0930, those of us rostered on the first service of the day, with 37215, were drenched, and that was the theme for pretty much most of the day. The previous day, as access to the shed was not allowed, the locos that weren't running had been shunted into a variety of positions so that visitors could see all the locos and photograph them. The rain didn't make it easy, though!
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| D6948 sits in the car park at Toddington. The rain was really hammering down, almost causing distortion on the photo. |
Also in the car park was 'our' 40th Anniversary bus courtesy of Marchants. As with D6948 all the windows and doors were closed to keep out the driving rain.
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| Marchant's bus with the 'GWSR 40th Anniversary' wrap showing 'Foremarke Hall' crossing Stanway Viaduct. |
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| The steed for the day, 37215. |
I was on Secondman duty with John G completing his second Trainee turn and Kev J as rostered Driver. With it raining stair-rods we prepped the loco and made our way across to the maroon rake to form the 0900 to Cheltenham. This is usually an ECS move, although there are discussions to try and get it accepted as a full passenger carrying service, and the rostering of this service really did add weight to that argument as, despite the rain, there were a good number of early risers on it. The provision of an earlier train from Cheltenham Race Course is also proving to be a masterstroke as, when we approached, the platform was very busy. This has also been noticed on normal timetable days with lots of people using the service to head to Broadway for the day.
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| As we headed away from Toddington, W51360 sits in the headshunt. You can see the repair that has been affected by C & W to repair historic accident damage. |
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| With the rain and low cloud obscuring the Cotswold Edge, 5081 and 47376 cross with 37215 at Winchcombe. (Courtesy of A. Raybould) |
Still, it was good to see the small Sulzer back out and about as it is always a very popular loco amongst the fare paying enthusiasts. When it arrived at Cheltenham it then worked back up solo with 47376 on the back swapping around during the day with 37215 swapping with 45149.
Some other pics of the day as the weather started to become brighter and warmer...
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| As the weather starts to brighten 5081 runs round ready to head back towards Broadway. (Courtesy of A. Raybould) |
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| A little earlier to the photo above, 47376 arrives at Toddington from Cheltenham. The Class 24 waits in the distance to re-attach to the rear of the train after a little break. (Courtesy of A. Raybould) |
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| Whilst Cheltenham was starting to dry out Broadway was still wet, although the rain had moved off towards Evesham. John keeps an eye on proceedings further up the platform as we await the off with the final service of the day back to Toddington. |
Despite the best attempts of the weather, and it being a weekday, takings were very encouraging with ticket sales exceeding expectation and RCS also seeming to do quite well. With circumstances the way they are 'every little helps' and the money will come in very handy to the railway coffers.
The weekend of 31th July/1st August would see a Brush Type 4 weekend with 47376 operating on the PURPLE timetable on the Saturday, with a real treat on Sunday for the PINK timetable with the pair of 47105 and 47376 being utilised together - the first revenue earning service for 105 in nearly a decade. The locos were suitably decked out with one of the 'GWSR 40th Anniversary' headboards. The following photos are courtesy of Alex Raybould. Cheers Alex!
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| With Chris W looking on from the cab door, 47376 'Freightliner 1995' departs Toddington with the 1535 to Cheltenham on Saturday 31st July. |
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| On the Sunday, the immaculate 47105 was paired up with sister 47376 for its first public running day. Observed at Winchcombe on the 0945 ex Cheltenham. |
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| From a different angle at Winchcombe. The reflections in the gleaming paintwork testament to the job done by the BT4F and Heritage Painting. |
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| Running around at Broadway. 47376 leads its sister back through Platform 2 under the gaze of the watching cameras. |
In the midst of his pursuit of haulage and taking of photos, Alex was also part of a work group on the Class 26 on the Saturday. Again, he has given permission to use his photos and passed on a report on what went on. Alongside Alex was Harrison, Tom C, Dave S and Gareth J working on a variety of tasks. Dave was busy doing more cutting and welding of the bodyside steelwork, removing more of the corroded and damaged metalwork. Alex, Tom, Harrison and Gareth were employed on a variety of tasks that included the continuation of taking the bogies and cab steps back to the metal work before priming them. They also worked on replacing pieces of down piping that had corroded due to water ingress over 60 years of service. As part of our commitment to re-using resources pieces of flow tube that had been discarded in the skip were given a new lease of life.
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After tidying up the pipes and removing the corrosion you can see that the pipe doesn't meet up with the sluice hole. This was one of the causes of the corrosion around the solebar as the water wasn't draining away and was pooling in the channels under the pipe.
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| A new, tidy escape route for the water. |
Also going on over the weekend, the DMU group were back at the Class 122 'Bubble Car', W55003. The group have completed the door backings and work has now moved on to the window frames with the first going in on the Sunday. Work can then proceed onto the cabs before looking at completing the interior.
Steve M was also present over the weekend continuing work on his Class 20's - D8137 and 20228. D8137 has progressed to a point where Steve is looking at reacquainting the bogie with its errant traction motor. Having cleaned the original motor and one of the spare motors, a decision was made on which one is likely to be replaced on the bogie. Before the motor is refitted Steve would like to pressure wash the bogie to remove the general detritus that has built up since its last overhaul. 20228 continues to have work on its wiring and cab décor completed when Steve isn't working on its sister. Steve hopes to have at least one of the 'Choppers' running before the end of the year.
As an advanced notice, and building on the success of our 'Summer Diesel Day', we have a two day 'Autumn Gala' scheduled to take place on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th September utilising the locos that are available in the home fleet. Star of the show will be the immaculate 47105. The railway is also planning a 'run everything' weekend on the 23rd/24th October to formerly celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the GWSR. More details for both are yet to be announced. Just be sure to put the dates in your diary so that you can come and join in the fun!
The loco roster for August is as follows...
03 Aug - Class 24, 5081 (Purple)
04 Aug - Class 37, 37215 (Purple)
05 Aug - Class 45, 45149 (Purple)
07 Aug - Class 45, 45149 (Purple)
08 Aug - Class 24, 5081 (Pink)
10 Aug - Class 24, 5081 (Purple)
11 Aug - Class 37, 37215 (Purple)
12 Aug - Class 47, 47105 (Purple)
14 Aug - Class 37, 37215 (Purple)
15 Aug - Class 37, 37215 (Pink)
17 Aug - Class 24, 5081 (Purple)
18 Aug - Class 37, 37215 (Purple)
19 Aug - Class 45, 45149 (Purple)
21 Aug - Class 47, 47105 (Purple)
22 Aug - Class 47, 47105 (Pink) - was originally scheduled to be 45149 but changed due to no crew.
24 Aug - Class 24, 5081 (Purple)
25 Aug - Class 37, 37215 (Purple)
26 Aug - Class 47, 47105 (Purple)
28 Aug - Class 45, 45149 (Purple)
29 Aug - Class 47, 47105 (Purple)
30 Aug - Class 47, 47105 (Purple)
31 Aug - Class 37, 37215 (Purple)
Purple Timetable - Loco works 1510 Broadway - Cheltenham RC and 1625 Cheltenham RC - Toddington.
Pink Timetable - Loco works two and a half round trips starting with the 0945 Cheltenham RC - Broadway.
Usual caveats apply - locos may be replaced at short notice in instances of failures or crew changes. Keep an eye on our social media channels for up to date information.
