Nearly a month on from the Gala and things are only, now, just starting to calm down a little in the department. A lot has been going on - changes to the timetable because of the weather, a one-off celebration event as well as trying to tie in ongoing maintenance.
We have seen the incredibly successful 'DELTIC DAY' on Friday 19th August which was run in conjunction with the Deltic Preservation Society (DPS) to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the first two production Class 55's entering preservation.
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| BR Blue heaven! |
The fleet has also been called upon to run all our normal timetabled services - ending on 21st August - because of the fire risk caused by the extremely dry weather, demonstrating the flexibility of the department staff who, at the last minute, were asked to take days off work and crew services all day in very high temperatures. As a positive, all of this has further enhanced the standing that the department has on the railway. It has also led to some high praise from visitors and fellow volunteers alike...including the picture below, which is now hung up on our shed notice board!
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| Thanks to Rory for taking the time to draw us this. It is greatly appreciated and is nice to know that our efforts are recognised. |
So, lets rewind and take a look back at things post-Gala and bring you up to date.
As it stands, we haven't had any concrete financial detail from the GWSR Board as to how successful the Gala was. However, anecdotally, it would appear that a significant return has been generated through ticket sales, food and retail sales. In one conversation with a Station Master at Toddington on the Sunday, it was proudly stated that they had taken over £3000 by the lunch time on Sunday just in ticket sales at Toddington! Sunday, historically, is the quietest day of the Gala! Organiser, Peter Smith, was also heard to remark that we had broken even on the event by the Friday lunchtime!!
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| 37215 and 47376 'Freightliner 1995' sit in the sun at Toddington during the 2022 Gala. |
After the Gala, focus was then due to shift to the 'DELTIC DAY' that had been scheduled for Friday, 19th August. However, due to the continuing dry and hot conditions, the railway took the decision to withdraw steam traction after consulting with Gloucestershire Fire regarding the increased risk of large scale fires. The decision meant that the diesel fleet was pushed into action at very short notice to run timetabled services from the 10th August.
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| Domino Day!! Thursday 18th August saw one-time Cardiff Canton stablemates, 47105 and 37215 operating services. |
The timetable was recoloured to GREEN to reflect the change to diesel traction, although there would be no change to timings that we run on other timetables, with a RED timetable on Sundays to allow the running of the Class 117 with one diesel hauled rake on our quieter day of the week. These changes allowed our locos to stretch their legs a bit more than usual, covering 84 or so miles each per day and earning more for their respective owning groups/owners. Some excellent feedback was received from the 'non-crank' public, with one couple actually commenting to me on the 18th that it was good to see the diesels out on normal services.
It also meant that we could make a bit more use of the visiting Class 55 'Deltics' over the weekend of 19th - 21st August. Of course, the crowning day was the 'DELTIC DAY' on Friday, 19th August. It was pretty special to be asked by the DPS to hold their 40th Anniversary bash at the GWSR - there was only one answer!
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| DPS Sales Officer, Darrell Marsh (l) and GWSR Diesel HoD, Andy Durham, cement the contract signing for 55009's visit. (Courtesy of Nigel Lacy) |
Although you may not be a fan of the class (I'm certainly not!), they have an immense following amongst the enthusiast fraternity, but also amongst the general public, and this would be a master stroke and bring the railway a large injection of prestige as well as cash!
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| Our second visitor arrives at Toddington from the GCR on the afternoon of the 18th August. |
55009 'Alycidon' arrived at Toddington from it's stint on the Great Central Railway on the 18th August, causing quite a spectacle as it sat on it's Allely's low loader adjacent to the station building. The loco couldn't be offloaded until the car park had cleared and the tractor unit could swing around and point the loco towards the unloading road. At 70-odd feet long, a very large turning circle was needed and, although the car park offers the room required, it needs to be reasonably empty to provide the clearances. An advanced party from Allely's had arrived with the ramp and this had been constructed on the unloading road.
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| 55009's arrival draws some attention. |
With the car park emptied the low loader could swing around and the delicate operation to get the 100 tonne, EE/Napier Type 5 onto the rails again. Once off the trailer the loco was shunted onto the shed apron and over a pit so that the Fitness to Run exam could be completed by Tim L, Peter S, and DPS Loco Managers, Mike Hallam-Rudd and Fiona Napier-Page.
Sadly, I couldn't make it to the 'DELTIC DAY' as I was working, but it is safe to say that all the feedback heard has been glowing. As with the Gala, we still wait for specific financial details from the Board, but speaking with people on the Sunday following, the income generated seemed to run into significant numbers.....Toddington, alone, was rumoured to have taken £6000 in 'on the day' ticket sales!
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| 55019 and 55009 prepare to work the final service of the day from Cheltenham Racecourse back north - the slightly diverted 'Flying Scotsman'! (Courtesy of Andrew Stratford) |
The day saw one-time Finsbury Park resident, 55009 'Alycidon' and Haymarket's 55019 'Royal Highland Fusilier' operate a two train timetable, giving 168 miles of Deltic haulage, before finishing with a double-headed round trip in the evening. It had been hoped that this would enlist all 14 coaches of the main rakes, however, this was vetoed for some reason and only the chocolate and cream rake was used. There have been some absolutely stunning photos and videos uploaded on to the various social media platforms, so do make sure you take a look!!
But, that wasn't all! The following days of the weekend also saw 55009 in use on the Saturday (along with our own 37215) and on the Sunday (alongside L425 and crewed by yours truly, along with Tony R as Secondman, and Andy Pepper from the DPS/GCR). Although I am not a fan of the Class, I can safely say that it was an incredible experience to crew the loco and to get a taste of what it would have been like to work these iconic locomotives!
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| Preparing to awaken the slumbering beast! Andy P and Fiona, from the DPS, had already completed the preparation ready for the day. |
One thing that strikes you about the prep and disposal of a Class 55, compared to any loco in the GWSR fleet, are the noises the 'Deltic' power plant makes when starting up and shutting down. On start up, it makes a 'whooshing' noise followed by a 'belch' of exhaust when the engine fires into life. On shut down, it is even more dramatic! Not wishing to be derogatory, but it is the only way to describe it, when stopping it sounds like someone has just poured a bag of spanners into a cement mixer! However, it is worth remembering that the 'Napier Deltic' engine is a two-stroke engine (Class 55's have two of them but only run on one when on heritage railways or when under a certain speed on the mainline) whereas most other locos - including all on the GWSR - are four stroke.
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| Awaiting departure from Broadway after the first run from CRC. These beasts are not the easiest to couple up or run round and it took confidence to do it as fluidly as Andy was demonstrating! |
After the first arrival at Broadway, Fiona remarked that 55009 was throwing out a large amount of oil. Deltics were well known for their oily exhaust when in BR service, however, Fiona explained that '9' was still set up for it's mainline exertions and therefore wasn't keen on idling. The oil starts to build up and, when it starts to power, the engine needs to get rid of it! 55019 is less prone as it has been set up to be more efficient on heritage lines.
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| On arrival at Broadway on the second run; a trip that Andy very kindly allowed me to take the controls and experience the loco at first hand. It is a very different beast to the Class 37, although the cab controls are very similar. |
After another 84 miles, it was time to park the loco up on shed and travel home. Firstly, though, we had to position 55009 on the unloading road ready to be transported up the road to our friends at the Severn Valley Railway, where it is due to star in their Autumn Diesel Gala, as well as having some work on it's second engine conducted at Kidderminster. The Allely's wagons had been parked up at Toddington all weekend so that a quick load up and get away could be facilitated on the Monday morning.
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| 55009 sits on the unloading road after it's Sunday exertions. With Andy having done the disposal, Mike and Fiona cleaned away the oil that had continued to be thrown from the exhaust as we all talked about how successful the visit of both locos had been as well as the relationship now forged between the DPS and the GWSR Diesel Department. |
The GWSR Board had, in the meantime, announced that Steam traction would return from the 23rd August as the weather was due to change and the fire risk had dropped. This meant that things return back to the advertised PURPLE and PINK timetables until the start of BLUE midweek timetables from the 20th September. This also means that a return can be made to the ongoing maintenance that has been paused a little due to the increase in running.
On that score, our Class 122 'Bubble Car', W55003, has remained at Winchcombe after it's repaint into BR Green as it was identified that the floor space still contained asbestos! Most items, when sold from BR stock to preservationists, had the asbestos removed however it seems that quite a few items of rolling stock 'slipped the net'! However, quick identification and then sourcing a removal firm, meant that the 'Bubble' was deemed 'asbestos free' by the 21st Aug and members of the CDRL could head down to Winchcombe and start to plan the next stages of the vehicles refurbishment.
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| The protective tent can clearly be seen inside the 'Bubble' on Thurs 18th Aug as the asbestos removal team head towards the conclusion of removing the remaining hazardous material. |
A collective sigh of relief was also exhaled by members of the Growler Group last week when the eyelets that had been requested to be borrowed from our friends at the Scottish Class 37 Group at Bo'ness finally arrived. These are needed to enable to long awaited lift of D6948 so that repairs to it's air system and maintenance of the traction equipment can be completed. The Growler Group don't own their own (they would cost about £25k to have manufactured!) and have historically borrowed them from the SC37G, however they have had a significant amount of work to complete on their own Class 37s before the Growler Group could borrow them. Frustratingly, this work was delayed a number of times but the frustration was finally released with their arrival.
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| The long wait is over!! The eyelets have arrived from our friends at Bo'ness. (Courtesy of Kev Jarvis) |
It also enabled the Group to react quickly and secure some time on the jacks during this week to lift D6948. This took place today (Wednesday 24th) with a hearty team supporting the work alongside Growler Group Chief Engineer, Paul Good and one of the owners, Kev Jarvis. It is hoped that the work can be completed quickly so that the 'Green Machine' can be back in service after a near three year absence from the roster.
With the timetable back to normal, the roster currently looks like this for the next month -
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Date |
Timetable |
Loco Allocated |
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Tues 23 Aug |
|
5081 |
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Wed 24 Aug |
|
5081 |
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Thurs 25 Aug |
|
5081 |
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Sat 27 Aug |
|
5081 |
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Sun 28 Aug |
|
47376 |
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Mon 29 Aug |
|
47376 |
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Tues 30 Aug |
|
20137 |
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Wed 31 Aug |
|
20137 |
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Thurs 01 Sept |
|
45149 |
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Sat 03 Sept |
|
47105 |
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Sun 04 Sept |
|
20137 |
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Tues 06 Sept |
|
37215 |
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Wed 07 Sept |
|
37215 |
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Thurs 08 Sept |
|
37215 |
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Sat 10 Sept |
|
37215 |
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Sun 11 Sept |
|
37215 |
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Tues 13 Sept |
|
5081 |
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Wed 14 Sept |
|
5081 |
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Thurs 15 Sept |
|
5081 |
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Sat 17 Sept |
|
5081 |
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Sun 18 Sept |
|
5081 |
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Tues 20 Sept |
|
L425 |
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Wed 21 Sept |
|
L425 |
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Thurs 22 Sept |
|
L425 |
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Sat 24 Sept |
|
47105 |
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Sun 25 Sept |
|
47105 and 47376 |
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Tues 27 Sept |
|
L425 |
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Wed 28 Sept |
|
L425 |
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Thurs 29 Sept |
|
L425 |
