We are a week out from the end of the 2024 Diesel Gala, and what a weekend it was! Our Gala organisers - Alex Raybould and Peter Smith - did a great job in pulling everything together and a huge congratulations should go to them and the team that helped to put all the building blocks together. This, of course, should include the Llangollen Railway and Llangollen Diesel Group for allowing us to hire in Class 26, 5310 as our guest loco.
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| Gala visitor, 5310, is shunted into the yard at Toddington on 09/07/24 after its arrival from Llangollen. |
And, finally, a huge thanks to the loco groups, owners and respective volunteers across the railway that helped to make this years' Gala so successful. According to the railway's Board, nearly 1400 tickets were sold across all three days which makes this year's edition 3rd on the overall list according to ticket revenue, behind 2018 (first Gala to include Broadway in which we had 'Hymek' 7017, 'Warship' D832 'Onslaught' and the first to feature D6948).........
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| Flashback to 2018 and the first Diesel Gala to feature both Broadway and D6948, alongside 'Hymek' 7017 and 'Warship' D832 'Onslaught' as guest locos. In this portrait we see D7017 alongside D6948 at Toddington on 30/07/18. |
.......and, 2019 (where we had 50035 'Ark Royal' as guest loco).
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| Then on to 2019 when we had 50035 'Ark Royal' as guest loco from our neighbours at the Severn Valley/Class 50 Alliance. Here she is at Cheltenham Racecourse on 25/08/19 on her last run before returning to Kidderminster. |
By coincidence, the 2019 Gala did feature another 'guest' loco, although not by design, that would feature again this year......5310!!
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| Back in 2019! Fast forward 5 years for this loco to be guest loco in its' own right at the GWSR! |
Back in 2019, 5310 arrived at the GWSR as guest of the Cotswold Mainline Diesel Group - owners of fellow Class 26, D5343 and Class 45, 45149 - who had reached out to the Llangollen Diesel Group with an offer of help to assist in the repair of a traction motor issue. 5310 would remain at Toddington for nearly a year whilst its repairs were conducted, but during the Gala in 2019, 5310 would be used as a static exhibit in the car park at Toddington. Luckily, 2024 would offer much better weather than 2019!
Alongside all this, a special award ceremony was also conducted at Broadway on the Saturday of the Gala to mark a significant milestone for one of our locomotive owners and technical specialists, Steve Madge. Steve, a railwayman through and through, passed the 30 year mark for volunteering at the GWSR (Steve's dad, Jeff, was also a railwayman and, until recently, a Driver within the GWSR Steam Department) and has been a driving force in promoting the Diesel Department on the railway. Not only does he own Class 20s, 20137 and 20228 (which made its GWSR bow at this years' Gala) but he is also a part owner in Class 24, 5081 and has been instrumental in assisting in the maintenance and overhauls of numerous locomotives that have been, or are, resident at the GWSR. These include 50021 'Rodney' as well as most of the current home fleet.
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| Steve receives his richly deserved '30 Year' award from the GWSR's outgoing Chairman, Richard Johnson at Broadway station in front of 20228. (Courtesy Andy Jeanes) |
Testament to Steve's tenacity and attention to detail was the long-awaited debut (in its non-French guise) of Class 20, 20228 at the Gala. This loco was one of four of the Class that was sold to French company, Compagnie de Chemins de Fer Departementaux (CFD) for use on freight trains based from Autun.
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| 20228, running in CFD guise and with the number 2004, heads through Saulieu (near Dijon, France) with a mineral train. (Courtesy of the CFD Website, https://www.cfd.group/machines/class-20-locomotive) |
Having run in its previous guise at the Barry Tourist Railway and at Barrow Hill, Steve's overall plan was to return it to BR Blue, as worn when based in Scotland during the 1970s and 1980s, before reuniting it with another of its classmates, 20137, at Toddington.
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| Back in the UK and looking a little worse for wear, 2004/20228, when owned by Traditional Traction (of which Steve was a co-owner) heads over the causeway towards Barry Island to form a train for Waterfront. (Courtesy of Jamie Squibbs) |
As you can appreciate from the previous photos, returning 20228 to its former BR guise was a big job to undertake for any group, let alone for a single person. However, Steve has enlisted the help of a few people to assist him with some of the bigger jobs, and the results speak for themselves! Safe to say, 20228 is an absolute monster!
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| In the week leading to the Gala, 20228 has a well-earned scrub after completion of its successful loaded test runs. |
And so, to the Gala itself. I missed Day 1 as it was my niece's 5th birthday and I would have been in serious trouble if I missed it, however, I was told that the day was incredibly busy and the weather was mostly agreeable. A lot of people canvassed were there to see our 'debutant', including one chap who had posted on our GWSRDiesels Twitter that he was most happy as 20228 was his final Class 20 for the 'red pen' treatment!
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| This is what people were waiting to re-live.....pairs of Class 20s were a common sight on the Honeybourne Line during the diesel period of the line, notable on services from Toton to Severn Tunnel Junction. Here, two unidentified Class 20s pass the site of what is now the foot crossing at Bishops Cleeve (the building to the left being the old British Legion/current Nursery) during the 1970s. (Courtesy of Tom Cullimore) |
The end of Day 1 saw a photo-event organised by the GWSR, offering the chance to photograph the home fleet in the yard under the floodlights - something we had never done before. There were some spectacular results, including this one from co-ordinator of the event, Jack Boskett. You can see more of Jack's photos from the event on the GWSR Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/gloucestershirewarwickshirerailway
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| Gala co-organiser, Alex Raybould, acts as the model in this Jack Boskett capture of 37215, D6948 and 5310 during the Friday night photo shoot event at Toddington MPD. |
All the locos on Day 1 were fighting fit and performed as planned, however Day 2 was to try the patience of a Saint!
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| An arty shot from Andrew Stratford, one of our P-Way contingent, who took a brief moment from his Slingers Course at Winchcombe to capture this shot of 20228 and 20137 arriving from Toddington through the arm of our RRV, 'Stevie'. (Courtesy of Andrew Stratford) |
After surviving my niece's birthday, I was rostered to crew 37215 however, after meeting up with my Secondman, John G, and walking down to the yard to prep her for service, we were to find that '215' had been 'alf-inched! Sister, D6948 was still sat in the yard so why was '215' taken instead? All was revealed when Kev J (DOO for the day) notified us that the early crew had failed D6948 as they couldn't raise brake pressure at no.1 end. As luck would have it we still had an hour before our scheduled departure, although Kev had already given the crew from 47105 notice to take over as this was spare. Still, we had an hour to see if we could get D6948 back in traffic. The three of us were joined by Keith R to try and rectify any fault.
Initially, attention turned to the exhausters as one was sparking pretty badly when the loco was switched between air brake and vacuum brake. Having made the loco safe, Keith had a look and found that one of the motor brushes was worn down and needed replacing, and another had stuck inside its housing. Once this was freed up and the worn one replaced, the loco was started up again and an attempt was made to get brake pressure at no.1 end. On switching the brake selector switch.....no sparking! Excellent! Hot-footing to no.1 end and an attempt to generate brake pressure. Success!! Everything seemed to work as it should! Happy days!
A couple of attempts were made to check - shutting the desk down before opening it up again - and brake pressure was achieved each time. Even a AVR trip didn't cause a repeat of the fault and so it was put down to something sticking in the Dual Brake Valve at no.1 end. A rubber mallet was hastily put on stand-by, but was not needed.
Much to the annoyance of the crew of 47105, who had headed up to the North Siding and hauled out rake C in to Toddington station, they were instructed to uncouple and head back to shed with D6948 taking on the diagram that 37215 was supposed to be doing. in the resulting confusion, our Guard (Andy S.........hang on, that's too easy to identify him! Well, call him A. Smith!) forgot to attach our tail lamp and we were stopped on approach to Winchcombe by the Signalman to give us the good news, and open up poor Andy to a bit of light-hearted joshing!
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| Taken on the first trip back from Cheltenham, D6948 rests at Winchcombe after the mornings' excitement of trying to get her fit for traffic. The loco would perform without issue for the remainder of the weekend. |
Everything was going swimmingly with all services running to time and the weather staying overcast, but dry. Loadings were good on all trains throughout, especially behind the Class 20s and the Class 26. After heading up to Broadway and then getting dragged back to Toddington, it was time for some well-deserved lunch, and D6948 was placed back on shed.
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| Class 47s, 47105 and 47376 'Freightliner 1995' rest on Toddington shed whilst awaiting their next duties. 47105 would head off shed a few minutes after John and I after lunch with D6948. The previous day was finished with both '47s' running double headed. |
Sadly the afternoon would see the second failure of the day as 'Peak' 45149 would limp back to shed having suffered a failure of its heat exchanger cover which caused the loco to loose a huge amount of coolant and water.
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| A hark back to the Gala in 2013 and, almost to the day, the first run of 'Peak' 45149 in preservation, wearing its light blue undercoat. Seen departing Winchcombe with a train for Laverton, which was the end of the line at this point - Broadway would be another 5 years. In the cab, three people who were instrumental in the 45149's restoration - Mark Elvey (in the cab doorway), Mike Pember (in the Secondman's droplight) and Mark Bridges in the Drivers chair. (Courtesy of Andrew Stratford) |
A repair will take some time although it, hopefully, won't necessarily mean a new cover would need to be fabricated. Day 3 would see D6948 take over the 'Peak's' duties.
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| Gala visitor, Class 26, 5310, arrives at Toddington from Broadway - seen through the Class 37 cab window and framed by the B4077 road bridge. Our visitor would run into trouble on the Beerex later in the day and face a race against time to be fit for Day 3. |
With the connecting bus service to Cheltenham Spa station running a later service, the Beerex at the end of the day was very well patronised, at least as far as Cheltenham Racecourse, however, most services had finished in good time to allow any crew on duty had time to dispose of their respective iron steads and head over to the station for a well-deserved pint. With 5310 and 5081 on one end and 20137/228 on the other, everyone was looking forward to barnstorming runs in both directions. However, that desire soon started to dissipate as 5310 developed an issue with its vacuum brake at Toddington meaning that Class 24, 5081 was pushed into use as a translator loco to allow the Beerex to get under way. However, when heading into Winchcombe, the train ground to halt as 20228 suffered an issue and the brakes kicked in, causing us to grind to a halt. This fault required 20228 to be shut down and so 20137, which as luck would have it would be leading back to Toddington, would have to get us back on it's own. A decision was made to cancel the Broadway leg of the Beerex, which required Kev J (as DOO) to try and organise transport for those handful of customers that were expecting to head back that way.
On departure from Cheltenham Racecourse, and with the light fading, 20137 gave an absolutely barn-storming display as it dragged its dead sister, 7 coaches and two small Sulzer locos back to Toddington - probably with a little 'assistance' from those at the rear of the train. Either way, the sound was superb!
However, attention was now turning to whether our stars of the show would be available for Day 3! Not a proposition we dared to contemplate too much, and not something we had experienced during our Gala days....in fact, prior to this year I cannot think of any year where we had a loco failure!
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| An old Freightliner poster that has materialised in the Diesel Shed! Probably dates to the late 1970s or early 1980s. |
Day 3 heralded another fine day and frantic to-ing and fro-ing around 5310 as CMDG Chairman, Simon T, had popped in to help the owners with identifying and rectifying the fault that had caused it to run in 'air' on the previous night.
News from Steve M was much more encouraging. He had worked late to identify the fault with 20228 that had also curtailed its evening and had successfully identified and rectified it. Therefore, 20228 took its place with sister, 20137 on their booked start.
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| After its overnight dramas, 20228 (along with sister 20137) arrives at Winchcombe on 14/07/24. |
I was again booked on 37215 for the day and was pleased to find that it hadn't been 'pinched' again, so started to prep it for the days service. I was joined at the last minute by our former HoD, Andy D who was spare (luckily, in some ways) after the 'Peak' had failed the previous day. Whilst prepping '215' news was drifting across the yard that our visiting Class 26 was back in action for Day 3 without missing any of its turns. Hurrah!!
As with the scheduled turn on Day 2, 37215 was timetabled a break around 1pm and so, after completing a round trip of the line it was back to shed for tea and medals, after completing a couple of cab visits as well!
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| 37215 waiting to depart from Toddington with the first 'down' train of day 3, fresh from the good news that 20228 and 5310 were both back and fit for service. |
Sundays are always the quieter days of our Galas and this was no different, however it was anticipated as we also had the Mid Hants Diesel Gala and a GCR diesel event over the same weekend, and people had arranged their visits to maximise opportunity to attend all three events. That said, it was still fairly busy with not a car parking space at Toddington to be had.
At the end of the day, it was time to 'put all the toys back in the box' and, with the shed emptied of stalls and the static exhibits (Class 26 D5343, Class 122 W55003 and Class 04 D2280), it was time to figure out which locos were going where.At the end of the day, all locos were positioned where they needed to be in relation to upcoming running days or maintenance requirements.
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| With our day done, 37215 was positioned at the yard end of Road 10. The trail of oil was from 5081, which is sitting behind and would be taking on a number of running days in the following week, including a 'Double Up Sunday' with 5310 before it returns to Llangollen. |
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| With more work needed on 20228 to finish it off and allow it to run alone on GWSR services, 20137 was to be left outside. As Steve, wanted '228' at the back of Road 11, the pair of '20s' were split and '228' ran back onto Road 11 on its own. |
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| 20228 safely back inside the shed. In the coming months the loco will be refitted with its exhauster which will allow it to work services on its own with our VB-only stock. |
With 20228 back inside the shed, 20137 was used to shunt our pair of 47s back onto Road 11.
And, so ended the 2024 Diesel Gala. If you did attend, I hope that you enjoyed it all. It was a common consensus amongst those of us crewing over the weekend that it was one of the most enjoyable we had done. Now the preparation and planning for 2025 starts in earnest!!
Back to the normality of the regular operation and Class 24, 5081 will work a number of services leading up to the end of July when it will be removed from the roster to enable an engine overhaul to be completed. This is something that has been on the card for some time, but it is only now where the loco has reached the top of the list.
August will also see a number of celebration dates, as mentioned in previous blogs. These kick off with the Brush Type 4 Fund's 'Members Day' on Friday 2nd August and this will be followed with both Class 47s on a 'Double Up Sunday' on the 4th August.
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| 47105 and 47376 'Freightliner 1995' will once again pair up on 2nd August and also on the 4th August. |
A week later, Sunday 11 August, will see both Class 37s out on their 'Double Up Sunday'. This will be followed 5 days later on Friday 16 August when The Growler Group will be running a special day in celebration of both locos 60th Birthdays.
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| 37215 and D6948 will also pair up on Sunday 11 August before their 60th Birthday celebrations on Friday 16 August. |
Subject to successful repairs, 'Peak' 45149 will also be running on Friday 16 August with the CMDG's Fundraising Special train. The same also goes for the 'Peak's' scheduled turns for the end of July. Keep an eye on the CMDG Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086535366200 - for updates.
Please remember that the celebration events on 2 and 16 August are NOT GWSR events and tickets/info is only available via the respective groups websites. However, the 'Double Up Sunday' events are GWSR timetabled events and tickets can be purchased from the GWSR website or from the ticket offices at our stations.
August timetable updates and rosters will appear in the next blog.
