Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway - Cotswold Festival of Steam 2023 12/5/23

Описание: From Friday 12th - Sunday 14th May 2023, the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway held their annual Cotswold Festival of Steam Gala event. The theme for this years event was Cheltenham and Gloucester Steam Days.

8 locomotives were in service during the event, with 5 visiting locomotives, most of these were classes of locomotives that were seen in the Cheltenham and Gloucester area. The visiting locomotives included 4079 Pendennis Castle which hauled expresses that could be seen on the line including 'The Cheltenham Flyer' and 'The Cornishman'. BR Standard 2MT 78019, a small number were allocated to the Gloucester area, Maunsell U Class no.31806, a Class that was a common sight in Cheltenham. BR Standard Class 4MT 75014 'Braveheart', a Class that was also common in both the Cheltenham and Gloucester areas. Finally there was L&Y Pug no.11243, whilst not an engine found in either area, it does represent of the sort of locos that did work at Gloucester Docks and beyond. These engines were joined by 3 members of the home fleet, 7903 'Foremarke Hall', 7820 'Dinmore Manor' and Rebuilt Merchant Navy 35006 'Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. Ltd'.

There was an intensive timetable with passenger and freight trains. Shunting and brake van rides were also in operation at Winchcombe with Pug 11243, which also ran on a short goods rake and a passenger train during the event. There were also a few double headers that ran to.

We attended the Friday of the event, we spent the day at Hayles Abbey Halt, a new filming location for us, and got a lot of great shots and pictures here. Suffice to say, I shall be returning to this spot again. Highlights of the day included seeing Pug 11243 and BR Standard Class 4MT 75014 for the first time, and 7903 and 4079 double heading.

Locomotives featured and ran:
GWR 4073 Castle Class no. 4079 'Pendennis Castle' (courtesy of Didcot Railway Centre)
GWR 7800 Manor Class no. 7820 'Dinmore Manor'
BR Standard Class 4MT no. 75014 'Braveheart' (Courtesy of Dartmouth Steam Railway)
GWR 6959 Modified Hall Class no. 7903 'Foremarke Hall' (masqueraded as 6999 Capel Dewi Hall)
SR Maunsell U Class no. 31806 (Courtesy of Swanage Railway & JMB Locomotive Services)
SR Rebuilt Merchant Navy Class no. 35006 'Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. Ltd'
L&Y Class 21 'Pug' no.11243 (Courtesy of East Lancashire Railway & L&YR Trust)
BR Standard Class 2MT no.78019 (Courtesy of the Great Central Railway)

Finally, I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone at the GWSR involved in hosting and organizing this event, I shall look forward to the next one.

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