Autumn Diesel Gala 16th - 17th October 2004

The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway will be providing some increasingly rare diesel locomotive running in the form of its annual Autumn Diesel Gala, which will be held over the weekend of Saturday 16th October and Sunday 17th October.

Services will be hauled by the GWR's home based and restored 'classic diesel heritage fleet' with all available locomotives running, sometimes double-headed.  Subject to availability, these are expected to include privately owned D9539, D8137 and 24081, which will be joined by The Growler Group's English Electric Type 3's 37215 & 37324 and also The Brush Type 4 Fund's 47105 and 47376.

Yard tours will be provided on both Saturday and Sunday with a diesel bias. This will enable visitors to see the progress being made with the long term restoration of residents 26043 and 45149. both owned by The Cotswold Mainline Diesel Group.

Catering facilities will be provided at both the 'Flag & Whistle' tea rooms at Toddington and on board the service trains, whilst the Station Shop at Toddington will also be open during the event, selling a wide range of railway books, videos and souvenirs.

Day Rover Tickets will be on sale and trains can be boarded at Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse Stations, with services starting at 09:15 from Toddington and 10:00 from Cheltenham Racecourse Station each day. Furthermore, most services will also call at the intermediate Station at Winchcombe, where picnic facilities will also be available. As an additional attraction, regular demonstration freight trains will run between Toddington and Winchcombe Stations, with plenty of locomotive changes to add to the variety. Plenty of free parking also exists at Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse Stations, with limited parking at Winchcombe Station.

Bearing in mind most locomotive hauled services have been removed from the main line, this will be an ideal opportunity to come and relive the recent past at 'The Friendly Line in the Cotswolds'.