Once again, the GWR is hosting a range of exciting events aimed at all the family, as well as enthusiasts. Additional events may well be added during the year – so keep visiting this page. Additional details are published here as they are finalised but we will alert you on Latest News as new events are added or if there are changes to any event taking place. We aim to have full information available at least three weeks before each event.

Here’s what’s going on in a nutshell – click the links to find out more (or just scroll down the page).

April
4th & 5th - Spring Diesel Gala
18th - Fish & Chip Special Click here for information and to book
25th and 26th - Postman Pat visits the GWR together with Jess the cat!

May

9th - Fish & Chip Special
23th-26th - Cotswold Festival of Steam

June

6th - Fish & Chip Special
6th & 7th - Steam Train and Real Ale weekend in association with CAMRA North Cotswold
14th - Transport Nostalgia Day at Toddington

July

4th - Fish & Chip Special
10th-12th - Diesel Gala with Bus Rally on 12th

August

1st - Fish & Chip Special
15th - Fish & Chip Special

September

5th - Fish & Chip special.
13th - Transport Nostalgia Day at Toddington
19th & 20th - Narrow Gauge Railway Gala.
26th & 27th - Special Children's Event - details to be announced.

October

10th & 11th - Steam & Vintage Rally, Cheltenham Racecourse
24th & 25th - Autumn Diesel gala.

November

7th - Fireworks Special

December

Up to Christmas - Santa Specials
26th - Mince Pie Special.
27th - Christmas Diesel Day
29th & 30th - Christmas Cracker Steam Gala
 

Steam Galas
Intensive steam-hauled services, with all available locos in steam. Demonstration freight trains too!  Two Gala events are planned this year:

Cotswold Festival of Steam which runs over 4 days and which will feature visiting locomotives! This will be a real feast for families and enthusiasts alike.  Dates are Saturday 23rd May through to Tuesday 26th May. The GWR is building a real reputation for putting on spectacular events and this one will be no exception.

Then, in December, the Christmas Cracker – which was a great a success both in 2007 and in 2008 - will take to the rails. This will be on 29th and 30th December and every engine that can steam will be steamed!

Diesel Galas

The GWR has one of the finest fleets of heritage diesel locomotives in the country. There’s a growing following for diesels which are taking their place in the British railway history-books. When was the last time you saw a diesel locomotive pulling a passenger train on the national network? Today it’s HST’s, Voyagers, Multiple-units – the days of diesel-hauled passenger trains are over.  But not on the GWR – so you can enjoy a diesel-powered day with a difference!
This year, the GWR is expecting some visiting locomotives to enhance the home fleet.

Spring diesel gala Saturday 4th to Sunday 5th April

Diesel nostalgia on road and rail Friday 10th to Sunday 12th July. This event repeats last year's very successful bus rally, on the Sunday only. Features include opportunities to ride on a range of vintage and classic buses. It is hoped that there will be bus links from Cheltenham Lansdown main line station to the GWR’s Race Course station; and from Evesham station and Broadway to the GWR’s Toddington station.  Timings will be arranged to meet main line services while there will be plenty of other opportunities to enjoy a ride on a classic bus.

Autumn Diesel Gala Saturday and Sunday, 24th and 25th October

Christmas Diesel Day Saturday 27th December

Don’t forget that you can enjoy a diesel-hauled train on many service days, too. Every other train is \diesel-hauled (running in conjunction with steam) on green timetable days while the last return service to Cheltenham from Toddington is diesel-hauled on blue timetable days. You can check out what locomotives are rostered for these days by visiting our locomotive roster.

Transport Nostalgia Days now at Toddington station.

These are rather special occasions with a number of classic cars, buses, commercials, motor bikes and others gracing the yard of Toddington station. The dates are:

Sunday 14th June and
Sunday 13th September.

Do you have a classic car you’d like to bring along? An application form will be available soon. If you are interested in having a trade stall at the Transport Nostalgia Days and application form will be available soon.

Steam & Vintage Rally on October 10th and 11th.

This event was restarted in 2007 and has attracted a lot of attention. There’s something special about seeing traction engines doing what they were designed to do (such as ploughing, sawing, driving fairground equipment); commercial vehicles, cars, buses, lorries, fire engines, tractors as so much more – as well as craft and trade stands, a model tent. Well, it has all the trappings of a fantastic day out! This year the event takes place at Cheltenham Race Course and on adjoining fields. The railway, of course, will be joining in the fun with an all-steam train service. A slightly revised version of our red timetable will operate on this day with an additional early departure from Toddington at 09:30.

Fireworks Special on Saturday 7th November.  November wouldn’t be November without an evening at the acclaimed Cheltenham Round Table Fireworks Fiesta at Cheltenham Racecourse. The GWR plays its part by running a special from Toddington. Not only is that rather an enjoyable way to arrive, but it avoids the traffic jams afterwards!

Santa Specials

These will be running every weekend in December up to Christmas, and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 22nd to 24th December as well. Father Christmas is visiting the railway in all his splendour and with sack-fulls of presents for our young visitors.

Please note that this page contains details of all our 2009 events, including those that may have sold out or have already taken place. We leave them on this page so that if you’ve been unlucky enough to have missed an event, you know what you might expect to see happening during the following season. Please check the event dates carefully. Whilst GWSR plc will endeavour to run the services and events as advertised, the railway reserves the right to cancel, alter or suspend any train or event without notice and accepts no liability for any loss, inconvenience or delay thereby caused.

Click here for details of the ever popular fish and chip specials.