31 March 2008

FEAST FOR DIESEL LOVERS ON THE GWR THIS WEEKEND

Driver for a Fiver at Cheltenham Racecourse station
Visiting diesel locomotives
Intensive passenger and freight timetable

If you thrill to the sound of English Electric or Sulzer diesel engines hard at work then the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway has a feast in store this weekend (April 4th -6th). The GWR is running its first diesel gala of the year and, for the first time, visitors can have a go at the controls of one of these powerful machines, for just a fiver.

Driver for a Fiver!
Those wishing to try their hand can enjoy driving class 73 ‘electro-diesel’ at Cheltenham Racecourse station on the Saturday or Sunday.  Ticket holders will be supervised as they drive the locomotive within station limits and afterwards they’ll receive a certificate to mark their achievement.*

The power and the glory
The GWR has one of the finest collections of heritage diesel locomotives in the country and there will be opportunities to ride behind a large variety types between Toddington and Cheltenham Racecourse. 

Two visiting locomotives include a Sulzer class 27 on loan from the Dean Forest Railway: a perfect compliment for the railway’s own smaller Sulzer class 24. A Class 08 diesel shunter – temporarily on loan to the GWR for running-in before export to Libya, will make two trips a day with a local train between Toddington and Winchcombe. Each day there will be a freight train running to Cheltenham for the photographers out there.

Paul Fuller, one of the organisers of the event, points out that diesel locomotives are enjoying a growing following.  “Many see the types of diesel we have on our line, which date from the late 1950s to the late 1960s as bringing the era of steam traction to an end. “But many of the locomotives we host have themselves escaped from the scrapyard and are either extinct or very rarely seen on the national network.

“These are the locomotives that many middle-aged people will remember from their childhood – just too young to remember the days of steam,” he says.

“It’s a rare treat these days to enjoy a ride on a train with a diesel locomotive at the front.  Modern travellers are much more used to the likes of Voyagers and other multiple-units which have the diesel engines beneath carriage floors, or High Speed trains.”

Fares for the weekend – which are for unlimited travel – are £14 for adults, £12 for senior citizens and £10 for children. A family ticket (for up to two adults and three children) costs £34.00.

A special timetable can be downloaded from www.gwsr.com

*Minimum age 16 years. There is some climbing on to and off the locomotive from track level so a reasonable level of fitness is required. The driver may refuse potential participants for health and safety reasons. Every participant will receive a certificate.

Media information: Ian Crowder, 07775 566 555 or ian.crowder@gwsr.com
Or
Paul Fuller: 07977 307 690

Locomotives in operation over the weekend
Visiting Class 08: 08881
Resident Class 20: D8137
Resident Class 24: 24081
Visiting Class 27: 27066
Resident Class 37s: 37215 and 37324
Resident Class 47s: 47105 and 47376*
Resident Class 73: 73129
(all locomotives subject to availability)
*Just overhauled – subject to completion of recent work

For a full illustrated timetable visit www.gwsr.com and click the link to April Diesel Gala on the homepage.