2807 - back to the future
posted 27th February 2006

If you want to see centenarian 2-8-0 no 2807 in one piece, make the most of the picture below, because the boiler has now been lifted out of the frames and has left Toddington bound for Llangollen. Steve Price of the owning group, Cotswold Steam Preservation Ltd, says that while this might seem a gigantic step backwards, it is in fact a real leap forward as the boiler will be on its way to the Llangollen Railway's workshops for completion.

Work at Llangollen will include attention to the crown stays, foundation ring, fusible plugs and completion of replacing the firebox stays. The boiler will then be tubed, the superheater fitted and hydraulically tested. It will then feel the heat of a fire once again in a steam test - more than 40 years after the cinders of the last fire went cold.

This means that 2807 - which made regular appearances on our line throughout its history - won't be in its present 'complete' state for display at the GWR's Centenary Festival. "That's a shame because it would have been a good opportunity to draw attention to the progress of 2807," Steve concedes.

"But Llangollen are ready to accept the boiler and get cracking," he says. "And this work is vital if we are not to find ourselves waiting for the boiler to be finished on site, after all the other work has been finished."

A simple look at the picture above (taken in January this year) shows just how far restoration has been going: with the rods in place and much of the boiler cladding made, the oldest GWR locomotive in private ownership looks almost ready for the road.

While the boiler is away the team can concentrate on completing the chassis and tender so when the boiler is eventually reunited with the frames, it shouldn't be too long before the pistons once again feel the pressure of steam.

Llangollen recently turned out younger sister locomotive 3802 following complete restoration.

The second photo (also by Steve Price) shows the boiler being removed on 25th February. It left for the Llangollen works the following day. For more information visit www.GWR2807.co.uk. GWR accepts no responsibility for the content and availability of external sites.

Centenary season about to start!
posted 27th February 2006

Saturday 4th March sees the first public trains to run of the 2006 season and it is planned that the National Railway Museum's celebrated record-breaking locomotive, 4-4-0 no. 3440 City of Truro will haul the first train, departing Toddington at 10.30. Also expected to be in steam will be David Shepherd's 9F class 2-10-0 no. 92203 Black Prince, which is expected to haul trains on Sunday. For more information and a summary of the resident locomotive fleet visit the locomotive roster. Thus, this weekend, you can travel behind both one of the oldest operational steam locomotives in the UK, City of Truro (built 1903) or one of the youngest, 92203 (built 1959 and the 17th to last steam locomotive build for British Railways). Both were built at Swindon.

During the winter, the signalling scheme at Cheltenham Race Course was completed and will be commissioned once it has been passed for use by HM Railway Inspectorate - this is expected to happen early in March. Elsewhere on the line, the permanent way team have been busy greasing fishplates, packing dipped joints and have also relaid about 10 panels of track between Toddington and Winchcombe. Ivor Dixon says: "This was track laid 25 years ago and it is now life expired. The sections we have replaced comprised 45ft lengths, they have been replaced with more conventional 60ft panels." Work has also been carried out to level the track close to the B4632 bridge at Winchcombe (known as 'Chicken Curve' because of a nearby chicken farm). This is an area that has been subject to some minor subsidence and was a source of difficulty for the permanent way departments of both the Great Western and British Railways throughout the line's history. It is thus subject to a 10mph speed restriction. Adds Ivor, "We'll continue to watch this stretch of track. If it has stabilised then in due course we will consider lifting the speed restriction."

The railways rolling stock has also been subject to winter maintenance and cleaning ready for the new season. You can find out more by visiting the Carriage & Wagon Deparment's notes by clicking here.

This will be a special year for the GWR as it is not only the centenary of the line but also the 25th anniversary of the railway's parent company, Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway Plc. We have special pages devoted to the railway's Centenary Festival which takes place between 27th May and 4th June.

Castle confirmed for Centenary Festival!
posted 24th January 2006

Castle class 4-6-0 no. 5051 Drysllwyn Castle, will make a star appearance at the Centenary Festival from 27th May to 4th June, by courtesy of Didcot Railway Centre.

Click here for more information on our Centenary Festival news pages.

2006 - a special year
posted 19th February 2006

This is a special year for our railway. 2006 not only marks the centenary of the opening of the Stratford to Cheltenham line, but it also marks the 25th anniversary of the formation of Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway Plc – our parent company.

So how are we celebrating? Well, a small band of people – mainly from the steam locomotive department – have been busy planning a nine-day Centenary Festival which takes place from the 27th of May to the 4th of June.

“The idea is to celebrate not just our centenary by running locomotives that have appeared on the route over the years but the huge voluntary effort that has gone into rebuilding the 15 miles that GWSR Plc owns – from just north of Cheltenham to just north of Broadway,” explains Ian Crowder, a member of the organising team.

From now on, we will be posting regular updates on the planned events and attractions. You might notice a new link on the left hand side. Click on Festival News to visit our new page focusing on the coming festivities.

Tender moments in a Gloucester workshop…
posted 19th February 2006

It would be hard to disagree that Hawksworth Modified Hall class no. 7903 Foremarke Hall has been a magnificent addition to our fleet of steam locomotives. You only have to see the wonderful centre page spread in the current issue of Steam Railway magazine (issue 319) to see that!

But some eagle-eyed people will have spotted two or three small but unsightly stains of rust and blistering paint at the bottom of the otherwise pristine Brunswick green paintwork on the tender. Despite attempts to stem the flow, the leaks causing this aberration have been getting worse so the Foremarke Hall Transport Trust decided to completely replace the tender tank – and to contract this work out while the railway is out of regular use for winter maintenance.

John Cruxon, Foremarke Hall’s locomotive manager, said: “The old tank has corroded considerably inside and we took the view that any repairs would only last a short time before a leak appeared somewhere else. So we took a deep breath and went for a completely new tank which should last us a lifetime.”

No sooner had the operating season ended, the distinctive, flat-sided tender was whisked away to a DG Welding in Churchdown, near Gloucester, for a new tank to be fitted – effectively everything from the chassis upwards. Work has been progressing fast as you can see from this recent photograph, which intriguingly shows the superstructure of the tender before the sheeting was welded in. The only original parts retained are fittings such as locker doors, steps, lamp irons and so forth. The tender is expected to be returned to Toddington during March.

“There’s just one problem, though,” adds John. “Careful measurements show that the tender superstructure is, well, too big to fit through the workshop doors … so the doors are going to come off to get it back out into the fresh air!”

Click here for a News Extra on Hawksworth tenders
Click here to find out more about the Hall class locomotives

Safety rule threat to Heritage Railways
posted 16th February 2006

You might have heard on the radio or seen press reports with similar headlines to the one above. What does it mean and, could the GWR be affected?

New safety regulations relating to safety inspections, arising from the UK Health & Safety Executive's interpretation of an EU directive, could land heritage railways such as the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway with huge costs. The 'one size fits all' regulations - while perhaps appropriate to the national railway networks of Europe - would impose a significant and unnecessary burden on railways such as ours.

For the last 140 years, approval of New Works, such as extensions and major changes to signalling and vehicles, has been done by HM Railway Inspectorate but the Health and Safety Executive, in its interpretation of the EU directive, would require heritage railways to employ one or more ‘independent competent persons’ themselves, at considerable cost - which could be over £200 per hour. This would place intolerable financial pressure on heritage railways and, if approved, would affect development plans such as our northward extension from Toddington to Broadway. It could even force newer railways to close.

Bill Hillier, Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway Plc Company Secretary and a director of the Heritage Railway Association (the trade body representing the heritage railway movement and of which the GWSR is a member), says: "The UK Government has the right to exempt heritage railways from the EU directive and it seems that the HSE is hiding behind the directive, when it could easily sort this out themselves.

"The change of rules is unnecessary. The Railway Inspectorate still have to be familiar with the operation of heritage railways to carry out their inspections role. The best solution would be to leave the 1994 Railways and Other Transport Systems (Safety) regulations in place and not replace them; if this is too much for the HSE then it would be better if this whole matter was deferred until control of the Inspectorate passes from the HSE to the Office of the Rail Regulator at the beginning of April."

The HRA is lobbying hard to obtain the appropriate derogation from the new directive. David Morgan, chairman of the HRA, said in a Daily Telegraph interview: "Many of us feel that nothing would make safety authorities happier than to see us all closed down. The safest railway must be one on which a train never moves."

We must press the Minister to delay approving the regulations until he has met with the HRA directors to resolve this crucial issue.

Permanent Way working hard through the winter
posted 7th February 2006

While the trains aren't running, the GWR's track gang have been busy working on replacing some of the oldest track on the running line. Around six panels of wooden sleepers and rail have been removed, leaving a gap of around 100 yards between Toddington and Winchcombe. The trackbed has been regraded, and new wooden sleepers are being used along with those that were still of good condition. Rail is being graded for height and reused. By raising the level of the track the previous hump over the bridge at Didbrook will be removed.

The picture is courtesy of Nigel Black, one of the stalwarts of the Permanent Way team, and shows the sleepers being replaced. You can see more of Nigel’s pictures of the GWR Permanent Way gang at work on his own photo website: http://nigel-black.fotopic.net.
GWSR plc can accept no responsibility for the content or availability of external websites.

January Carriage & Wagon report published
posted 7th February 2006

The January 2006 edition of our regular Carriage & Wagon progress report is now available. Click here to read the latest report.

Safety training
posted 6th February 2006

The following courses, organised by our Health & Safety team, are coming up. These courses are provided for our working volunteers only:

• 1st aid training one day - Sun 12 March at 10:00am
• Risk assessor - Sat 18 February at 10:00am
• Risk assessor - Sun 19 February at 1:00pm

All courses are held at Toddington in the H&S training room, and are free of charge to working volunteers.

Book your place by contacting Chris Stockman on 01386 852766 or 07946 733674 or by emailing “deputy-shso” (at brizenorton.raf.mod.uk).

'Truro' back on four driving wheels
posted 6th February 2005

A member of the steam locomotive department is dwarfed by the 6ft 8½in. diameter of City of Truro's rear driving wheels, as he steam cleans them on Saturday 5th of February. The wheelset was returned to Toddington following fitting new crank pins - the originals were found to be loose when the National Railway Museum-owned engine returned to the GWR late last year. The crank pins were fitted by Riley & Sons (E) Limited of Bury after the locomotive was lifted by two cranes at Toddington in December (see Latest News, December) in order to remove the wheelset. City of Truro is expected to be re-wheeled later this week.

City of Truro will play a starring role in the GWR's Centenary Festival from 27th May to 4th June. Of course, no. 3440 is older than the Stratford to Cheltenham line, which opened throughout on 1st August 1906. The engine emerged from Swindon works in 1903 and the following year was the first locomotive to be recorded travelling in excess of 100 mph - a feat that ensured its survival, as the last of its sisters were scrapped during the late 1920s. During this period, City of Truro occasionally worked over our line.

Photograph by Ian Crowder.

Competition time
posted 2nd February 2006

Another month has gone by, and hence it’s time for the results of the January Caption Competition. This month, it was won by Robin Hidson, with a great entry.

The competition is getting more and more popular - over 70 entries this month. Unfortunately, our New Year Prize Quiz is not proving so popular (or maybe it’s too difficult), because we’ve only had a couple of entries so far. So why not have a go?

If the quiz proves too tough for you, you can always enter February’s Caption Competition instead, although unfortunately there’s no prize for winning that, other than your name in lights on this website!

Click here to return to the News Archive.