GWR Historic Vehicle Day sets new standard
posted 30th June 2005

The Historic Vehicle Day held at Winchcombe Station on Sunday the June of 26th was a record breaking success in more ways than one. The star attraction was the gathering of Bedford OB Duple coaches from around the country. A dozen of these classic coaches came from all over the country; Gloucestershire, Somerset, Hampshire, Staffordshire, Dorset, Suffolk, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire and Oxfordshire, making this the largest gathering of Bedford OB coaches in one place since the little 29-seaters were seen in their dozens in coach parks at resorts like Blackpool and Brighton after taking day trippers for a day at the seaside.

John Wakefield, a leading expert in all things Bedford, wrote in the souvenir programme “With over 16,000 OBs made between 1939 and 1951, including the wartime OWB variant, it is perhaps not surprising that around 180 have survived. Not all are in the superb condition of those vehicles exhibited today, although over 70 are believed to be preserved in road worthy condition”.

Organiser John Webb was understandably pleased with the day. “I had planned on getting 10 Bedfords to the event, which in itself would have been a record, but to end up with 12 was absolutely fantastic. It made all the hard work worthwhile and I would like to thank all the vehicle owners and, of course, John Wakefield for the part they played in ensuring the event’s success. The atmosphere at Winchcombe Station was wonderful with the yard  packed full of vehicles and crowds of visitors picnicking on the grass in the perfect weather”.

The day followed a 1950’s theme with a large selection of classic cars and other vehicles, a 1950’s tea shop, various stalls and memorabilia and an exhibition of 100 years of Cadbury’s chocolate. Some visitors ‘put on their blue suede shoes’ or came ‘spivved up’ in 1950’s ‘gear’ and many station staff joined in the fun and also donned period costume. Steam trains provided an hourly service throughout the day from Toddington to Cheltenham Racecourse calling at Winchcombe in both directions. 645 passengers enjoyed the scenic 20 mile round trip, a record for an Historic Vehicle Day on the GWR.

All photographs courtesy of Steve Standbridge.

Black Prince flying home
posted 29th June 2005

David Shepherd’s magnificent 9F class no. 92203 Black Prince is expected back at Toddington soon, following replacement of its tyres* and other work at the Bury, Lancashire works of Ian Riley.

The 2-10-0 heavy freight locomotive – one of the last to be built by British Railways in 1959 at Swindon works – was found to have badly worn tyres when it was returned to the GWR in August last year, following overhaul. The decision was taken to formally launch Black Prince back in to service on the GWR on 18th of October when, with the help of TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh, David Shepherd rededicated his engine at Toddington. Black Prince left Toddington shortly afterwards for the necessary work to be completed.

The 86-ton locomotive was lifted from its wheels as Eddie Borwoskis’s photograph of the ‘flying’ Black Prince spectacularly demonstrates and the five pairs of driving wheels rolled out. Once the worn tyres are removed and the wheel castings prepared the new tyres – manufactured in South Africa – are then fitted. Finally the wheelsets are mounted on a specially designed lathe and the tyres and flanges machined.

The engine is once again lifted and the wheels returned to the chassis and the valve gear and connecting rods reassembled.

Explains Mike Hoskin, GWR locomotive department head: “Once, retyring was a relatively routine task at railway works throughout the UK but it has now become a specialist skill. However, now the new tyres are fitted they should last the locomotive for decades to come.

“Black Prince certainly has special appeal. As the most powerful steam locomotive built in Britain it represents superpower for the GWR’s six-coach trains as it would certainly easily haul five times that. But is also represents superpower in terms of pulling in the crowds – it will be a welcome return!”

Click here to find archived news of the rededication of Black Prince in October 2004.

Click here to read more about Black Prince and the decision to undertake the retyring.

* Steam locomotive wheels are made up of a cast steel centre and high grade, hard steel tyre which is an ‘interference’ fit on the wheel. Following removal of the old tyre the rim is lightly machined ready to accept the new tyre. The new tyre is machined to a slightly smaller inside diameter than the outside diameter of the wheel. The tyre is then heated to red heat on a gas ring. This causes the tyre to expand, thus increasing in diameter, so it can be dropped on to the wheel. As the tyre cools, it shrinks on to the wheel. Once each pair of wheels (the wheelset) are retyred, the wheels are mounted in a wheel turning lathe and each machined to the correct diameter and flange profile – with the exception of the centre wheelset which is flangeless to allow the locomotive to negotiate curves. Locomotive tyres have sufficient metal to allow them to be reprofiled from time to time as they become worn by running over the rails and by application of the brakes, which bear on the running surface of the wheel.

Desktop Wallpaper & Caption Competition
posted 24th June 2005

Our free-to-dowloand desktop wallpaper, a regular feature of this site, has a new and less common image for you to liven up your PC with this month. It’s the first monochrome image we’ve used for our wallpaper, and it makes a nice change! You can view all our wallpapers by clicking here, then just follow the instructions to install them on your PC.

Congratulations to Alisdair McNicol, the winner of the June Caption Competition. Well done Alistair. A new competition is now under way.

Transport Nostalgia on Sunday 26th
posted 22nd June 2005

Just a reminder that the GWR is holding the first of its 3 transport nostalgia days of 2005, this Sunday the 26th, at Winchcombe. For more details of this 1950’s themed event, click here.

Extra diesel running days confirmed - timetable updated
posted 16th June 2005

We are now able to confirm that two additional days running have been added to the timetable. The 1st and 15th of July (both Fridays) are two diesel-only special days. Our recent new arrival, 56003, will be double-heading as the leading locomotive on every train. For details of the timetable please click here, and select the 1st or 15th of July.

Please note: The Flag & Whistle tea room will not be open on these days. The station shop at Toddington will be open between 11am and 4pm on both days.

A Trip Down Memory Lane
posted 16th June 2005

A fascinating new article has been added to The Sidings... some of the personal memories of Senior Fireman, the late Denis Grogan, as related to his son. Click here to visit The Sidings and read the article in the “Odds and Ends” section.

Young actress murdered on GWR
posted 15th June 2005

Shocked diners on Exegant Excursions' train on Saturday evening, the 11th of June, were stunned to hear what sounded like a pistol shot shortly after the train arrived at Cheltenham Race Course station. Their alarm turned to horror on finding an attractive young woman sprawled on the platform, pistol in her hand.

In the gathering gloom, a young lady lies dead on the platform at Cheltenham Race Course station - but who dunnit?

Of course, the young actress was part of a group playing out Elegant Excursions' murder mystery evening. There were clues a-plenty to help diners enjoying the excellent four-course dinner work out 'who dunnit' in the best Agatha Christie tradition. But at risk of giving anything away for future Murder Mystery evenings, let’s just say that there was sufficient intrigue to keep everyone entertained as dusk descended and the train forged its way into the night.

Elegant Excursions has a range of dining and themed evenings, as well as Sunday Lunch trains and a new programme is being prepared for these popular trains for 2006. You can find out more by going to the Elegant Excursions website but it is worth booking early. Remaining dinner trains this year are on the 3rd of September (Steam and Jazz) and the 17th of December (Christmas Special). Sunday lunch trains run on the 18th of September, 16th of October, 20th of November, and the 4th and 11th of December.

The trains now take a break during the railway's peak season and the opportunity is being taken to completely refurbish the kitchen car - its first overhaul for ten years.

56003 arrives at Toddington
posted 6th June 2005, updated 8th June 2005

Class 56 diesel locomotive 56003 arrived at Toddington today. It is expected to stay at the GWR for several months, and will star in the September Diesel Gala (24th and 25th of September).

56003 is the oldest surviving member of the class, having been built in Romania in 1976. The loco is currently in orange and black “load haul” livery, as shown on the picture by Mike Pember, taken as it arrived at Toddington. In addition to its appearance at the gala, we are also planning two additional running days in July. On Friday the 1st of July, and Friday the 15th of July, we hope to run to the “blue” timetable, with 56003 double-heading (as the leading locomotive) on every train. Please keep visiting this website for confirmation and further details.

We also plan to run additional driver experience courses featuring this impressive locomotive. Please email “diesel.driving” (at gwsr.com) for details - but be advised that these courses are likely to be very popular.

9642 back in business
posted 6th June 2005

Andrew Goodman’s 57xx class pannier tank, no. 9642, successfully passed its boiler and, following some mechanical repairs, successfully ran to Winchcombe and returned ‘light engine’, and then to Cheltenham on a loaded test run, on Saturday evening, the 4th of June. The locomotive performed perfectly and thus entered revenue-earning service on Sunday, sharing services with Collett 0-6-0 no. 3502. The photo (by Ian Crowder) shows 9642 accelerating away from Gotherington with the 15:30).

The two locomotives make an interesting comparison because 3205 is, in effect, a ‘pannier tank’ with the tanks removed and a tender added which, of course, gives the locomotive a much greater range between water stops and taking on fuel.

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