Caption Competition - results
posted 30th June 2006

An extra-long competition (spanning two months) resulted in record number of entries - nearly 90. The winner is Neil White (well done Neil). You can read his winning entry here.

There is a new competition now online. I suspect that the entries might fall into two categories! Click here to view and enter the new competition.

Canadian Pacific arrives
posted 30th June 2006

35005 “Canadian Pacific”, sister to 35006 “Peninsular & Oriental S.N. Co.” (which is currently undergoing restoration at Toddington) has arrived on site, and is expected to be in service shortly. We hope that this magnificent locomotive, which proved very popular during its visit last year, will remain with us for about six months. Please check our loco roster for latest information about running.

Gala feedback
posted 24th June 2006

It is now 3 weeks since our biggest ever gala event, the Centenary Festival, ended. Our hard working volunteers are once again pulling out the stops, this time for this weekend’s Thomas event. Sometimes, it is easy to feel like your efforts are going unnoticed, but it is true to say that all the volunteers made a magnificent effort for the gala, making it a great success... and most importantly their efforts were definitely appreciated by our visitors.

Here is a small selection of the comments we have received, just through the website:

• Just had to say a big "thank you" to all the staff and volunteers who made my first (of many more) visits (31/05/06) to the GWR such a thoroughly enjoyable experience. To see so many people of all ages enjoying the pleasures of steam-hauled railway travel (including the smuts getting in your eyes!) was a real joy.
  The restoration work done on this line and its stock is truly remarkable, and the atmosphere of "proper -ness" that always pervaded the Great Western has been faithfully recreated.
• No 1450, complete with OXF shed code was in fact cleaner than many GW engines were at the end of the company's existence. The station and its surroundings were beautifully kept and free from so much tat that tends to surround preservation sites, and there was a definite "working railway" atmosphere that recalled the very best of the GWR years ago when I was a lad. Well done all round, and I'll be back.
• My wife used to travel from Laverton Halt to Cheltenham to school in the 1950's. Although we now live in Lancashire, we have been "armchair members" since the first few yards of track were laid at Toddington.
  We visited the railway today for only our second time since the line re-opened. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit. We were made welcome and were extremely impressed with the way were treated and with the tremendous progress that has been made. Congratulations to all concerned - if only we lived closer...
• Many thanks for a fantastic day out at the GWR. My Father and I visited on the 2/06/06, and had a very enjoyable day. Many thanks to all at the GWR, you all should feel very proud with what you are achieving, keep up the good work. Best wishes for the future.

If you missed the gala, you can read a closing report in our festival news section. Click here to read it. Also, there’s a lengthy write-up of the gala in the current Heritage Railway magazine (issue no. 87, July 2006), and includes some excellent photographs.

Thomas is coming!
posted 19th June 2006

Yes, that cheeky blue engine and his friends are on their way to the GWR, for  a weekend of fun (and the odd bit of naughty behaviour, when Sir Topham Hatt is not looking).

Click here for full details of this event, this coming Saturday & Sunday.

Centenary Festival - best ever gala for GWR!
posted 11th June 2006

Well, it's over but the memories of a truly spectacular event remain. The passenger figures speak for themselves - over 9,000 people bought tickets for the nine-day event, which marked the railway's Centenary, and the 25 years of the present-day GWR, in some style. The passenger numbers make this one of the biggest to take place in the heritage railway movement this year.

Click here for a run-down of some of the highlights. What are your recollections of the event? What were the best features for you? Drop us an email and let us have your views - good and bad - by clicking here (for our convenience, please select the “Email the Press Office” option). Were you among the seemingly thousands of photographers at the line side - if so, would you care to share some of your work with us? Send them to our galleries editor, Zol, using the address gallery (@ gwsr.com of course).

What next? Well, let’s start planning for our 200th anniversary now...

Footnote: Please send your digital photos at the best quality you have (at least 1600x1200). We often get requests to supply photos for print publication, so we need the best quality you have. If you have lots of photos, please send them one at a time. Better still, send us a contact sheet or a set of thumbnails, and we’ll then ask you for the best ones. Unless you specify otherwise at time of submission, we will assume that you are happy for your photos to be reproduced in the heritage railway press. We will of course pass on any fees raised from such photos, or put the requesting publication directly in touch with the copyright holder.

Where are the regulars?
posted 10th June 2006

Some of you might have noticed the absence of the regular Caption Competition and C& W report items, that usually appear at the turn of the month. Well, things have been a bit busy this month, what with Centenary Festivals and seaside holidays and things. But don’t worry, they’ll be back next month, if not sooner!

Last day of Centenary Festival
posted 3rd June 2006

Tomorrow (Sunday 4th June) is the closing day of the GWR’s Centenary Festival. So far it’s been a great success, and it looks like being another sunny (and steamy) day tomorrow.

If you’ve not yet visited the festival, why not come along? Or if you have already visited, why not visit again? There’ll be plenty to see! The picture below (taken by Zol, our “resident” website photographer) shows the locos outside the shed after the opening day of the gala, last weekend.

Click here to return to the News Archive.