The Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway (GWSR) line-up for its Cotswold Festival of Steam, which takes place over the late May Bank Holiday weekend, 24-26 May, has changed with one Bulleid light Pacific in original condition, being exchanged for another.
For maintenance reasons, West Country class Pacific 34092 City of Wells, owned by the East Lancashire Railway, is no longer available for the Festival. However, by courtesy of the Swanage Railway and Southern Locomotives Limited (SLL), similar Battle of Britain class Pacific no. 34072 257 Squadron will be visiting the GWSR for the first time.
Tom Willson, chairman of the Festival organising team, commented: “We are sad that City of Wells isn’t going to be with us and we are grateful to the East Lancashire Railway for their support in giving us sufficient time to organise a replacement. However, we are thrilled that a similar original Bulleid Pacific, no. 34072 257 Squadron, will be with us instead. I would like to express our thanks to owners SLL and the Swanage Railway for making this fine locomotive available.”
257 Squadron was completed at the Southern Railway’s Brighton Works 1948 and was initially based at Dover, from where it worked services between the Kent coast and London’s Charing Cross, including the intercontinental service ’The Night Ferry’. Following the electrification of the Kent lines, 34072 moved to Exmouth Junction in 1958, mainly working services between Salisbury and the West Country. It finally moved to Eastleigh in 1964, from where it was withdrawn and dispatched the following year to the infamous Barry Scrapyard in South Wales.
Following rescue in 1984 the locomotive was moved to Swindon, where restoration began and was completed just in time for the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain on 15 September 1990, when the locomotive was re-dedicated at Dover Marine station by Air Commodore Peter Brothers, a former 257 Squadron pilot. 34072 then worked on a number of heritage railways before being withdrawn at Swanage in January 2003. The locomotive remained idle until 2012 when overhaul work, including significant boiler repairs, began at SLL’s Herston Works. The locomotive returned to service at Swanage in September 2018.
Other visiting locomotives for the Cotswold Festival of Steam include:
• BR Standard class 4 4-6-0 no. 75069 (courtesy of the Severn Valley Railway and owners the 75069 Fund)
• South Eastern & Chatham Railway O1 class 0-6-0 no. 65 (courtesy of the Bluebell Railway)
• Further announcement expected soon!
These visiting locomotives join the GWSR’s home fleet and up to ten locomotives are expected to be working over the three-day event.
Media contact: IanCrowder, 07775 566 555 or press.officer@gwsr.com
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