GWSR Cotswold Festival of Steam 2015: 23rd to 25th May

Well I believe a Black 5 collided with a lamp post not that long ago, though I'm not sure which one and least to say the lamp post came out of the affair worser then the Black 5...

 

That's a shame, I was planning to visit on Sunday, but might just wait until I can see what times are actually running...early and late trains are on of the great attractions of galas to me....

 

You can hardly blame them for not bothering with evening running this year - it is a massive strain on the loco department who then require two crews as the shifts get too long, and they were also poorly patronised last year as has been discussed. The early train is usually a treat, if enough locos turn up then I'd say there's another chance of a triple header or two as with last year to get locos in place for the day.

 

Freak accident? - no it was a failure of a member or weld in the chassis of the trailer. Nothing freak about it.

The consequences appear severe though with a loco out of traffic in damaged condition & no doubt plenty of wrangling over the insurance claim. Whether that covers loss of earnings is not known but that clearly is a very important factor which cannot be overlooked.

That incident aside steam locos are not designed to be dragged around on low loaders and there are frequent minor damage issues as well as overstressing of frames, springs and other components during loading & unloading.

I well remember helping to strip the leaf springs off a 4-6-0 just after a road journey. On stripping the rear springs the broken halves of 4 leaves just fell out of each of the springs once they were off the loco. They were fine before the loco was loaded.

Some groups refuse to move their locos by road for these reasons.

 

I haven't seen the discussion on loadings of the late runners. I have not been to a GWSR gala before so have no idea what to expect....I understand that brake van rides are available, they are rather fun, having been through Greet Tunnel on the verandah of the QMB with 2807 on the front (tender first) I'd like to do it again!

 

I think it was at the beginning of the thread. A shame because I enjoyed my evening trip last year. The brake van rides are definitely good, something I've yet to do, must get round to it, especially as I painted parts of both brake vans! I think there might be a few footplate tickets left, they are pretty pricey but worth it I'm sure!

 

I did my first one last year - and the first loco I happened upon? - 45379!

OK, so I and my mate were limited on the time we had, due to going by train, so got there late morning & left late afternoon...... yes there was a fair amount of hanging about between trains, which I didn't mind as I got the chance to talk with those helping with the event - you learn a lot when you say you volunteer on another line - though I never got the chance to have a chat with FS123, apparently he'd buggered of down the pub, by all accounts!

All in all it was a good, if long day & my mate wants to visit again, though I doubt it'll be this year......... Wells & Wadebridge aren't floating my boat - seen Wells many many times on the KWVR, and as for Wadebridge............

So, if you can go, do - I think you'll find it worth it!

 

Wow, there are certainly a variety of posts on here recently! To clear a few things up, the T9 was on my original list of three, but for various reasons it was not available. You ask any railway and they will always try and have a spare loco above what they need to run the service, it makes operational sense. As many have pointed out there are more and more heritage line loco owners also adverse to road transport. This also pretty well rules out most main line approved engines although there are one or two that will.
This years timetable has been tweaked to take into account volunteers roles especially in the station/booking office areas. The first train leaves toddington as an ecs and if I remember rightly will form the 9.05 from Cheltenham. I will follow up this week and find out if we are running the later train on the Saturday evening. Other evenings are something like 18.35 finish at toddington. As previously 3 sets of six carriages and the freight will be in operation, with the hot spare at winchcombe in the bay. For people undecided about attending, I should stress we do try and make this a festival of steam rather than just a railway gala. Engines in steam available for cab visits, carriage and wagon works open for tours, traction engines, narrow gauge steam running at toddington, Brake van rides over the full line, beer tent etc etc. there nothing more pleasant than watching the trains at winchcombe with a pint and the sun shining.

 

Auto runs would definitely be nice to see again, would make sense for when the loop at Laverton is removed. Perhaps it could do something similar to the diesel railcar diagram on normal busy operating days.

 

My post above makes it sound like the Bodmin and wen ford refused us the T9. Just like to point out they didn't and it was other factors.

 

Why an ECS when it has a traincrew aboard and could run as a service train for people who have made the effort to get to Toddington early?

 

So you are telling me that a failure of a member or weld on a trailer was known about and they then put the loco on there? Of course it was a freak incident... the haulage company didn't go out to damage 6695!

 

Going off topic, but coming down to the gala from Chesterfield on the train 23rd of May [Sat.] and was hoping someone with local knowledge could let me know how long it takes to walk from the racecourse park & ride to the station at the racecourse, or how far is it from the main railway station to catch a bus to Winchcombe as my mate & I are a bit dodgy on the old legs. Many thanks in advance,
Wardy.

 

Hi, it's about a half mile walk along the racecourse's internal main road until you reach the station, not difficult to find. Bus to Winchcombe station goes from Royal Well bus station, so you'd probably need to take the D bus from the mainline station to there then hop on the Marchants 606 bus that drops you off outside the Harvest home pub which is a 3 minute walk from the station.

 

I'd have said that that's back on topic!

 

The "Final" Timetable has arrived in my in tray. As I thought earlier, there is a late train on the Saturday only. The late train is 19:00 off of Toddington for one complete round trip of the line including Laverton, back at 21:00. It is intended as a volunteer special, but I think that some carriages will be available for the public. As has been mentioned elsewhere, the occupancy of the late trains last year wasn't very high.

First train is ECS off of Toddington at 08:10 which becomes the 09:05 from CRC. I seem to recollect it was ECS as it was proving difficult to get the stations/signal boxes manned that early. Other than the Saturday, the last train gets in to Toddington at 18:35.

The brake van rides appear to be popular, they will be operating differently to last year and not quite as is described on the web.
Brake van rides will start at Toddington only. £10 round trip to CRC and back, £5 round trip to Laverton and back. Tickets will not be purchased from the ticket office, but from a gazebo planted in front of the admin office (adjacent to the Flag & Whistle). These are only available on the day, can't be booked in advance.

As on previous years, footplate rides on home fleet locos are available, and are very popular. These can be booked in advance, book early to avoid disappointment.

http://www.gwsr.com/planning-your-v...team/a-rare-chance-for-a-footplate-ride!.aspx

 

I'll be on that last train on the Saturday. I like to photograph all day but I always like to have at least one ride. Will the general public be allowed near the front?

 

So an earlier start than last year then! First train off CRC last year was 09:40, and last round trip from Toddington was 20:00, so you can probably understand why it wasn't well filled. Don't think it helped either that the penultimate round trip from Toddington was at 18:10, nearly a 2 hour gap!!! Maybe bringing that last train forward an hour will encourage some to stay that little bit longer.

 

Further to bristoian's post we are also finalising the times for the free bus service from Cheltenham spa main line station to Cheltenham racecourse station (door to door) this should coincide with the first departure at 9.05 but I'll get the times up as soon as there confirmed.

 

probably a good idea to be honest, the first train in 2013 was packed coming into CRC and were plenty waiting to get on there.