GWSR Cotswold Festival of Steam | 24th-26th of May 2025

I believe the correct response to that is “**** off and die”

Tom

 

Is there any indication if/when footplate ride tickets will be available for purchase? I read somewhere that they will also include a Day Rover?

I had a fantastic experience at the Festival last year, in no small part due to the ride on 7820 and am certainly looking to repeat on a different loco this year.

 

So is 65 the final visitor to be announced?

 

34072 announced as replacing 34092

 

257 Squadron replaces City of Wells. Further announcements are expected.

Sent from my SM-A166B using Tapatalk

 

Locomotive Change Announcement. Sadly for maintenance reasons City of Wells is no longer available to attend our Cotswold Festival of Steam this year. We wish to thank the East Lancashire Railway for their support and look forward to working with them again soon. We are delighted to confirm however that with thanks to our friends at the Swanage Railway and SLL - Southern Locomotives Ltd they have kindly offered us 34072 257 Squadron as a replacement and we look forward to welcoming the engine to our line for the first time.



Photo Brian Kennedy

Stay tuned for *further* loco announcements in this special Railway200 year, in the meantime, buy your tickets in advance and save at www.gwsr.com/galas/steam-gala

 

I had heard that!

 

OK. Anything related to the Eastern Section of the Southern Region? Or simply, Kent?
Seems like if the theme wasn't Rail200 it would be Kent Comes To Gloucestershire or Steam From The Weald.

 

Bit strong Tom.Here is 31065 at Ashford 25.02.62. This how those old enough remember her.

 

Looks cracking to me.

 

Careful, you may get an invite to meet your maker from someone!

 

From their instagram today, it mentions that pre-booked footplate rides will be available very soon - I strongly suspect that the purchase price will continue to include a Day Rover as it has done previously.

Also mentioned in the post is that there are 3 more engines to be announced beyond 65, 34072, 75069 and the home fleet (including 6880). Be interesting to see the timetable, suspect like with the sentinel before, there’ll be Toddington - Winchcombe shuttles and/or Winchcombe demos.

Looking forward to this!

 

Looking to visit the railway for the first time on the Saturday of the event and very much looking forward to it, as it's a great lineup already, even without the next announcements to come.

I was just wondering what sort of time the last trains to Cheltenham Racecourse usually are? Just so I gauge the sort time I need to book my return journey home afterwards.

 

Just looking at the timetable - which shouldn’t be to long before it goees live (we’ll let you all know when) it has arrivals into race course at 16.07, 17.26, 17.53 and for Saturday only 20.02.
I’m not sure if the bus will still be around for the 20.02 arrival . Flyingscotsmam123will tell me if I’ve got it wrong, but I think I’m safe in those times! keep an eye on the socials, we still have more engines to announce and remember the offer for bank holiday Monday where kids go free (T&Cs on website).

 

Looks good to me! Hopefully bus times will be pinned down soon but I'm sure they will sensibly coincide with the afternoon arrivals.

 

Great thank you.

 

We are delighted to announce the last three visiting steam locomotives for our Cotswold Festival of Steam Gala on 24-26th May.
1906 Borrows 0-4-0WT works no. 48 ‘The King’, and 1918 Borrows / Kerr-Stuart 0-4-0WT works no. 3036, informally known as ‘Willy the Well Tank’. Visiting by courtesy of Bill and Dick Parker of The Flour Mill; ‘Willy’ being normally based on the Swindon & Cricklade Railway.
Andrew Barclay ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST no. 15 Earl David (works no. 2183) Built 1943, visiting by courtesy Andrew Goodman of Railway Support Services







This is now our biggest event in terms of locos since GWR175 back in 2010, and that was only between Toddington - Gotherington, so all in all it doesn't get much better than this, be there or be square!

 

Looking forward to it

 

After visiting for only one day for Strictly Bullied II at Swanage and things beyond the railways control went wrong on the day, I've booked a hotel in Cheltenham for the Saturday night so I can do the Saturday and Sunday of the Gala, especially as it's my first visit to the line and a railway I've always really wanted to visit.