South Devon Railway Winter Gala - 2nd-4th January 2026

I agree, it's extremely frustrating, especially if you need to book tickets to get there. It's not the most accessible line unless you're relatively local. The diesel gala last month was the same, and it seems to be the case most years that the timetable only appears the week beforehand. Locos have been hired in, one of which is coming a fair old distance (I doubt that'll be cheap), so trying to attract as many paying passengers as possible should be the aim.

It doesn't need to be a full working timetable with loco allocations etc, just the actual times is all that's needed. It's a simple line - two end stations with a passing loop almost exactly in the middle. It's not like the SVR with uneven section lengths and various permutations of services, so your options are limited with regards what can be run; essentially two full length services and the occasional shuttle. That's pretty much it. I understand what others say about timings, crews, speeds, water, availability, etc, but the timetable that has now appeared has the standard 45 or 60 minute gaps between departures. It's not groundbreaking.

 

All well and good saying the timings are a standard 45/60 minute pattern, but you have shorter runs to Staverton too, and five locomotives to make the best use of.

If they went with the standard loco swaps upon return to Buckfastleigh, Newstead working the 9.45am service (as an example) would arrive back there at 10:59am, swap with 5526, then do nothing until 12.30pm (taking over from 2807) or (if you took 1369 off the 10.30am) even the 1.15pm. It's next run would then likely be the 3.15pm/4pm departure and that would be it. From personal experience as footplate crew, sitting around for 2 hours twiddling thumbs can get a bit tedious. At least as it now stands there's a few quirky movements, without which people would probably complain it is "too boring".

I think there's a huge assumption that doing a gala timetable is 'easy', when actually there's a lot of complexities that do not immediately seem obvious - the wrong loco movement can entirely scupper a timetable (a mistake I have also made!)

 

The SDR gala timetable and allocations are available from the SDR website. [BJ]

https://www.southdevonrailway.co.uk...26-Working-Timetable-for-Website.485abf44.pdf

 

I was going to post this, it looks like an excellent timetable and I am looking fowward to it.

 

It does indeed, the cost of coal for a 3 day event with 3 locos all in steam all day will be significant. It could be around 22-23t of coal across the 3 days if each loco uses on average 1.5t a day (Judy using a lot less but 2807 using far more etc.) which would equate to around £10,000 just just in coal.

Secondary spend is very valuable for heritage railways as, especially if it is cold, there are plenty of opportunities for the sale of teas, coffees and even warm food which all generate revenue and hopefully a profit.

 

Is Judy going to be doing anything between trains at Buckfastleigh?

 

Shunting I assume as there is going to be a lot of moving around at Buckfastleigh what with the number of trains operating and positioning moves needed.

 

Personally speaking, a gala with the 28, Newstead and Judy operating would have been preferable. Newstead and the 28 on the main sets and Judy on a shorter set. Only three engines to steam and all are visitors. As it is, the visitors opportunities are diluted by the home fleet.

 

But on the contrary to that some people who travel from a significant distance may not have seen 1369 operating for example which is an exceptionally rare, one of a kind locomotive. Therefore having it in steam adds to the gala for them also having 5 locos in steam also allows for some interesting and very rare top and tail running as well as a triple header.

 

I think that's a pretty unique perspective, and there would have been considerable outcry if 1369 and 5526 were benched.

How about this for an itinerary:

0945 Buckfastleigh - Totnes (Newstead)
1030 Totnes - Buckfastleigh (Newstead)
1110 Buckfastleigh - Staverton (Judy)
1145 Staverton - Buckfastleigh (2807)
1230 Buckfastleigh - Totnes (2807)
Lunch (Signal Box Cafe)
1415 Totnes - Staverton (2807)
1445 Staverton - Buckfastleigh (Judy & Newstead)
1515 Buckfastleigh - Totnes (2807)
1600 Totnes - Buckfastleigh (2807)

That completely avoids 1369 and 5526.

 

As @stumpytrain has pointed out with his post above, it is entirely possible to avoid both 1369 and 5526 if you wish too while also managing to enjoy significant mileage behind Judy, Newstead and 2807. In my opinion one of the best parts about a gala event at the SDR (or any railway for that matter) is the ample choice in both motive power and combinations of services throughout the day with it being possible to focus on a preferred loco or mix it up with a variety on different days etc.

 

Is there? We must be looking at different timetables! Excluding the auto carriage workings Judy is on, all I can see are the two sets in and out of Buckyleigh for the main part of the day.

 

This is very true. A good example in the SDR's case is with 'Judy' this weekend as she is not only limited to 50t on her own but (due to the risk regarding delays etc.) was not permitted to work the 'down' trains (Asburton Junction to Buckfastleigh) on her own and so required a loco placed between her and the coach to assist up the gradient to BFL. This presented some operational challenge for the team but has proved to be worth while with lots of enjoyment had by both the staff and the public with good passengers numbers so far from what we can all see juding by how busy the trains are.

 

I am not sure if you have visted the gala so far but yes there is, plenty of LE moves on and off shed, freight train shunting moves in the morning and evening as well as a few ECS shunts with Judy as well.

 

A little bit late popping in here to share my thoughts on this gala, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The South Devon is local enough to me that I haven't missed many special events there since getting back into this hobby in 2012, and yes, I've got very fond memories of how inventive the timetables and guest line-ups were in the years when I believe based on my memory of posts here and elsewhere that Ganger was a or the prime organiser (the Feb 2013 half-term week event was particularly wonderful). But I also have zero complaints about the spectacle, timetable, price or organisation of this one, and I've absolutely loved the gradual return of fully-fledged enthusiast events to the SDR after some quieter years. These winter steam galas feel to me like they've got better and better every year, the regular brake van rides on freights on normal Sundays are a lot of fun and having a Cl.60 and Cl.56s at the revived diesel galas has been brilliantly incongruous (though in terms of entertainment the days of Type 1 and Type 2 visitors were preferable for me personally).

The fact I didn't at any point get saturated was a bonus over my trips to the previous two years' runnings of this event, but the guest line-up and timetable was also another step forward in my eyes. Newstead was a great choice very well suited to the line, and Judy was a lovely quirky addition. 2807 doesn't have a huge opportunity to do anything entertaining on a line this flat with four coaches, but I had very much enjoyed watching it haul the long Polar set + trailing Cl.33 up towards Buckfastleigh on some wet December days.

Trains were just over 50 minutes behind schedule when I arrived at lunchtime on the Saturday and my first thought was this was a timetable that was only going to get later, but actually my final return to Buckfastleigh was down to a little over 30 minutes late and I was impressed with how much had been pulled back. Some of the workings around Judy and the auto coach were extremely slick, at Staverton in particular where the process of the pilot engine removed from the main set taking the auto coach out of the station yard, backing it into the station then Judy joining from the yard as pilot was carried out very swiftly on the run I had with that set.

The only disappointment was Judy not appearing to create the scheduled final triple-header from Staverton to Buckfastleigh, not sure if that was due to a problem or just to keep things simpler and pull some time back. Either way, it didn't detract too much from my day, I was still very happy enjoying Newstead + 1369 in the cold evening light.

I picked staying local over Swanage or the Severn Valley as I could only do one of the three last weekend and while that was partly steered by preferring a shorter journey on an icy weekend + the high chance that I'll make it to other galas at the SR and SVR later in the year, I think on pure merit the South Devon was a great choice. Looks like the 2027 edition is already set for Jan 1-3 next year and I'll definitely be there.

 

The final freight run and subsequent triple header got pulled due to the late running in a bid to get crews finishing before going over hours - much to the dismay of the driver of 5526 who swapped with that on Judy ahead of that run especially to get one run on it that weekend.

As one of the reps on Newstead (coincidentally Saturday's one) I must say it all felt very well put together. Plenty of swaps, seemed to be something always moving (apart from when there was a signalling fault at Staverton Saturday morning). My only critique would be it would have been nice to see Judy do an extra public trip, but given the logistics of making it happen it really is just a minor point.

Newstead seemed to take the line in her stride; she may only be an industrial but managed what was asked of her with ease - resident crew feedback was very positive towards her.