Trains over chicken curve - GWR

Although there's no public reopening date set the GWR are advertising a fish and chip lunch train from Toddington to Cheltenham on 17th November.

By the looks of things this is going to be one of the first opportunities to ride over the newly rebuilt line, at least on a steam hauled train for the general public.

Exciting times!

GWR - Gloucestershire's mainline heritage railway - Fish and chips

 

Aye, it will be grand to see the line finaly get over all the terrible issues they have suffered of late. All been well I'll make a trip for fish and chips and a bit of chicken(curve)!

 

Work continues on Chicken Curve..... a short section still needs to be ballasted before tamping can take place, see the GWSR's Facebook page for updates. You might also be interested in some videos that have been posted of progress on Chicken Curve at: gwrpway - YouTube
Looking forward to when trains can run from Laverton to Cheltenham again, shouldn't be too long now, fingers crossed.

 

GWSR website has been updated to state that the official reopening will be 30th October. GWR - Gloucestershire's mainline heritage railway - Reopening celebration More detals to follow. Great news and well done to all concerned.

 

Indeed great news. On the 30th there are two special trains in the morning for invited supporters and volunteers, and then public services for the rest of the day. This will be the first time that trains have run the full length of the line from Cheltenham to Laverton, as the slip happened before the Laverton section opened.
I am going, and hope lots of other NatPres members will also be there.

 

The working timetable is available on the GWSR website:-

http://www.gwsr.com/media/225663/chicken curve opening day 30th october.pdf

The intended locomotive to run as 'Train 1' is 7903, Foremarke Hall assuming that her boiler washout is concluded in time.

 

Wonderful news and a credit to the heritage preservation movement! I must get down to the GWSR again sometime this year. Perhaps the mods might like to remove the "Toddington Update - New Slip" Sticky thread now that the job is done?

 

Absolutely brilliant news!

 

I received an invitation to travel on the special reopening train on 30th, and was delighted. I did contribute to the Steam Railway appeal, but I assumed that this first train would be for the really big donors who contributed megabucks - or at least thousands, so it was a most pleasant surprise. I'm really looking forward to it, as never having visited the GWSR until last November, I haven't yet travelled on the section north of Winchcombe. Furthermore, 7903 Foremarke Hall is the rostered engine, and I particularly wanted to have a run behind this engine before it is withdrawn for overhaul, so that's the icing on the cake as far as I am concerned.

 

Just a quick update. Last Tuesday one of the class 37's, came and collected the 6 coach maroon set and took it back to Toddington, giving us a bit more breathing space at Winchcombe for the first time in a couple of years! The plan is that by the end of this week 3 of the 4 steamers will be also back at 'main base'. Will be good to start getting back to some normality.

 

Once the opening specials are out of the way are you going to be running ordinary services at weekends for a while? Or will you be closing for the winter?

Like many others, will have a run over to Toddington for a trip on an ordinary (steam) service if you are actually open.

 

The gwsr website has some more information about the 1st weekend of 'normal' trains. GWR - Gloucestershire's mainline heritage railway - Gotherington open to celebrate line re-opening

 

Thanks for the info. So I will need to head for Winchcombe for the steam service. Just appears a bit strange when the best car parking is at Toddington.

 

The Sun's shining here at Toddington, Foremark Hall's gleaming, ready for the off at 10.30. Should be a great day!

 

You lucky, lucky people! Sincerely I hope that it's a great day; after all, the GWSR deserves it after all the trials and tribulations of the last 3 years.

 

Well, I certainly enjoyed it. I've never been on the Winchcombe-Toddington-Laverton section before. The 10.30 was pretty well loaded. and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. When I said to one of the station staff at Toddington, "I've been looking forward to this for some time", his reply was, "Not as long as we have!"

2013 timetable leaflets were handed out on the journey. First regular steam from Laverton through to Cheltenham Racecourse will be on 9th March, which gives the PW people sufficient time to complete the run-round loop. There will be a dmu service in February.

It's amazing how much the vegetation has grown already on the sides of Chicken Curve embankment. I guess that this has been one of the few beneficial effects of this wet summer.

 

A few shots of Formarke Hall at the GWSR today.

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway Reopens - a set on Flickr

 

Nice video on the BBC News website including interviews and archive footage:

Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway reopens after £1m repairs

A heritage railway line badly damaged by two landslips has reopened following repairs costing £1m. As a result of collapsed embankments at Gotherington and Winchcombe, the 12 mile-long (19 km) Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway has faced disruptions for three years. The repairs were funded by an emergency appeal launched two years ago.

BBC News - Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway reopens after £1m repairs

Richard