Heritage Railway – August 01, 2019

West Somersetseaside diesel

gala beatsbudgetby10%

ByRobin Jones

AIDEDby sunshinefollowing an

otherwisewetmonth, theWest

SomersetRailway’s June 20-22Vintage

Dieselsto the Seaside gala proved to be

aresoundingsuccess,flyin gint he face

of problems encounteredinthe build-

up to the even t.

Axle loadingrestrictions between

BishopsLydeardand Minehead,

whichare set to be tackledby a

£250,000 programmetorelaypart

of the track this winter, meantthat

early planned guestsPeak No.46010

and aClass 50 hadto be cancelled

and lightersubstitutes found.These

included Class 31 No.97205(31163)

–but sadly the 31wasdeclared

failed beforethe galaand more

work neededto be donetofind

asubstitute.

In the end,the guests turned out

to be apair of Class 25s,D7535 and

D7612,courtesy of theSouthDevon

DieselTractiongroup,Class37

D6948,courtesy of theGrowler

Groupat the Gloucestershire

WarwickshireRailway, and apair

of GBRf Class 73/1s,Nos.73107

and 73136.

These were joined by locomotives

fromthe Williton-based Diesel and

ElectricPreservationGroup,with a

particular high spotbeing thereturn

to traffi cofClass 35Hymek D7018,

afteragap of 24years following a

disastrousengine failure.

It wasjoinedby classmate D7017,

giving therare sightand soundof

apair of these popular WR diesel

hydraulics in action.

Another pairing wasClass 33s

D6566and D6575, with Class 14

D9526alsoworking trains.More

than 2900 passengerstravelled,with

fares revenueexceeding the budget

target by 10% –awelcome boost

to the line which,aspreviously

reported, closedforthe first three

months of thisyear with the loss of

its spring steam gala.

Another successf ul partoft he

eventwas the beer andcider festival

stagedatthe Washfordmuseum and

restor ation base of theSomerset and

Dorset Railway Trust, whichwasrun

andstaffedby volunteers from the

Somerset Branch of theCampaign

forReal Ale.

Some 2000 pintsweresold, with

suppliesrunning out onSaturday

evening,the profits being addedto

the takings from the gala days.

Togetherwith the successful June

8/9 weekend which,asfeatu red

in our last issue, markedthe 40th

anniversaryofheritage eratrains

running between BishopsLydeard

andMinehead, the month’sspecial

events have madeauseful funding

contributiontowards thefutureof

the WSR.

Aspokesmanfor th eWSR gala

planningteam said:“We would like

to thank all the locomotiveowners

who helpedto make the three days

Left:Class37 D6948dropping

downthroug hthewoodsat

NethercottwithaBishops

Lydeard-boundtrainonJune21.

DONBISHOP

Above:HymeksD7018 (leading)

andD7017 climbpastBicknoller

withaBishopsLydeard-bound

workingincludingtherailway’s

diningcarset,onJune 2 1.

DONBISHOP

44 Heritagerailway.co.uk indusonwww.facebook.com/heritagerailway

NEWS

Hundredswave offLNER-builtPSWaverley£2.3 million boiler appeal

ByHughDougherty

AROUND300supporters turned

out to‘WaveforWaverley’,formally

launching the £2.3millio nappeal

designedto replaceLNER-built

PSWaverley’sboilers and boilerroom

controlgeartoa llowittosailagain

in 2020.

They literally‘flagged up’the cash

driveonSaturda y, June 15,by waving

special flagsdesignedtopublicise

the boilerrefit appeal,afterWaverley

ExcursionschairmanCameron

Marshalltold the crowdondeck that

the race wasontoraise themoney.

He said:“If we aretos ail in 2020,

we need to raise the £2.3m as soon

as possible.It’svital thateveryone

supportsWaverleyin vi ew of its

uniqueness and theveryreal

contribution that it ma kestothe

local economyand tourism offering,

whereveritg oes.

Race is onfor2020

“Iftherewas only one castlein

Scotland, one historic buildingor

church,then everyone,including

the Governmentand councils,

would be queuinguptosaveit. As a

priceless piece of industrial heritage,

Waverleyis no differen t.We must not

letitdownafter 44 successful years

in preservation.”

WaverleyExcursions chiefexecutive

Paul Sempletold theenthusiastic

supporters:“Weare future-proofing

the shipforthe next 20 to 25 years

withnew boilers andcontrolgear

which will takeenvironmental

considerationsinto account. But the

race is on fornextyear,asittakes

six monthsto manufacture twonew

boilersand four monthsto fit them,

so we arereally up againstitfor 2020.

“The keyisf unding, and Iappealto

everyone hereand allcommunities,

supporters,enthusi astsand public

bodies,tosupportusassoonas

possible,toe nsurethatwecan go

ahead withthe newboilers and sail

again in 2020.”

Attendingthe la unchwereMSP

Jackie Baillie ,who has already asked

questions in theScottishParliament

to requestScottishGovernment

financialsupport, and MSP Neil

Bibby.Hes aid:“It’svital that we save

Waverleynot justforGlasgowor

Scotland, but forall the places it sails

to,such as Liverpool,North Wales,

the BristolChannel,the South Coast

andThames, and Iamdelightedtobe

herewith Jackie today, as confirmed

fansofWaverley,tol end oursupport.”

➜Full details of donatingto theboiler

appealareatwww.waverleyexcursions.

co.uk andthereisatextdonation

facilit ybyt exting STEAM,followingby

£10 or £20to70085.